Local Space Annual Report

Local Space

2013

Now for the legacy

Building on the legacy

Local Space at a glance

Local Space in action

Looking after our homes

Who’s on our board

The facts and fi gures

Information about us

Annual Report

Index

Now for the legacy p4

Building on the legacy p6

Local Space at a glance p8

Local Space in action p10

Looking after our homes p12

Who’s on our board p14

The facts and fi gures p16-18

Information about Local Space p19

[email protected]

Now for the legacy...1Every year we create an annual report so that our tenants and partners know exactly what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.

In our report, we explain our work and our thinking; you can see what we’ve done and where we’re going. You can see the opportunities and the challenges - and join us on the journey.

Local Space – and indeed the whole political and housing landscape - has been changing in the last year.

We have been preparing for the future, and how we will continue to build our legacy. Here is how.

What this report is about

Moving ahead

By John Layton, Local Space Chair, September 2013

In my introduction to last year’s annual report I said that Local Space was in transition. That transitional phase still continues but I’m glad to say that we‘re now moving forward with both greater momentum and rapidly improving performance.

Local Space is financially strong having made a surplus last year of £6 million. We’ve been fortunate this year to recruit a new chief executive in Richard Clark, and a new head of property services in Peter Wright, as well as making new appointments at more junior levels in the organisation.

Developing a new direction in an organisation always takes longer than you expect and the strategic review we began last year will not be complete until later this year.

The strategic review, which is being prepared for us with help from property experts at Savills, will be underpinned by a major asset management strategy which shows us exactly where investment is needed in our homes to guarantee their long-term future.

As part of our restructuring we’ve continued building relationships with our partners. We’ve worked hard to develop closer relationships with the London Borough of Newham and we’re very grateful that the Mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales continues to take a direct interest in the work of Local Space. We’re also working to maintain our relationships with the London Boroughs of Hackney and Waltham Forest and the East London Housing Partnership. We’ve reached an agreement with Hastings Borough Council and Amicus Horizon HA to complete the Coastal Space partnership in a way that suits us all.

John Layton Chair

Richard Clark OBE Chief Executive

Sarah Ebanja Vice Chair

www.localspace.co.uk 5

By Richard Clark, Chief Executive

There can be very few people who doubt that housing is now one of the top three priorities in Britain.

All the major political parties refer constantly to one aspect or another of housing policy and house building as being critical to the economic revival of the country.

Organisations like Local Space are left in no doubt about this priority by the frequency of press and television reports on the many aspects of what can only be termed a crisis in housing. Nowhere is this more evident than in London. The capital’s population has topped 8.17million (2011 census) and is still growing. Rents and house prices are moving rapidly upwards again and yet housing production is still far too slow. The pressures on aff ordable housing are great.

As we set out in last year’s annual report Local Space is on a journey from its relatively youthful origins into a new strategy and direction.

The Local Space team

Last year in this report we celebrated the success of the Olympic Games, along with the rest of east London and the whole country.

This year there is a major push publicly for the legacy of the Olympic Games to have as much success as the games themselves. In our own way Local Space is trying to build on the legacy formed in its early years and the rediscovery of its path forward.

There have been a number of stories in which London boroughs, including the boroughs where we work, have been forced to relocate families across England to provide alternative accommodation for them. The new reality means many people have to change where they live, earn more money or drastically reduce their outgoings to aff ord their rent.

Developing the legacyAs you would expect in a period of transition, the board of Local Space has put in extra hours to make sure everything runs smoothly and I want to thank in particular my deputy Sarah Ebanja, Elaine Bowes and Andrew Baikie for giving up personal time to get us through this period. We’re also delighted to welcome Janet Marsh and Kene Ibezi.

Finally I would like to pay tribute to our new chief executive and interim management team and all the staff of Local Space who have risen to the challenge and who remain committed, knowing that there are still major changes to be made. Richard Clark sets out clearly the challenge which housing associations in London face today.

