Annual Report - 2023-24

The Resident Voice and Influence Panel (RVIP) has been actively engaged in representing residents and holding Estuary accountable throughout the past year. We have welcomed three new members from diverse backgrounds and expanded our focus to include scrutiny projects such as the Fly-Tipping Campaign and the testing of the new Repairs Chatbot.

Key achievements and initiatives for 2023/24:

• Involvement in Customer Voice Roadshows, Great British Spring Clean, and Estuary in Bloom competition.
• Conducted in-depth review of fly-tipping and developed recommendations for improvement.
• Undergone training on effective questioning techniques and accountability.
• Worked closely with Estuary to address key issues and implement new initiatives.

Our commitment to residents:

• We are dedicated to advocating for residents and ensuring that Estuary meets high standards of service.
• We are focused on improving the quality of life for all residents through our advocacy and initiatives.
• We work closely with Estuary to address key issues and implement positive changes.

We believe that by working together, we can create a better living environment for all residents. 

“We have been diligently working to advocate for residents and ensure that Estuary Housing Association is held accountable. We are excited to continue updating residents on how RVIP is partnering with Estuary to address key issues.
Currently, our focus is on improving voids and ensuring that Estuary meets the high standards set by the Ombudsman. Members of RVIP are undergoing extensive training, enabling us to uphold and even elevate the standard of living for all residents. We are committed to holding Estuary to account and improving the quality of life for everyone in our community.” 

Lynda Buckley, Resident Voice and Influence Panel Chair

“I joined the RVIP at the beginning of the year, and it’s been a pleasure to be part of this dedicated team. Since joining, I had the opportunity to attend a TPAS conference in Coventry, where I connected with other RVIPs from various housing associations and participated in workshops that deepened my understanding of my role. Currently, our team is working on a scrutiny project focused on tackling fly-tipping, with a pilot set to launch in five different locations this September.” 

Eve Parkes, Resident Voice and Influence Panel Member

“I believe that most residents want a happier, cleaner, and safer place to call home, and they need a 'voice' they can rely on. While we may not solve individual issues with Estuary directly, we are here to offer advice and guide residents in the right direction.” 

Bob Tuck, Resident Voice and Influence Panel Member

We consider ourselves more than a housing association. We have been operating for over 40 years and have homes that are for rent and shared ownership, as well as supported living homes. We are a team of dedicated individuals, driven by a clear social purpose. We want you to feel at home in your property and a part of your community. As a not-for-profit organisation, every pound we spend goes towards these aims.

We own and manage over 4,700 properties across Essex, the three outer East London Boroughs and the Suffolk Coastal District.

Our head office is in Southend on Sea, and our teams regularly travel to our properties to meet with customers. In 2023 we relocated our offices to one of our largest estates. This not only provides better value for money, but it allows us to be at the heart of one of our largest communities.

Breakdown of Total Property Types by Area

Local Authority	Care and Support	Leaseholder	Owned	Total
Babergh	0	1	0	1
Barking & Dagenham	0	56	128	184
Basildon	26	1	138	165
Braintree	0	5	29	34
Brentwood	6	21	111	128
Castle Point	12	28	113	153
Chelmsford	8	21	20	49
Colchester	8	40	236	284
Epping Forest	0	31	176	207
Harlow	3	0	0	3
Havering	8	176	430	614
Maldon	0	38	273	311
Redbridge	0	0	42	42
Rochford	4	14	38	56
Southend on sea	51	214	1366	1631
Suffolk Coastal	0	0	48	48
Tendring	0	9	88	97
Thurrock	8	48	430	487
Uttlesford	6	60	175	241
Total	140	753	3842	4735

Customer

Ensuring customer satisfaction with everything we do. 

People

One Estuary — Taking pride in what we do every day. 

Shaping Our Future

To be a successful and ambitious social business. 

Operational Highlights:

	2023-24	2022-23
Total Homes	4,727	4696
New ASB Cases	198	243
Customers Supported for Domestic Abuse	36	36
Responsive Repairs	12,874	13,333
New Staff Members	65	60
Decent Homes Compliance	100%	96.1%
Homes Receiving Major Investment	674	571
New Bathrooms Installed	44	34
New Kitchens Installed	38	39
Customers Signed Up To The Portal	1,600

 

Financial Highlights:

• £27.6m Rent Collected
• £437k Secured in Benefits for Customers
• £23k from the One Estuary Fund was Used to Support 73 Customers
• £8.8m Employee Salaries
• £6m Improving Homes
• £40m Turnover
• £2.3m Major Repairs

Essex Housing Awards

We were shortlisted in two categories, in the Essex Housing Awards, 2023; Rising Star and Digital Impact. 
The competition was tough and we’re happy to have won the Digital Impact award after making huge changes to our intranet, website and portal offerings. 

