Aster Corporate Report

8/13/2019 Aster Corporate Report

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_MANAGING CHANGE FOR THE FUTURE

ANNUAL REVIEW 2011-2012

Moving forward


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WWW.ASTER.CO.UK WWW.ASTER.CO.UK_02 _03

Contents_OUR PERFORMANCE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

The story of the year _04

Investing in communities _06Putting people first _08Improving our neighbourhoods _12Building homes _14Financial highlights _16Our year in numbers _22


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GROUPCHIEF EXECUTIVEBJORN HOWARD

The storyof the year_GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW

During the past year the

housing landscape has

radically changed, with

the reduced housing

budget, changes to

tenure, rents, welfare

and benefits, all of

which have brought

various challenges to

our business.

92millionturnover

675millionassets

Middle: Signingsession atTestway Housein Andover,Hampshire

Above:BetterOff Greenproject atWaiblingenRoad in Devizes

Aster Homesdevelopment inAbbottswood,Hampshire

_04 _05

A confident future ahead

Its easy to set grand-sounding goals, or make

lofty commitments. But turning words into deeds

is harder. Over the past year Aster Group has tried

once again to display a pride in performance and

a passion for excellence. And its pleasing to read

in this report stories of where weve managed to

do just that. Asters biggest change in the past year

was our restructure into four new businesses: Aster

Communities, Aster Homes, Aster Living and Aster

Property. This step, involving and supported by our

customers, shareholders and regulators, was really

significant. Because we now have teams focusing

exclusively on excellence for their own customers.

A powerful example was Aster Living, which came

together from Ridgeway and our care and support

teams at Flourish Homes and Testway on November

2011. Aster Livings Home Improvement Agency (HIA)

has also continued to perform well and provides a

range of help, assistance and support services to

elderly and disabled people across Somerset.

The agency is funded by a strategic partnership

consisting of Somerset County Council, the five

District Councils and the Somerset NHS. The

type of services provided include free advice and

support to help customers remain independent intheir own homes, repairs and adaptations, a home

from hospital service and a friendly repairs and

maintenance service called Handihelp.

Another great story was Aster Property, our new

maintenance and asset management business,

which through relentless efficiency saved over 1

million during the year. This is money we can now

reinvest in better services for local people. All 1,200

Aster colleagues were immensely proud to serve

more than 40,000 customers in the past year.

Of course we didnt (and dont) get everything

right first time, every time. But with your continued

support were committed to being even stronger

and better in the year ahead. And thats a promise.

Bjorn Howard

Group CEO

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Investing incommunities_CUSTOMERS ARE AT THE HEART OF OUR BUSINESS

Putting customers at theheart

In September 2011 we launched a

recruitment campaign to get Aster

customers more involved in social

housing decisions. Three customer

boards were created representing

our regions Somerset, Wiltshire

and Hampshire and continuing to

work with customers in Devon and

Cornwall to give them the same

opportunities and form their own

customer board. Each customer board

is made up of six local customers, a

representative from the local authority,

an independent person and Asters

regional director. The customer boards

form part of our new governance

structure for Aster Communities.

The customer boards review how

Aster Communities housing servicesare performing, suggest areas for

change, identify opportunities for

improvements and make decisions

about the direction the business

should take in the future.

In 2011 Aster Property was successful

in making efficiency savings of 1.5

million and one of the customer

boards first tasks was to consider

how we might use this money to

improve our services to customers.

The customer boards continue to

be actively involved in the next

stages of our development working

with Synergy Housings customers

as we plan for the future merged

organisation.

Embedding customerinvolvement

In November 2011 we launched a

resident involvement DVD which

we developed working closely with

customers who advised on the

content and design. Several customers

appeared in the DVD showcasing

some of the activities theyve been

involved in. Weve used the DVD in

our office reception area, at events

and shown it to our new residents

as part of their sign-up process

when they move in. Weve also used

YouTube with 1,313 views to date.

In the past year weve involved 250

customers in many ways including

mystery shoppers, skills training,

events and residents groups.