It is essential that we all do everything we can to make the biggest diff erence to the capital’s housing problems. Local Space is in good shape not only to continue as we are but to increase the contribution we make to housing in the London Borough of Newham and in the rest of east London.

John Layton

[email protected]

Local Space is confronting this new world in three ways.

First we’ve got to know our tenants better. We found out the reality of their personal finances in detail and then started working on the best way of helping them deal with the new challenges. For some people this will most certainly mean moving to cheaper accommodation. For some people it will mean helping them find work, and in all cases it means making sure they have as much information as possible so that they can make good decisions about their lives.

Secondly we’re using our financial strength to help the local economy and local people to get work experience, training and jobs.

And we’re doing this in many different ways – from trying to place our contracts locally wherever possible, to working with partner organisations such as the London Borough of Newham, Community Links and East Thames to try to find work for tenants who are affected by the benefit cap but who wish to work, and also by providing direct apprenticeships for local young people.

We’ve already been successful, as you can see in this report, in recruiting two young people to apprenticeships within Local Space and we are looking to expand that to two more positions.

Lastly, Local Space is developing a new strategy which recognises our east London origins and our crucial link to the London Borough of Newham. It recognises the continuing desperate need for affordable accommodation within London and how we can use all our skills, experience and capacity to help the situation.

We expect to launch our new strategy around the turn of the calendar years 2013/14. And we’re determined that it will help our partners and our current and future tenants to access the maximum amount of temporary and permanent affordable housing it is in our power to bring.

The housing facts in Britain have changed beyond recognition and Local Space is rising to the challenge it presents. We will do this by recognising and building on the legacy of our successes to date, but adapt them to the new reality.

We need to respond to the challenge from John Maynard Keynes.“When facts change I change my mind, what do you do?”

Building on the legacy2Preparing for the future - building on the legacy

Richard Clark OBE


Where it all began– our origins

Local Space was created in 2006 by a partnership between the London Borough of Newham and a group of housing professionals.

By gifting 450 properties to the newly formed charity, Newham Council helped to raise around £200 million to buy and improve over a thousand homes across east London.

These homes were all used to house homeless people mainly on housing benefit in good quality temporary accommodation.

The Local Space model was extremely successful and several similar enterprises were set up over the next few years.

And we also grew by merging with Passmore Urban Renewal which gave us key worker accommodation in Newham. And we worked closely with people living in our communities through TARA, our tenant and resident association.

Where it’s all going- the new reality

When we look back on the last 30 years of the work of housing associations we will recognise it as a relatively benign and comfortable platform on which to provide aff ordable social housing.

Rents have been relatively aff ordable, housing benefit levels have been enough to pay rents and public subsidy for new house building has been directed to housing associations.

But all of these things have been swept away in the last two years. The landscape has changed.

Housing benefi t and the local housing levels have been dramatically cut and some people have stark, and often diffi cult, situations to face.

In Newham, the average rent for a two-bedroom house or fl at in 2012 was £968 a month. But the new local housing allowance for a two bedroom house or fl at is £919 a month.

Any household whose total benefi t entitlement is above £2,000 a month will have their benefi t capped from August 2013.

Partly as a result of these changes the number of households in homeless accommodation and temporary

accommodation in London has now reached 40,229 (Q1 2013) and is rising constantly.

“When facts change I change my mind, what do you do?”

John Maynard Keynes

Local Space

[email protected]

Local Space at a glance 3Beryl Condra, Head of Corporate Services

Councillor Richard Crawford, Local Space board member

Mic Clarke, Local Space board member

Who we are and what we’re all about

Local Space is a social landlord and charitable trust.

We own 1,763 homes, mainly in the east end of London, and 132 of them are for keyworkers, most of whom work in the public sector.

The rest of our homes give homeless people somewhere to live. And the people who live in them are chosen by the borough councils in Newham, Hackney and Waltham Forest and the City of London.