Our attention to accessibility was mentioned in the winners’ notes. 

Tpas

We are members of Tpas - Tenant Participation Advisory Service and are accredited to their National Engagement Standards.

Inclusive Employers Standard

We’ve been awarded the Inclusive Employers Standard award.

The Resident Voice and Influence Panel (RVIP) is an independent group of residents who actively participate in holding Estuary accountable. They regularly review our performance, scrutinise and challenge our practices, and contribute to our ongoing improvement. In January, RVIP visited our repairs contractor, Axis, to ensure they are meeting our standards. 

To enhance communication, the RVIP maintains a Facebook page where they share updates and information with other residents.
Earlier this year, the RVIP conducted a review of fly-tipping and their recommendations have led to a new pilot project aimed at reducing this issue. Additionally, the RVIP has been instrumental in developing our new communication strategy, which will be implemented shortly.

The RVIP has been actively involved in various customer engagement events, including the Customer Voice Roadshows, the Great British Spring Clean and the Estuary in Bloom competition, demonstrating their dedication to improving our services and developing a stronger sense of community. 

"We [attended] some training with Tpas on how to question those working at Estuary effectively and hold them to account. We’ve conducted mock interviews with the chief executive, Ian Martin as well as members of the executive team Helen Gregory, Jeremy Jacobs and Michael Hadjimichael. We see it as vital that we develop our skills in this area to better represent you.”

 

"Working together to create a better environment for all of us is important. This is why we’ve also been undertaking an in-depth analysis of fly tipping through our scrutiny boot camp. 
“We’ve a strong voice in creating recommendations for improving how we manage fly-tipping and are working with Estuary on how best to tackle this issue.”

The Customer Experience Committee (CEC) was established in May 2022 to represent the voice of our customers and ensure compliance with relevant regulations. The committee, comprised of members from our Group Board and independent residents, meets four times a year.

The CEC’s primary responsibilities include overseeing the delivery of our Customer Strategy and ensuring compliance with consumer and care regulations. Throughout 2023/24, the committee has closely monitored performance in key areas such as landlord services, customer engagement, repairs and maintenance, anti-social behaviour, estate management, and health and safety.

Specific areas of focus for the CEC have included:

• Monitoring compliance with Charter / Consumer Standards.
• Reviewing performance reports on Built Environment, Health & Safety, Care & Support, Customer & Housing, and Complaints and Compliments.
• Overseeing the CQC Inspection Regime.
• Evaluating the Customer Engagement Strategy Action Plan.
• Assessing social value initiatives.
• Analysing the Customer Voice Report.
• Ensuring annual compliance with the Housing Ombudsman Service Code.
• Reviewing and updating relevant policies, such as the Compensation Policy, CCTV Policy and others.

The CEC has played a crucial role in ensuring that our organisation remains focused on delivering exceptional customer experiences and meets regulatory requirements. We are committed to continuing this important work in the coming year.

As a social housing provider, we operate in a highly regulated environment. We’re committed to meeting the Regulator of Social Housing’s standards for governance, financial viability and customer service. 

This year, we have been working to align with the new Consumer Standards, which set out clear expectations for housing associations in terms of providing decent, safe and well-maintained homes, delivering high-quality landlord services and treating residents fairly and respectfully. We report on our Tenant Satisfaction measures (TSMs) and implement improvement measures from our learnings.

We’ve implemented improvements based on the Housing Ombudsman’s guidance and are continuously striving to enhance our services.

We’re proud to be re-accredited by Tpas!

This demonstrates our commitment to effective customer engagement and value for money in our services.

Tpas accreditation highlights our strong focus on customer involvement and driving continuous improvement together.  We want to continue strengthening how we engage with our customers and are working with Tpas to further improve this area in line with our engagement strategy.

Find out more about tpas at https://www.tpas.org.uk/about-tpas

Value for money (VfM) is a core principle that guides our operations. We strive to achieve the maximum benefit from our resources while ensuring that our customers receive high-quality services and affordable housing.

Compliance with regulatory requirements is a key aspect of our value for money strategy. The Regulator of Social Housing requires social housing providers to demonstrate a clear commitment to value for money through strategic objectives, agreed approaches, investment in new housing and efficient resource utilisation.

Beyond regulatory compliance, value for money is essential for our business and our customers. By operating efficiently and effectively, we can reduce costs and ensure that our customers’ rent is spent responsibly.

Our VfM strategy aligns with our corporate objectives and focuses on:

• Customer - Ensuring customer satisfaction with everything that we do. 
• People - One Estuary – Taking pride in what we do every day.
• Shaping the Future - To be a successful, ambitious, social business.