Community engagement

and partnership

Last year we launched a new grants

programme called Wishing on a Star.

This replaces previous programmes

run by each of the housing

associations, and provides a single,

simplified process for awarding grants

in local communities. Each region

has a dedicated budget; 39,000 in

Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset

and 8,000 in Devon & Cornwall. This

money funded many projects helping

people to remain fit and active, find

work, cope with disabilities and build

community spirit. Projects funded in

the past year have included fun days

and sporting events for children such

as riding for the disabled.

Weve worked with communities, local

residents groups and other partners

to develop a range of community

activities. This included the Fun in

the Sun programme which offered

hundreds of children free sports

activities through the summer months,

with Aster Communities working

closely with Wiltshire Council.

We created a special outdoor art

exhibition in Andover, Hampshire to

showcase the artwork created by

members of the local community

with over 60 people attending the

display. In Somerset, we organised

free activity sessions for children in

partnership with Somerset Police

and other local communities groups,

creating an opportunity for children to

compete in mini-football tournaments,

arts and crafts and other play

activities.

Active engagement with our customers is

fundamental to us providing the right

services now and in the future.

Top:Aster customer ata pavement-painting

project in Pewsey

Bottom:Astercustomers at the

opening of SingersKnoll in Frome

215involvedcustomers

_06 _07

125,000in new grants forcommunity projects

With Andover Darts Youth Academy,

we launched a pilot scheme called

Darts in Schools, using the game

to improve childrens mathematical

skills. The pilot scheme at Smannell

and Enham Primary School produced

impressive results and great feedback

from children and parents. And now

were looking to promote the scheme

in other local schools.



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The Supporting People programme was

introduced in 2003 to provide funding for

support services for vulnerable people.

These include older people, those with

mental health needs and services forpeople with learning disabilities. As part of

the governments cost-cutting programme,

budgets for supporting people have

been reduced. And commissioning local

authorities face competing priorities on

where to spend their budgets. Were

committed to continuing to provide high

quality care and support services which

are increasingly in demand. And to help

us continue to do this we created Aster

Living, combining our services previously

provided across central south and south

west England by Ridgeway Community

Housing Association, Flourish Homes

and Testway Housing. By bringing this

expertise together weve created a new

division employing more than 400 care

and support staff and providing services to

over 12,000 customers.

Puttingpeople first

_SUPPORTING OUR MOST VUNERABLE RESIDENTS

Aster Living telecare customer

400care andsupport staff

We want people to

enjoy independent

and healthy lives atthe heart of their

community.

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Promoting independent communityliving

Last year we were selected by Wiltshire Council to

deliver its care and support services to over 1,000customers in the south and east of Wiltshire for the

next five years. The new contract Help to Live at Home

provides new services combining traditional homecare

with support for older, vulnerable and disabled

people. This lets them continue leading their own lives

independently and live in their own homes longer.

For the past 13 years weve been providing a

handyperson service across the south. In 2010

Handihelp was the first handyperson service in

England to receive a TrustMark, a Government-backed

scheme recognising service quality.

In April 2012 we celebrated the first anniversary of

our Somerset Home Improvement Agency, funded by

a partnership of district councils, Somerset County

Council and Somerset NHS. This provides repairs

and adaptations to homes for older, vulnerable and

disabled people.

Weve also recently launched Handihelp in Hampshire

replacing our previous service Twice as Handy. This

means we can provide a more efficient and cost-

effective programme while maintaining high service

quality.

Handihelp undertake general maintenance works,

minor adaptations, plumbing work and security

measures with all work charged at a subsidised hourly

rate. We have completed over 6,000 repair jobs, 200

draught proofing schemes, 180 decorating jobs and

500 gardening jobs. We also completed 220 major

adaptations and other repair work so helping our

customers remain independent in their own homes.

Increasing our range of care and supportservices

Children and adolescents can often need specialist

support whether that be for complex care needs

or social inclusion activities away from home. We

successfully won grant funding of 107,000 from The

Henry Smith Charity and Children in Need to support a

child support worker for the next three years.