Around 1,450 of these homes are managed day-to-day by companies working for the London Borough of Newham.

We’re building communities

We’re a registered housing provider, a social landlord and charity which helps house and support people on benefi ts, lower incomes or with essential community (but not necessarily highly paid) jobs.

We don’t make money for shareholders. Everything we earn is either pumped back into making our homes better or spent on buying more homes, providing facilities for the community or activities to help people improve their lives.

We want to make the community stronger.

We help build up the strength of our communities by supporting them and improving people’s chances of living better and earning more.

What to do if you want to know more:Call Local Space on 020 8221 4000 or email [email protected]

How we involve our tenants

Tenants have played a big part in our development over the years, and this has mainly been through TARA, our tenant and resident association.

But we think there’s a way that tenants can have even more of a say and be involved in an even better way in the future.

As we review all our services, we’ll look at refi ning how we involve our tenants too.


Who are our customers

Not too long ago we carried out some research to fi nd out who lives in our homes.

The research said:

• 40% of the people who live in a Local Space home were lone parents

• 25% of our customers are under 60 and live alone

• 23% of our tenants are couples with children

In terms of ethnicity, our tenants are:45% black, 30% white, 14% Asian, 6% mixed ethnicity, 3% were from other groups, 1% preferred not to say, 1% didn’t answer the question.

Exactly what needs to be done hasn’t been decided yet.

But we do expect it will give greater focus on our own tenants’ needs and expectations of the services we give. And we expect it will also bring us more in line with new regulations in the Localism Act, which gives tenants extra powers to hold their landlord to account. We’ll let you know more in the future.

We own 1,763 homes. Our properties are mainly one and two bedroom homes, like these here on the right.

Ethnic group of Local Space tenants

Didn’t answer 1%

Local Space

[email protected]

Local Space in action this year4

What to do if you want to know more:Call Local Space on 020 8221 4000 or email [email protected]

Our day-to-day work this year- concentrating on welfare reform

We agreed with tenants that our main focus (our local off er) this year was to get ready for the changes that welfare reform would bring.

We knew it had potential to have a big impact on our residents and for our business.

Our plan was to carry out research to see how it would aff ect us all and start preparing our residents for the changes.

What is benefi t/welfare reform?

• People who have spare bedrooms will have their benefi ts cut (a scheme frequently called the bedroom tax in the papers) to pay for the extra rooms.

• It brings in a cap on the total weekly amount of benefi t people can receive (including housing benefi t). The total is £350 a week for single people, £500 a week for couples and families.

• It introduces Universal Credit, where everyone who receives benefi ts will eventually (it’s being phased in over a few years) have their benefi ts sent in one monthly sum, meaning benefi ts will no longer be sent straight to their social landlord.

What does that mean for our residents?

Our research showed:

• Our residents and our business could be seriously aff ected by these changes

• Tenants who were aff ected by the ‘bedroom tax’ would lose an average (median average) of more than £40 a week

• Some tenants, who would be aff ected by all the benefi t caps, could lose up to £350 a week (the average was £95.85)

But not everyone knew about the changes and how it would change things for them.


Local Space in action this year

• A single mum with two children lived in a hostel before being given a Local Space home in October 2009

• But, right from the beginning, the home she was given was too big for her needs. The council gave her a three bedroom home instead of the two bedroom property she needed, according to the rules, for her and her two children

• She’s now studying part-time for a childcare qualifi cation and believes it’s unlikely she’ll be able to fi nd a good job, that would cover the cost of childcare, until her daughter is older

• Benefi t reform, because of her extra bedroom, will reduce her benefi t by £54.81 a week

• She’s working with us to improve her chances of getting a job

Too many bedrooms but little choice for work

Welfare reform - what are we doing about it?

To help residents fully understand what it would mean for them, we trained virtually all the Local Space team to go out and meet residents and talk through what was likely to happen and what they could do next.

The project was led by the Local Space housing services team who carried out in-depth customer profi ling and sustainability interviews, and gave advice and support – mainly in people’s own homes.