How Do We Compare to Other Housing Associations?

Each year, we review how we compare with other housing associations that operate in the East and South-East of England and are similarly sized.

• We are more expensive than our peers - £5,542 average per unit vs. £5,253 per unit for our peers.
• We have less debt than our peers – 45.89% vs. 56.50%. (This is a % of debt compared to the value of our homes).
• We know we need to invest more in our properties – 1.14% vs. 6.90% by our peers. This is a key commitment area for our Board over the next few years.
• We have comparable profitability to reinvest in our services. For every pound of interest we pay, we make £1.34. (Peer group £1.24). 

How Did We Do In 2023-24?

Value for Money Breakdown 2023-24 vs 2022-23

Metric	EHA1	EHA	Peer Group Benchmark3	Regional East of England2	Size — 2,500-4,999 SH Units	Global Account (Median3)
	2022/23	2023/24	2022/23	2022/23	2022/23	2022/23
Health of the Business
Operating margin (SHL) %	24.53%	25.99%	22.50%	24.90%	18.10%	19.80%
Operating margin (overall)%	20.96%	26.20%	22.30%	24.40%	18.70%	18.20%
EBITDA (MRI)	119.61%	134.17%	124.20%	139.90%	124.00%	128.40%
Development Capacity and Supply
New supply delivered (social)	1.50%	0.28%	1.50%	1.70%	1.00%	1.30%
New supply delivered non-social housing units	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Gearing %	46.40%	45.89%	45.89%	54.30%	47.00%	45.30%
Investment
Reinvestment	1.80%	1.14%	6.90%	7.10%	5.90%	6.70%
Effective Asset Management
Return on capital employed (ROCE)	2.01%	2.82%	2.80%	3.50%	3.00%	2.80%
Operating Efficiencies
Headline social housing costs per unit	£5,576	£5,542	£5,253	£4,350	£4,880	£4,586

We have made progress in improving our financial performance, but there is still room for further improvement. We will continue to focus on reducing our operating costs and investing in our customers' homes.

By continuously monitoring our performance against industry benchmarks, we aim to deliver even greater value for money and ensure that our customers benefit from our ongoing efforts.

Customer Voice Roadshows

We continued our customer roadshows during Summer 2023 which resulted in more face to face, qualitative interaction with our customers. We have used the feedback to shape our Building Safety Strategy for both of our high-rise residential blocks.

Action Days

Our Action Days were a huge success! We targeted certain communities and concentrated on issues specific to their areas. Customers used the skips to declutter their homes, and Axis assisted with transporting items.

“The garden area was hard to maintain and becoming an eyesore, however thanks to the team helping to clear it out we can now make use of the space that will be available for the children who live here”. – Jade, Customer

Great British Spring Clean:

Estuary employees, customers and local residents joined us for 3 Great British Spring Clean events. This formed part of our ongoing Fly-Tipping campaign and was a great success. Thank you to everyone who took part! 

Estuary in Bloom:

We successfully delivered the Estuary in bloom competition last summer and saw the benefits this initiative gave to our customers; we will be expanding the project this coming year. You can see our winning entries on our Estuary In Bloom page.

Let's Get Digital!

In 2023, we launched our new Customer Engagement Strategy. One of the objectives is to “increase communication and engagement opportunities for all customers.”

We have already made vast improvements in the way we communicate with customers and have developed a Communications Strategy which will be rolled out in 2024. 

In the same year, we won The Essex Housing Award for Digital Impact. This award recognises organisations that have successfully used digital technology to improve outcomes for residents and communities. Our digital transformation journey involved redesigning the website, launching a new customer portal and creating a modern intranet. These platforms were built with user accessibility and ease of use in mind, making it easier for customers to find information, access services and engage with us.

The website is home to ‘Your Online Account’ – our new customer portal where you can view rent statements, pay rent and submit forms. Over 1.6k of our customers are using the portal already! You can sign up at estuary.co.uk/online-account.

Email

We send out customer newsletters twice a year. These get sent to over 4,400 customers via email and have an average open rate of 60%. We also send emails inviting customers to take part in surveys to shape our services, enter competitions and invite them to customer engagement events. 

Facebook

We have an active Facebook page with over 1.1k followers, where we share our latest news and updates. 
Follow us at fb.com/estuaryha.

Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs)

The TSM Survey is our satisfaction survey. The questions are based on the new Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) that have been introduced by the Regulator of Social Housing to assess how well social housing landlords in England are doing at providing good quality homes and services. We’ve employed a specialist company called Acuity to carry out the surveys for us.

Our 2023/24 survey shows that 62% of customers are satisfied with our overall services. While we’ve received high marks for providing safe homes, fair treatment, well-maintained properties, timely repairs, and community involvement, other areas like complaint handling, require improvement. This is a common challenge in the social housing sector.