We provide a range of telecare services, from personal

alarms to sensors alerting a monitoring centre if theres

a problem. Last year we obtained accreditation by the

Telecare Services Association (TSA) for the quality

of our equipment, installation and expertise. And we

currently have 15,000 customers.

In 2011, working with Medequip (a supplier of telecare

equipment) we successfully secured the contract

to provide an Integrated Community Equipment &

Support Service (ICESS) for Wiltshire County Council

and Wiltshire NHS, for the whole county.

Two years ago we developed a scheme called Moving

Made Easy funded by Mendip District Council. This

encouraged and supported some existing customers

to downsize from family sized homes to smaller

properties freeing up houses for homeless families on

the waiting list. In the past two years 15 tenants have

successfully downsized making a real difference to

homelessness families.

Creating more extra care housing

We completed a new extra-care housing scheme called

Keyford Heights in Frome, Somerset. This provides 36

new homes for people who want to live independent

and active lives with support and care tailored to their

needs. We now have 18 extra-care schemes in the

South and South West.

Aster Living customerattending a dramasession in Frome,

Somerset

18extra-careschemes

70shelteredschemes

_11

Customer at CrammerCourt, Devizes with amember of the AsterLiving staff

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Improving ourneighbourhoods_LISTENING MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

Efficiently managing repairs andgas servicing

In 2011, we rebranded our property

management services to create Aster

Property. This is responsible for the repairs

and maintenance of over 17,000 homes

owned by Aster Group companies.

The new structure means we can focus on

continually improving our services whilst

remaining cost effective.

Sustainable homes

We continue to invest significantly inensuring our existing homes continue to

be desirable and sustainable. We spent

28 million on improving our homes and

communities including routine and major

repairs.

During 2011/12 we invested 16.9 million on

delivering planned improvements as well as

redecoration contracts and specialist works

like electrical upgrades. This included 576

new kitchens, 327 new bathrooms and 806

boilers/heating installations.

We exceeded our target for income

generated from external organisations and

in 2011/12 returned a net profit of 12%. The

profit generated from our external contracts

provides additional funds to help with

neighbourhood improvement projects.

We introduced a new estate inspection process

last year to ensure we worked more closely with

residents and other partners to ensure we helped

to improve local neighbourhoods.

Investing in people

Weve continued with our apprenticeship

programme, providing young people with

opportunities to gain skills and qualifications

as plumbers, gas engineers, electricians and

decorators. West Berkshire Training Consortium

recently presented Aster Property with an award

recognising our investment in training. A new

company-wide apprenticeship programme was

launched in 2011 extending the apprenticeship

programme across the Aster Group offering

positions in housing and business administration

roles as well as the more traditional trades.

Creating pleasant

and sustainable

neighbourhoods where

people want to live.

Top:Bathroomat Aster Homesnew developmentin Abbotswood,Hampshire

Bottom: Aster Homesdevelopment atSingers Knoll in Frome,Somerset

327new bathrooms

_12 _13

Greener Environment

Aster is committed to looking after our

environment and weve a dedicated team

focusing on environmental management

and reducing our carbon footprint in our

construction projects and day-to-day

operations. Weve introduced projects

in the past year to enhance our sector-

leading approach on sustainability

(recently recognised by being shortlisted

for the Sustainable Housing Awards

2012).

Weve been encouraging local

communities to think about how they

can minimise the impact they have on

the environment and save money with

our Better off Green project. This has

also been nominated for a Community

Involvement/Engagement award at the

Sustainable Housing Awards 2012.

Neighbourhood Regeneration

Last year we started work on three major

regeneration projects in Somerset and

Wiltshire to improve neighbourhoods.

We want to support our customers and

communities to live in safe, attractive,

sustainable and positive places. And we

work closely with residents to identify key

areas for improvement.

One example is the Hillmead Estate in

Shepton Mallet, Somerset which includes

13 blocks of flats built around 40 years

ago. Through extensive consultation with

local residents we identified key areas for

improvement and work has started on a

range of projects including loft insulation

and roof ventilation, electrical cabling

upgrade, private gardens and balconies

and new communal bin areas.