Linmora Blair, our head of Housing Services said: “It’s important to us at Local Space that all our staff contributed to this process and understand the current challenges our tenants face.

“We’re pleased that our tenants are in

a position to make informed decisions about their housing options, looking for work and training.

“We’ll continue to work with tenants and local services to make sure everyone has the best advice and knows their options.”

While out meeting customers we found many diff erent situations.

Here are two that show how the changes are going to aff ect people:

Nowhere else to go

• A married couple – both in their late 50s and nearing their retirement age - who were in temporary accommodation for fi ve years, were given a Local Space home in June 2009

• At that time they had both of their sons living at home but one has since married and moved out – making them aff ected by the under occupancy penalty

• The woman suff ers from mental health issues. She’s monitored by a psychiatrist and her husband stays at home to look after her

• The family is severely aff ected by the benefi ts cap too – they will lose £36.54 a week

But right now, there are no properties in the local area which meet their needs and which they can aff ord.

Local Space

[email protected]

Looking after our homes 5

For more information on all our work and performance this year, see our web site at www.localspace.co.uk

Joel Inbakumar (Interim Head of Finance)

Terry Behan (Maintenance Manager)

Lina Yeung (Senior Finance Offi cer)

What next?

When we met people who would be aff ected by the changes and would be better off going to work, we invited them to a special two-day workshop as a fi rst step down the path.

We will be doing more work in the next year to help people make the changes they need to avoid benefi t cuts. People who don’t claim benefi ts aren’t aff ected by welfare reform.

Looking after our homes

Preparing for the fall-out from welfare reform may have been our number one priority this year but we haven’t stood still in other parts of the business either.

One of the other important jobs for us this year has been to fi nd out what our homes need to stay in top condition – and plan for the future. The asset management investment survey, which is being done at the moment, will help us know exactly what we need to do to our homes to stay strong and prepared for the years to come.

At the same time, we’ve been making the best of our homes - day in, day out – to give residents the best service possible and keep them safe.

Our head of Property Services Peter Wright said: “We are in the business of providing homes for people to live in and it follows that when a property is vacated we want to get it let again as quickly as possible .

“All vacant properties are diff erent and the amount of work required varies, but we are committed to reducing the turnaround time on voids.

“We have achieved a one day turnaround on repairs on some vacant properties and we aim to repeat this wherever possible.

“We pride ourselves on getting 100% of our repairs done within the set timescales on a regular basis and we also strive to have all of the gas appliances within our properties serviced every year as the law requires.

“This often means working hard with residents to get access to the boiler so the engineer can do the work. We really do appreciate their help and understanding to make this happen.”


Deaf Blind group meeting

Most of us couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be both deaf and blind.

We rely on our sight or our hearing so much, especially for communication, and life without both senses would be extremely tough.

The Newham Uplift group, organised by Deaf Blind UK, helps people who live in the East End, who have both limited or no sight and are totally or partially deaf, deal with their day-to-day life and meet new people.

The group meets once a month at the Local Space offi ces on Romford Road in Newham and gives deaf blind

“Superbly helpful”Apprentices are the future

The future has been changed for two young women, who’ve just started working with us at Local Space.

Teonie Hyde and Daniella Jacobs were both young mums looking for work and threatened with money worries because of benefi t reform. But since they’ve been with us, their future has a more positive feel.

Daniella, who’s 23 from Hackney and also a Local Space tenant, is an apprentice with our customer service team. She said:

“I’ve enjoyed every minute so far. I feel that I’m not only learning some valuable new skills to help me in the future but I’m also

Some of the “superbly helpful” Local Space team

Making a diff erence - everywhere we can

Our work is diverse. We work with lots of diff erent people in our communities. And we try to make sure our impact is felt further than just in the homes we own.

Here are a couple of examples of other places where we, and our work, is making a diff erence.

people a chance to meet with people who may have similar experiences and challenges, and gives advice, support and information.