How Will We Improve?

Service Improvement Plans

Communal Areas	How Complaints are Dealt With	Repairs and Maintenance
A review is underway for the Estate Services provided. Specific project to address fly-tipping.	Wide advertisement of the Complaints process. Information available in a number of formats. Working in line with the new Housing Ombudsman Code.	We’re implementing a repairs recovery plan with our repairs partner to improve the current repairs service that is offered.

 

Customer Service Standard: 

We’re committed to providing exceptional customer service. You can contact us by phone, email, online or mail. We’ll listen to your feedback, make improvements and act promptly. We’ll also keep you informed about important updates. 

The full Customer Service Standard is available to view now. 

Estate Services Standard:

We’re committed to maintaining clean and well-maintained communal areas. Our estate services include regular cleaning, grounds maintenance, graffiti removal, and addressing fly-tipping. This ensures a pleasant living environment for all residents. 

The full Estate Services Standard is available to view now.

Our contact centre deals with all types of communication, from our customers, including emails, telephone, social media and online forms.  

Through staff training to help develop the business knowledge within the team, we strive to resolve as many queries as possible at the first point of contact.

Our target for this area is 60% and during the year, the team resolved 49% of calls within target. A top theme for customer contact during the year related to making a payment or to discuss rent accounts.  

To ensure that customers received the best possible support, we streamlined the process by transferring many of these types of calls directly to the income team.  

This allows customers to discuss rent collection and income related matters directly with the experts.

• During 2023/24 we handled 27,053 phone calls (32,794 last year. June was the busiest month, with December 2023 being the quietest. 
• Back in December 2022 we introduced a call back service for our customers. During 2023/24 the team handled 856 call backs.
• There were 3,151 initial emails logged (2,336 last year) (we only record the initial email received which are customer related).
• The Customer Services team processed 315 online forms. There were 773 processed last year. 
• There were 163 social media posts logged (we only record the initial social media post received which are customer related). There were 415 social media posts logged last year.

The Top Reasons People Contacted Us Were: 

• Make a payment or to discuss rent account.
• Matters related to responsive repairs.
• Anti-social behaviour.

Following the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code becoming statutory on 1st April 2024, we completed an Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report for 2023/24. 

We also completed our Self-assessment against the code. 

Complaints Key Stats

We received 723 formal complaints during 2023/24 (stage 1 and stage 2). This is a reduction to 2022/23, where 762 formal complaints were received.  

The breakdown is as follows for 2023/24:

• 582 Stage 1 complaints.
• 141 Stage 2 complaints.
• 13 Housing Ombudsman Investigations (9 received last year).
• 42 Councillor and MP enquiries (46 received last year).
• 135 compliments logged (154 logged last year).

Improving Complaint Handling

During 2023/24 we focused on improving our complaint handling, ensuring that the process is as easy as possible for our customers. 
Complaints have decreased by 5% in comparison to the previous reporting year; there has been an 8% decrease in Stage 1 complaints and a 9% increase in escalated Stage 2 complaints. 

The increase has highlighted that we need to improve our handling at Stage 1 and this will be an area of focus for the forthcoming year. The area to receive most complaints has been related to our responsive repairs. We have developed a recovery service plan in partnership with Axis, our responsive repairs strategic partnering contractor, to overcome the key reoccurring areas. 

Recurring Themes

Recurring themes over the year for complaints include: 

• Appointment related issues.
• Time taken to carry out a repair/works and outstanding works.
• Handling of heating and hot water works.
• Quality of works.
• Communication.

During 2023/24, we also introduced our resident lessons learnt project group. There were four meetings held in the year and meetings have included discussions around, missed appointments, repair follow on actions, a review of our communication and how we can improve our communication to help reduce the risk of customer dissatisfaction and complaint handling. This project group will continue throughout 2024/25. We also have a dedicated lessons learnt page on our website.

We are keen to continuously improve our delivery of complaint handling which includes everyone across Estuary. Complaints performance is also reviewed and challenged by our Board and sub committees. The statement from our Board in response to our Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improve Report is now available.

Our overall day-to-day maintenance spend was £3.4m and Planned Works (kitchens, bathrooms, boilers etc) spend was £2.7M (anticipated £3.2m).

Repairs Stats 2023/24 vs 2022/23

Indicator	Target	Year End 2023/24	Year End 2022/23
Emergency Repairs Completed in Time	99%	98.79%	98.9%
Tenant Satisfaction with Repairs Service	90%	68%	77.2%
First Time Fix Rate	80%	89.42%	89.2%
Job Completed in Time	95%	78.95%	81.1%

Our responsive repairs contractor, Axis, handled a total of 30,425 calls in 2023/24. January 2024 was the busiest month for the call centre. We had 12,874 responsive repairs logged in 2023/24, almost 250 per week. 