26miles ofelectric cablefitted


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Buildinghomes_PROVIDING COMMUNITIES WITH THE HOUSING THAT THEY NEED AND WANT

Ensuring new homes for the future

As part of the New Futures Partnership we

were successful in bidding for development

funding from the Homes & Communities

Agency. The Partnership will receive 10 million

towards the building of 600 new affordable

homes over the next four years. To receive this

allocation weve adopted the Affordable Rent

programme, charging rents of up to 80% of

market rent on our new homes and some of our

existing homes. This raises additional funds to

help us continue building new homes.

The first large-scale passivhaus affordable

housing development in Cornwall was

completed last year, providing 20 new

affordable homes for rent and sharedownership. Each home has been built with

super insulation to keep homes warm, a heat

recovery system and solar panels to help

provide more affordable energy costs.

Plugging the funding gap

In 2011 we created Aster Homes, which

provides design and build services to

businesses within the Aster Group and other

housing associations. This new company

offers a range of services including large-scale

regeneration, land purchase and development

agency services. This commercial subsidiary

helps us build and buy homes for private

sale and rent, reinvesting the profits to the

charitable parts of our organisation. This will go

some way to replacing government funding so

Aster can continue to provide affordable homes

and community initiatives. In February 2012 we

completed our first ten homes for open market

sale in Chippenham.

Shared ownership continues to be a popular

option for many customers and demand far

exceeds supply. Last year we completed over100 shared ownership homes, allowing people

to access home ownership affordably. This

included the development of a Grade II listed

building in Bristol, previously the headquarters

of Imperial Tobacco, creating 36 shared

ownership homes.

In December 2011 we signed a contract with

Wiltshire Council to deliver 350 new affordable

homes in Wiltshire through a Private Finance

Initiative (PFI). The PFI allows local authorities

to work with private sector partners to build,

improve and manage housing. This scheme is

just one of 13 the government has continued

to support following its spending review in

November 2010. The first phase of construction

of 242 homes started in January 2012, with

eight homes completed in Westbury and

handed over to new residents in August 2012.

Working with local communities

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

introduced in March 2012 creates more emphasis

on community involvement at an early stage of

development.

The Localism Act introduced in April 2012, marks a

shift of responsibility for planning from government

back to local communities. Some of the measures

introduced directly affect housing like the

Community Right to Build, changes in social housing

regulation and the introduction of flexible tenures.

This provides an opportunity for us to work together

with local authorities and communities, to ensure we

provide housing local communities need and want.

Regeneration of existing sites

Many of our current schemes include redeveloping

existing properties no longer fit for purpose.

We recently completed a 16 million redevelopment

of an estate in Frome, working closely with Westbury

Partnerships and the Homes & Communities Agency.

We replaced 54 properties with 133 new homes.

And we also built a 36-unit extra care housing

scheme. The local community played a key role in the

regeneration scheme.

Aster Homesdevelopment Ford

Farm View in Cornwall

_14 _15

The need for affordable housing has never

been greater and we have continued to

develop new properties during the year.

224new homes

100sharedownershipschemes



9/13

Governance at Aster Group

A group leadership team led by the

group chief executive works with

Aster Groups board. The non-

executive directors bring a diverse

range of skills and experience to

ensure that Aster is run in an efficient

and effective manner, and that we

meet our established high standards

of corporate governance and ethics.

Aster Group Board

Colin Martin Chair

Bob Cribb Deputy ChairJohn Brace Group Resources Director

Doug Fisher (1)

Carey Gage (1)

Anne Goymer (1)

Sally Higham

Bjorn Howard Group Chief Executive

John McGibbon

Wendy Murphy (1)

Phillip Owens

Roger Shepherd (1)

Mary Watkins

Rob Yates

Aster Communities, Aster Property, Aster Living and

Aster Homes each have their own board and details of

their membership can be found on our website

www.aster.co.uk

In addition four new customer boards were set up in 2011

as part of our governance structure, whose membership

is made up of our customers across the regions in which

we work.