Our offi ce is ideal because it has an easy to reach kitchen, a lift and a disabled toilet. And the group organisers love our staff too. They call them :

gaining my independence fi nancially, which is very much appreciated.”

Teoni who’s 24 and from Newham and is doing a business administration apprenticeship with us said:

“I feel like I’m gaining a lot of insight and knowledge within the housing sector as well as gaining experience. My time here so far has been great and I have adjusted very well to working life.”

Over time we hope to take on more apprentices and change more lives.

[email protected]

Who’s on our board6 Our board is essential to our successThey come from a very wide range of backgrounds and bring many different experiences to their work with us, here is a little about each one of our current board members.:

John Layton (Chair)

John is a chartered accountant and a former director of PriceWaterhouse Coopers who helped set up Local Space and was our first chair. He became our chair again this October.

Cllr Richard Crawford

Richard’s been a Newham councillor since 1998. He was chair of scrutiny before becoming executive member for community affairs. He also worked for local MP Tony Banks.

Mic Clarke

Mic was on the board of Passmore Urban Renewal and is especially interested in the regeneration of Forest Gate and Plaistow. He also teaches English as a second language.

Cllr Ian Corbett

Ian has lived in Newham for over 27 years. He was elected to Newham Council in 1992 and is currently the executive member for infrastructure and environment.

Nilavra Mukerji

Nilavra is a Westminster councillor with many years of housing experience, most recently as MD of Partners Islington, a housing PFI. He’s interested in green issues and sustainability.

Chris Pope OBE

Chris joined Newham Council as executive director of resources in 2011. His past jobs also include working for Laing O’Rourke, Europe’s largest private construction company.


Elaine Bowes

Elaine is a specialist in equality, diversity and inclusion. She has worked mainly in public sector roles and has a strong track record of bringing in improvements in these areas.

Donford Vardon

Donford became a Local Space tenant in 2005 and joined the board in 2008. He works for the London Borough of Newham and is very interested in improving customer service.

Sarah Ebanja

Sarah is chair of Newlon Homes. She’s been deputy chief executive of the London Development Authority and Islington Council, and chair at the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust.

Cllr Andrew Baikie

Andrew has been a Newham councillor since 1992. He has held many diff erent roles on the council and is currently the executive memberfor housing and customer service.

Kene Ibezi

Kene is the managing director of an international aff ordable and sustainable housing development company, and has worked in Europe, Africa and North America.

Janet Marsh

Janet has been a resident of Local Space since 2006, and chair of our tenants’ association (TARA) for three years. Her work has included our maintenance and scrutiny committees.

Local Space

20.2%

3.5%

7.4%

23.0%2.2%

43.7%

[email protected]

The facts and fi gures7 Summary of income and expenditure(Source Audited Accounts 31/3/2013)

2012/13 2011/12£000 £000

Rent receivable - temporary social housing 22,963 94.4% 22,705 94.7%Rent receivable - key worker housing 1,202 4.9% 1,167 4.9%Other revenue grants 53 0.2% 53 0.2%Commercial income 30 0.1% 30 0.1%Interest receivable 73 0.3% 26 0.1%Total income 24,321 100% 23,981 100%

Management 3,219 20.2% 2,332 14.4%Service charges 555 3.5% 486 3.0%Repairs and maintenance 1,189 7.4% 2,236 13.8%Depreciation 3,675 23.0% 3,275 20.3%Other 351 2.2% 367 1.7%Interest payable and charges 6,973 43.7% 7,559 46.8%Total expenses 15,962 100% 16,155 100%

Newham Surplus Sum 2,303 14% 1,823 11%

Surplus 6,056 6,003

Analysis of income 2012/13

4.9%

0.6%

94.4%

Rent receivable-temporarysocial housing

Rent receivable-key workerhousing

Grants, commercialrent and interest

Management

Service charges

Repairs andmaintenance

Depreciation

Other

Interest andpayable charges

Analysis of expenses 2012/13

10099.59998.59897.59796.59695.5

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

0

2

4

6

19

202122232425


Summary of income and expenditure 2012-13 performance fi guresRepairs and gas safety annual performance 2012/13 Number of repairs undertaken