While we have achieved positive results, there is still room for improvement in certain areas, particularly tenant satisfaction and timely completion of jobs. We will continue to work with Axis to address these challenges and ensure that our residents receive the highest quality repairs service.

Safety remains a priority for Estuary. We have completed critical fire safety work at our high-rise buildings, and we are proud to say that we have completed cladding replacement at both blocks. This work was undertaken at no additional cost to any customer including owner occupiers.

During 2023/24 we undertook work to replace or upgrade all fire doors to meet the highest standards.
It’s important to us that we maintain the highest level of safety, especially in key areas. This includes:

• Fire risk assessments to blocks: 100% (207 blocks)
• Water hygiene checks on buildings with communal supply: 100% (177 blocks)
• Asbestos safety checks on communal areas: 100% (171 blocks)
• Gas safety checks: 99.9% (2682 properties)
• Electrical safety tests: 99.4% (4116 properties)
• Communal Lift and personal lifting inspections: 98.93% (94 properties) 

“The safety checks are important to ensure that homes are safe to live in. Please help us to maintain this by providing us and our contractors with access to undertake these checks, and any follow-on works.”

Overall, we have made significant progress in improving building safety at Estuary. We will continue to prioritise this area and work to keep our customers safe.

In 2023/24 we spent £6.6m on improving our customers’ homes, including the spending on responsive repairs, and ended the year with 100% compliance with the Decent Homes Standard.

Quantity Money Spent on Planned Repairs

Planned and Major Completions	Completed 2023/24	Spend
Planned - Kitchens	38	£337,000
Planned - Bathrooms	44	£304,000
Planned - Boilers	117	£292,000
Planned - Windows (and Doors)	68	£128,000
Planned - Roofs	105	£72,000
Planned - Electrical	299	£722,000
Planned - Storage Heater Replacement	48	£237,000
Planned - Communal Lighting	2	£10,000
Planned - Other	2	£15,000
Planned - Energy Performance Works	45	£134,000
Planned - Major Damp Works	1	£6,000
Planned - Door Entry System Replacement	2	£14,000
Planned - Fire Rectification Works	50	£90,000
Planned - Lift Replacement	4	£41,000
Planned - Fire Rectification (revenue)	14	£312,000
Total	839	£2.71m

Although we have many reports on ASB, we’re keen to raise awareness in this area with customers, so they feel confident in bringing issues to our attention. 

Below are some of the cases raised with us this year:

• 198 Cases opened (234 in 2022/23)
• 20 Legal action taken (24 in 2022/23)
• 1 Evictions due to ASB (4 in 2022/23)
• 93% Case handling satisfaction (94% in 2022/23)
• 94% Outcome satisfaction (92% in 2022/23)
• 5 Referred to mediation (4 in 2022/23)
• Noise nuisance is the most commonly reported type of ASB (same in 2022/23)

Our efforts to support customers have resulted in fewer evictions. 

We’ve invested in mediation services to resolve neighbour disputes, leading to positive outcomes for many residents. 
These interventions have directly improved the well-being of our customers.

"Mediation is something a lot of people don’t want to try...[it] has absolutely changed my day-to-day life and for that I’m very grateful to Estuary for arranging this for us. 
“If you have problems with a neighbour, don’t just refuse mediation, it really does work. 
“Absolutely no regrets.”

This year, we took legal action due to Breach of Tenancy (excl. ASB) in 82 cases. 

Most common type of Breach of Tenancy – failure to allow access for safety checks (such as Gas/Electric Certificates).

It is vital that customers allow us access to carry our mandatory checks and works, as this is essential for us to maintain the safety of our customers’ homes. 

We also take forward action due to fraud or suspected fraud. 

Examples of this may include:

1. Unlawful subletting

   Where a tenant rents out their home without the permission of the landlord.

2. Obtaining housing by deception

   Where a person gets a home by giving false information on their housing application.

3. Wrongly claimed succession 

   Where the customer dies, and someone tries to take over or succeed the tenancy when they are not entitled to.

4. Key selling 

   Where a customer is paid to pass on their keys in return for a one-off payment.

5. Unlawful assignment 

   Where a customer stops using their tenancy as their main or principal home, allowing another person to live there without permission.

6. False Right to Buy/Right to Acquire 

   Where a customer makes a Right to Buy or Right to Acquire application and gives false information in their application.

7. Abandonment

   Where the tenant abandons their home and has not notified us of their intentions of not returning to the property. 

Through referrals and investigations, we have had 5 properties returned to us, 1 of these was an eviction.