Aster Group continues to perform well

The financial climate continues to look uncertain with the

double dip recession, the ongoing Euro crisis, banking

scandals and restricted lending making life difficult for

many, but Aster Group continues to perform well, with

turnover reaching 92 million last year.

A planned increase in repairs activity led to a small

drop in the operating surplus, before interest costs, to

21.3 million, which was well ahead of the budget for

the year. The low interest rate environment meant that

there was sufficient headroom in finance costs for us to

change some fixed rate agreements, bringing forward

approximately 5.2 million of interest from future years

and saving well over 5.5 million in interest costs in the

next two years. Whilst this reduced the final surplus from

10.3 million in 2011 to a still very healthy 6 million in

2012, this has given us much greater financial strength

and flexibility in the two years ahead.

The last financial year saw the conclusion of the

work to amalgamate the three housing associations

in the Group to form Aster Communities, creating

greater capacity to support development in the

difficult years ahead.

It was very pleasing to conclude the Wiltshire

Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project, which will see

the first 242 homes being financed by a completely

different route involving 80 million of government

subsidy over the 22 years of the contract.

Aster Group spent a further 42 million building

more homes in 2011/12 and now owns housing

properties worth over 600 million, which are

financed by loans of just over 380 million; a sound

financial position from which to face the increasingly

uncertain times ahead.

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603million worthof properties

Income and expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2012

(000) 2012 2011

Turnover 92,049 83,386

Operating costs (68,702) (59,714)

Administrative expenses (2,008) (1,111)

Operating surplus (Total) 21,339 22,561

Surplus on sale of properties not developed for outright sale 708 113

Surplus/(deficit) on sale of other fixed assets 3 (57)

Interest receivable 226 255Interest payable and similar charges (17,273) (11,887)

Other finance costs (222) (619)

Surplus on ordinary activities for the year before taxation 4,781 10,366

Tax on surplus on ordinary activities 2 (433)

Surplus on ordinary activities for the year after taxation 4,783 9,933

Transfers from designated reserves 7 6

Transfers from revaluation reserves 1,239 354

Retained surplus for the year after reserve movements 6,029 10,293

Aster Group Income & Expenditure and Balance Sheet

Balance sheet as at 31 March 2012

(000) 2012 2011

Housing properties 602,561 582,543

Other fixed assets 17,958 17,995

Total fixed assets 620,519 600,538

Current assets 54,174 24,919

Creditors:amounts falling due within one year (17,377) (15,824)

Total assets less current liabilities 657,316 609,633

Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year 380,332 347,814Provisions for liabilities and charges - 58

Pension liability 17,231 12,518

Capital and reserves

Revaluation reserve 241,128 235,296

Restricted reserve 208 208

Designated reserves 56 63

Revenue reserve 38,507 29,297

Pension fund deficit (20,146) (15,621)

Total 657,316 609,633

The figures above for the years ending 31 March 2012 and 2011 relate to Aster Group which included Aster Group Limited,

Aster Communities, Aster Property, Aster Living, Aster Homes Limited, Silbury Housing Holdings Limited and Silbury

Housing Limited.

Financialhighlights_A STRONG PERFORMANCE IN AN UNCERTAIN CLIMATE

(1) Retired from the Aster Group Board May 2012


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(000) 2012 2011

Turnover 80,956 77,468


Operating surplus (Total) 23,532 19,805

Surplus on sale of properties not developed for outright sale 708 113

Deficit on sale of other fixed assets (1) (16)

Gift aid receipts - 382

Interest receivable 343 369Interest payable and similar charges (17,273) (11,881)

Other finance costs (239) (543)

Surplus on ordinary activities for the year before taxation 7,070 8,229

Tax on surplus on ordinary activities - 26

Surplus on ordinary activities for the year after taxation 7,070 8,255

Transfers to designated reserves - (3)

Transfers from revaluation reserves 1,239 1,280

Retained surplus for the year after reserve movements 8,309 9,532

Aster Communities Income & Expenditure and Balance Sheet


(000) 2012 2011

Housing properties 602,567 577,263

Other fixed assets 21,510 19,632

Total fixed assets 624,077 596,895




Creditors:amounts falling due after more than one year 363,222 347,814Provisions for liabilities and charges - 58

Pension liability 15,610 11,351


Revaluation reserve 241,134 234,302

Restricted reserve 208 208

Designated reserves 14 14

Revenue reserve 33,755 25,446

Pension fund deficit (18,047) (13,944)

Total 635,896 605,249

The figures above for the years ending 31 March 2012 and 2011 relate to Aster Communities which was formerly Flourish

Homes Limited, Sarsen Housing Association Limited and Testway Housing Limited.