Rent arrears 2012/13Rent arrears as % of rent debit

Property re-let times 2012/13

Breakdown of all 1763 property types

Properties by portfolio (total 1,763)

% achieved % target Number of repairs undertaken

Emergencyrepairs

Urgentrepairs

Routinerepairs

Valid gassafety

certifi cates

Emergencyrepairs

Urgentrepairs

Routinerepairs

% achieved % target

total days taken total days target

Bedsits

One bed

Two bedThree bedFour bed

Five bed

City of London

Durham Road

Enfi eldHackneyHastingsKey WorkerWaltham ForestNewham

Local Space

[email protected]

The facts and fi gures8

The income and expenditure accounts show the money we had in and the money that went out. It shows this year compared to last.

The balance sheet shows the value of the things we own, the money we owe and money we have in the bank. It compares this year with last.

This is only an extract of our facts and fi gures. For more information see our full financial statement and other performance fi gures.

Income and expenditure accounts 2012/13 2011/12£000 £000

Turnover: continuing activities 24,248 23,955

Operating costs (8,989) (8,560)

Operating surplus before Newham Surplus Sum 15,259 15,395

Newham Surplus Sum (2,303) (1,823)

Operating surplus: continuing activities 12,956 13,572

Defi cit on sale of fi xed assets-housing properties - (36)

Surplus on ordinary activities before Interest 12,956 13,536

Interest receivable and other income 73 26

Interest payable and similar charges (6,973) (7,559)

Surplus on ordinary activities before taxation 6,056 6,003

Tax on surplus on ordinary activities - -

Surplus for the fi nancial year 6,056 6,003

Balance sheets £000 £000Housing properties 336,059 331,693

Social Housing Grant (35,864) (35,898)

300,195 295,795

Other tangible fi xed assets 1,635 1,701

301,830 297,496

Current assets £000 £000Debtors 1,948 2,659

Investments 6,400 7,000

Cash at bank and in hand 91 54

8,439 9,713

Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year (6,403) (4,106)

Net current assets/(liabilities) 2,036 5,607

Total assets less current liabilities 303,866 303,103

Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year 172,000 184,000

Capital and reserves £000 £000Non-equity share capital - -

Revaluation reserve 103,345 96,541

Designated reserve – for major repairs 4,848 4,848

Revenue reserve 23,673 17,714

Total funds 131,866 119,103

303,866 303,103


Information about Local Space

Babra IqbalCustomer Services Offi cer

Jan BullHR Consultant

Ian KilpatrickRepairs Inspector

Linmora BlairHead of Housing Services

Industrial and Provident Society registration number: 29840RHomes and Communities Agency registration number: LH4454Registered Offi ce: 58 Romford Road, Stratford, London E15 4BZChief Executive: Richard Clark OBECompany Secretary: Beryl CondraBankers: Lloyds TSB Bank plc, 25 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HNNational Westminster Bank plc, 1-11 Broadway, London E15 4DXSolicitors: Winckworth Sherwood Solicitors, Minerva House, 5 Montague Close, London SE1 9BBAuditors: Grant Thornton UK LLP, Grant Thornton House, 202 Silbury Boulevard, Central Milton Keynes,Buckinghamshire, MK9 1LW

NHF Code of GovernanceLocal Space complies with the principal recommendations of the NHF Code of Governance.

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2013

Local Space58 Romford RoadLondon E15 4BZTelephone 020 8221 4000Fax: 020 8534 1494e-mail: [email protected] Space is a registeredcharitable Industrialand Provident Society(Regulation Number: 29840R)Chair: John LaytonChief Executive: Richard Clark OBE

Documents

Local Space Annual Report