Our Housing team assists customers with a range of tenancy-related matters. We work closely with our customers to ensure they have the information and resources needed to manage their tenancies successfully. We carry out a number of tenancy reviews and visits to our customers. 

Tenancy Visits and Reviews

Action	2023/24	2022/23
Tenancy reviews completed	463	476
Shared owner settling in contact	14	25
Tenancy home visits	982

Not only are we keen to see inside our properties, but we also want to maintain our communal areas. During the year, we have made 1627 visits (914 visits 22/23)  to ensure we maintain good standards in these shared areas.

Our Benefit Coaches have helped customers increase their income by £720K. Of this, £283K went to support rent or rent arrears payments. 

This includes assistance with benefits like PIP, DLA, Carers Allowance, Council Tax reduction, Pension Credit, Child Benefit, Housing Benefit, Universal Credit and Discretionary Housing payments.

Case Study

Mrs B had all her benefits stopped including ESA, Housing Benefit and Pension. 

We visited and discovered the reason for this and spoke with all the providers in order to have them put back in place. While this was being organised, we obtained a food shop from our One Estuary Fund.

The One Estuary Fund is available to help customers cope with a sudden emergency or to help with longer-term solutions. 

This year, our Housing Team have safeguarded a number of customers in situations of hoarding and domestic abuse and given support to our most vulnerable customers. We work in partnership with other agencies, organisations and charities and sign-post customers so that they can receive appropriate help and support.

The team also remind customers of key aspects of their tenancy such as home contents insurance, which can have a devastating impact on customers if not completed.

We carried out a Cost-of-Living survey to help us identify residents who may need additional support due to rising costs. Our Benefit Coaches made personal contact with those most affected by financial pressures. They have provided benefit advice, support through the One Estuary Fund, income and expenditure reviews and sign-posted to other organisation to enable customers to get back on track. 

Housing Officers supported 13 customers with hoarded properties; of these 6 were significantly improved and properties returned to a good condition. Housing Officers work closely with other agencies and continue to actively support 7 customers.

Active Support Given to Customers

2023/24	2022/23
251 residents with a vulnerability.	409 residents with a vulnerability.
36 new Domestic Abuse victims/survivors.	36 Domestic Abuse victims/survivors.
22 Safeguarding referrals.	25 Safeguarding referrals.
13 Hoarded properties.	7 Hoarded properties.

GEMS (Grounds Estates and Maintenance Services) are our in-house provider of cleaning grounds and maintenance services across the Association's stock.

Over 15,000 services are provided annually to keep the environments around our customers’ homes clean safe and well maintained. 
GEMS are also on hand to deal with the day-to-day emergencies that arise which include dealing with fly-tipping, graffiti removal and the impact of anti-social behaviour. 

Key Stats

• 7,012 Cleaning and Grounds Services were delivered in 2023/24.
• 99.2% services delivered on time.
• 7.4% increase in fly-tipping services.
• 8,223 Incidents responded to by GEMS including dealing with fly-tipping, waste and anti-social behaviour.

GEMS work closely with our housing team providing them with information on local issues such as anti-social behaviour repairs and communal issues and any other issues that have an impact on our customers day-to day lives.

This year GEMS along with our Resident Voice and Influence Panel, participated in our first Great British Spring Clean this was carried out across three communities including The Courtyard, Woodgrange Drive, and School way. Over 50 customers and staff participated in the events removing over 50 bags of litter from our communities over the course of the three events.

Our supported living schemes have had a positive year. We provide excellent support that fosters independence and choice for our residents.

We organised various activities, including summer fun days, afternoon crafts, a Christmas panto, walking groups and gardening clubs. Our staff are dedicated to providing exceptional care and support.

We were honoured to host Anna Firth MP at Kingswood Chase. She met with residents and learned about their experiences living in supported care.

We’re proud of the positive impact our supported living services have on people’s lives. We remain committed to investing in initiatives that strengthen communities and support individuals.

Our priority is to ensure our customers are safe, well, and supported. 

Estuary is a not-for-profit landlord driven by social purpose; we want to demonstrate social value to ensure the best outcomes for our customers. 
We’re committed to investing in initiatives that strengthen communities and aid individuals, through a belief that a positive social impact is created through these activities and events. 

We are pleased to report social value for 2024/24 of £3,850,397.30 which is a fantastic achievement. This is just under £1.5m increase from last reporting year.

• Housing - £1,761,819.53
• Customer Engagement – £20,368.64
• Income and Allocations - £245,725.00
• Care and Support - £853,878.00
• Estate Services - £18,010.00
• People and Organisation Development - £64,724.00
• Built Environment - £14,108.87
• Procurement - £871,763.80

  Total - £3,850,397.73

Case Study 

A customer that Estuary supports in the community has been helped to attend the gym, swimming or multi-sports in the morning and to attend the MODS drama group, acting with singing and dancing, in the afternoon. The physical exercise helped her to lose weight.