(000) 2012 2011

Turnover 11,364 5,472


Operating surplus (Total) 14 806

Deficit on sale of other fixed assets - (8)

Interest receivable - 1

Interest payable and similar charges - (152)

Other finance costs - (12)Surplus on ordinary activities for the year before taxation 14 635

Tax on surplus on ordinary activities - -

Surplus on ordinary activities for the year after taxation 14 635

Transfers from designated reserves 7 9

Transfers from revaluation reserves - 6

Retained surplus for the year after reserve movements 21 650


(000) 2012 2011

Total fixed assets 282 319




Creditors:amounts falling due after more than one year - 3,475

Pension liability 308 237


Designated reserves 42 49Revenue reserve 2,316 2,295

Pension fund deficit (433) (338)

Total 2,233 5,718

Aster Living Income & Expenditure and Balance Sheet

The figures above for the years ending 31 March 2012 and 2011 relate to Aster Living, formerly Ridgeway Community

Housing Association.

_18 _19


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(000) 2012 2011

Turnover 858 -

Cost of sales (783) -

Administrative expenses (106) (3)

Loss on ordinary activities for the year before taxation (31) (3)

Tax on loss on ordinary activities (1) 1

Loss on ordinary activities for the year after taxation (32) (2)


(000) 2012 2011

Current assets 1,546 51

Creditors:amounts falling due within one year (296) (53)

Total assets less current liabilities 1,250 (2)

Creditors: amounts falling due after one year 1,284 -


Profit and loss reserve (34) (2)

Total 1,250 (2)

Aster Homes Limited Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet


(000) 2012 2011

Turnover 31,846 18,618


Administrative expenses (1,902) (1,111)

Operating profit 1,046 1,468

Gift aid payments (1,192) -

Profit/(loss) on disposal of other fixed assets 4 (33)

Other finance income/(costs) 25 (22)Loss/(profit) on ordinary activities for the year before taxation (117) 1,413

Tax on surplus on ordinary activities 871 (457)

Profit for the financial year after taxation 754 956


(000) 2012 2011

Total fixed assets 927 938



Pension liability (498) (250)

Total assets less current liabilities 63 (489)


Profit and loss reserve 872 118

Pension fund deficit (809) (607)

Total 63 (489)

Aster Property Limited Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet

_20 _21

Westbury Partnershipsdevelopment in

Westbury, Wiltshire

Far left:Kitchenat Aster Homesdevelopment inAbbotswood,Hampshire

Left:Rural Youthat Singers Knoll inFrome, Somerset


12/13

Our yearin numbers_KEY FACTS AND FIGURES

327new bathrooms

806new boilers

400care andsupport staff 17

million onplannedimprovements

70shelteredschemes

15,000telecarecustomers

2 milesof kitchenworktopsfitted

6million spenton improvingproperties

6 milesof copperpiping fitted

32millioninvested innew homes

125,000in new grantsfor communityprojects

576new kitchens

100,000kitchen andbathroom walltiles fitted

Over the last twelve months we have worked tirelessly

to make real changes to our customers and our

business. These statistics speak for themselves.

_22 _23WWW.ASTER.CO.UK WWW.ASTER.CO.UK


13/13

Aster Group

Sarsen Court, Horton Avenue,

Cannings Hill, Devizes,

Wiltshire SN10 2AZ

www.aster.co.uk

Designandproductionbywww.astercreative.co.u

k

Keyford HeightsFrome

Aster Corporate Report

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