Housing Management

We housed 186 households during 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007, and rent arrears stood at 4.1%. Rent losses from voids and bad debts were contained at 0.7% of total rent due. We had 6 empty homes in management at the year end.

We aim to provide a responsive and focussed service for our residents and the localities in which they live. More widely, staff invest time and energy with residents to identify issues and make improvements on estates. These have included:

	surveys and consultation with residents together with analysis and feedback on local issues
	promoting a 'planning for real' exercise with residents supporting a summer play scheme
	encouraging residents to organise social events
	completing other initiatives such as a gardening project and a play area

To download a pdf about the level of service you can expect from Hastoe, click here.

Rents

Our Rent Policy and Rent Plan are focused on meeting the government's requirement for rent restructuring by 2012. Within this framework we are particularly concerned to ensure that we charge rents within the means of people on lower wages. Our average rent (excluding service charges) in March 2007 was Ł70.92 per week for assured tenants and Ł71.65 per week for secure tenants.

Housing at Emerson Valley, Milton Keynes

Housing at Emerson Valley, Milton Keynes

Rent Increases

In 2002, following consultation with tenants, Hastoe adopted a Rent Policy and a Rent Plan for implementing the Government's policy that housing association and council rents should converge by 2012. Starting in 2003 rents were being adjusted each year so that by 2012 as many as possible are at the target rent level. All adjustments to rents paid by Assured Tenants will be within the terms of the tenancy agreement and the rents paid by Secure Tenants will not at any time exceed the full registered fair rent.

Rent Plan and Rent Policy

Copies of the Rent Plan and Rent Policy can be obtained from the Regional Offices.

Lettings

We let properties in accordance with relevant policies.

Click here to view our Lettings Policy
(pdf format)

Click here to view our Equality & Diversity Policy
(pdf format)

Analysis of Lettings - 2006/7

	East Region	South East	West Country	Total
Nominations by Local Authorities or Joint Registers	49	30	43	123
Waiting list/direct application/	3	46	7	51
Transfers	1	7	-	12
Total	53	83	50	186

First lettings	27	10	27	64
Relets	26	73	23	122
Total	53	83	50	186

Diversity & Ethnic Monitoring

Hastoe believes in valuing the rich diversity of the communities we serve which includes people from different cultures, ethnicity, people with disabilities and so on. We welcome any feedback and comment to ensure that all our dealings with customers match that aspiration.

Hastoe monitors the ethnic origin of all applicants for housing and successful lettings. Our target is to reflect in our lettings the same proportion of black and minority ethnic (BME) households as recorded in the census returns in 33 local authority areas where more than 2% of the population recorded themselves as being from BME communities in 2001. Results and recommendations are reported annually to the board.