Outcomes

• Improved health and well-being.
• Access to a new drama hobby.
• Improved confidence in herself.
• Building stronger community networks.

The customer gained the confidence to volunteer to sing and act on stage in the Once Upon a Dream MODS show at the Palace Theatre in November 23. She thanked the staff for their support, including with her hair and stage makeup. 

"I waited three years to get a place in the drama club and gained confidence to appear for the first time on the stage."

Our Income Team helps customers pay their rent on time and provides support with accessing benefits and grants. We've helped six customers secure permanent housing, including three single individuals and two families with dependents. This has not only improved their living situations but has also freed up housing for others in need.

Lettings and Voids

Social Rented

• 101 Properties relet 2023/24 – 154 in 2022/23
• 24.42 Days to relet empty properties (voids) 2023/24 – 31.29 in 2022/23

Market Rented

• 17 Properties relet - 20 in 2022/23
• 21.94 Days to relet empty properties (voids) – 22.8 in 2022/23

We manage a range of tenures, the following summary shows our income collection performance:

Social Rented

• 99.1% rent collection 2023/24 – 99.4% in 2022/23
• 4.08% rent arrears as a % of rent collectable 2023/24 – 3.35% in 2022/23
• 2 evictions for rent arrears - 4 in 2022/23

Market Rented

• 105% rent collection 2023/24– 95.6% in 2022/23
• 1.44% rent arrears as a % of rent collectable 2023/24 – 1.08% in 2022/23
• 0 evictions for rent arrears 2024/24- 0 in 2022/23

Shared Ownership

• 106.2% rent collection 2023/24 – 93.4% in 2022/23
• 1.62% rent arrears as a % of rent collectable 2023/24 – 0.72% in 2022/23
• 0 evictions for rent arrears 2023/24 - 0 in 2022/23

Our responsive repairs contractor, Axis, has generously funded several social value initiatives. These include supporting Christmas parties, providing food vouchers, funding mental health projects, encouraging gardening, supporting food clubs, sponsoring cricket scholarships, facilitating resident skip days and donating to local charities.

The One Estuary Fund has assisted 73 customers with over £23K of investment in helping customers with emergencies enabling them to sustain tenancies. A further £1.2K of was contributed from one of our contractors as part of a Christmas voucher campaign. 

This year we carried out a cost of living survey with our customers. 63% of respondents had an annual income of less than £20k, 86% had no savings to fall back on and 40% had to use foodbanks or other charity in the 6 months prior to the survey. 

The results showed the impact that the rise in cost of living has on our customers.

“With the cost of living increases it has made life very challenging. We have to cut down on everything, not just one thing. 

“Cutting down on food we buy, use of heating/electrics, going out, living a life, travel, petrol, parking the lot. 

“We both work full time with all the hours we can…Physically and mentally exhausting. With hardly no time for family, life is hard.”

Our Benefit Coaches reached out to those most affected and provided tailored support, including financial advice, One Estuary Fund assistance and referrals to other organisations.

Purdy’s, our Electrical contractor, have kindly paid for the annual subscription for all our customers to “Housing Perks”, a discount scheme, which can be used by our customers to save money in a wide range of shops, restaurants and more. The app can be downloaded at yourhousingperks.com/download-the-app

Estuary has around 250 employees, Board members and a Chair. 

3 Apprentices

We employed 2 customers within the reporting year. One of these was an apprentice who had completed their apprenticeship with distinction through Estuary Housing Association.

£104k Invested in People

We’ve invested over £104K in non-mandatory training this reporting year as well as continuing to adopt a hybrid way of working for staff where possible. 

Tenant Employment

We employ a number of staff who live locally and a number of which are also Estuary customers. We’re keen to reinvest and develop where we can. 

Sustainable Employment

Much of our staff base live in Essex, which contributes to us sustaining employment opportunities locally for the good of the greater community. 

Disability Confident Employer

We are a level 2 Disability Confident Employer as well as being a mindful employer. We offer flexible and hybrid working as well as a healthcare cash plan.

Gender Pay Gap

In 2023, we appointed a dedicated EDI lead from the People and Organisational Development (POD) team to ensure we had the resources available to embed EDI across the organisation. We agreed our EDI Strategy and Action Plan with our Executive Team and the Board and partnered with a market leader, Inclusive Employers to benchmark our existing position and gain future accreditation. In March 2024 we were successful in being awarded the ‘Bronze’ Award accreditation.

We have made progress in reducing our gender pay gap. The mean gap has decreased from 23% in 2021 to 12.2% in 2023.

• Mean gender pay gap: 12.2% (down from 16% in 2022)
• Median gender pay gap: 10.6% (down from 22.4% in 2022)
• Mean gender bonus gap: 117.1% (up from 37.5% in 2022)
• Median gender bonus gap: 8% (down from 20% in 2022)
• Proportion of male employees receiving bonuses: 5.3%
• Proportion of female employees receiving bonuses: 8.7%

Race Pay Gap:

• Our workforce is primarily white.
• The Global Majority (GM) population is higher in Care & Support roles.
• We have seen an increase in GM employees disclosing their race.
• We are working to combat non-disclosure of race information.

We are committed to diversity and inclusion. We have implemented initiatives such as CV anonymisation and are developing an Equality Analysis process and training programs. We’re also working to improve diversity at the Board, Executive Team and Senior Leadership Team levels.

Board Members

	Ian Green OBE Chair of the Board Joined Sept 2022 Board of Management,  Director of Accession Homes
	Ian Martin Chief Executive Joined Nov 2012 Board of Management, Director of Accession Homes Ltd, Director of Estuary Homes Design Ltd
	Jacqueline Adusei Independent Director Joined Dec 2023 Board of Management, Customer Experience Committee
	Michael Hajimichael Chief Financial Officer Joined Jul 2018  Board of Management, Director of Accession Homes Ltd, Director of Estuary Homes Design Ltd
	Carli Harper-Penman Board Member Joined Dec 2023 Board of Management, Customer Experience Committee
	Suzanne Horsley Independent Director Joined Dec 2023 Board of Management, Customer Experience Committee, Board of Management
	Marie Li Mow Ching Senior Independent Director Joined Dec 2023  Board of Management, Governance & Remuneration (Chair), Audit and Risk (April 2024-present)
	Julie Parker Board Member Joined Sept 2023 Board of Management, Audit and Risk Committee
	Simone Russell Board Member Joined Dec 2018 Board of Management, Audit and Risk Committee
	Patrick Symington Board Member Joined Sept 2021 Board of Management, Audit and Risk (Chair), Governance & Remuneration, Director of Estuary Homes Design Ltd
	Carol Williams Board Member Joined Sept 2021 Board of Management, Customer Experience (Chair), Governance & Remuneration

Summary

The economic environment caused challenges during the year, such as high-cost inflation, a tight labour market, and contractor and supply chain pressures. Despite these challenges, Estuary has been able to respond and remain financially resilient compared to many other Register Providers in the sector. 
Estuary is reporting a Turnover of £40.0m (2022/23: £40.0m), an Operating Surplus of £10.0m (2022/23: £10.0m) and a Surplus for the year of £1.1m (2022/23: Restated Surplus of £1.7m).

Estuary’s Turnover is £40.0m (2022/23: £40.0m). This comes following a decision to temporarily pause the Group’s Development activities during 2021/22 and 2022/23. This year also reflects a full year following the transfer of income from our Registered Care Homes to Supported Living Homes. Rental Income increased £2.5m from £31.0m in 2022/23 to £33.5m in 2023/24. This was due to the 7% increase in annual rental income allowable under the Rent Standard, rental income received from new units delivered during the year and transfer of Care and Support income tenures as noted above.

Estuary’s Operating Surplus is £10.0m (2022/23: £10.0m). Included within the Operating Surplus is the expense for fire and gas safety remedial works at the Group’s high-rise buildings totalling £0.6m (2022/23: £0.6m).

The Group achieved a Surplus for the year of £1.1m (2022/23: Restated Surplus of £1.7m). Included within this is a loss on the value of our market rented properties of £1.7m, being £2.9m less than the gain of £1.2m recognised in 2022/23 and Interest Payable of £9.2m, being £0.8m greater than £8.4m in 2022/23. 

Funds Breakdown

Income and Expenditure	2023/24	2022/23 Restated
Turnover	£40m	£40m
Turnover - Social Housing Lettings	£33.5m	£31m
Operating Surplus^	£10m	£10m
Interest Payable	£9.2m	£8.4m
Surplus/(Deficit) for the year	£1.1m	£1.17m
Comprehensive Gain/(Loss)	£0.3m	£1.3m
Balance Sheet
Tangible Fixed Assets - Housing Properties	£284.1m	£286.25m
Investment Properties	£55.8m	£57.3m
Capitalised Major Repairs	£2.3m	£2.7m
Debt	£220.7m	£228.0m
Deferred Grant Income	£135.3m	£136.0m
Reserves	£78.6m	£78.2m

^ - Operating Surplus adjusted in 2020/21 to include the “Gain on movement of fair value of investment properties” and “Share of net profits of the jointly controlled entity” for presentation purposes.