Newham Homes Asset Management Strategy

2nd Edition- 2008

DRAFTAsset Management Strategy

Newham Homes

DRAFT NEWHAM HOMES

ASSET MANAGEMENT STRATEGY 2 nd Edition 2008

CONTENTS

1. Executive Summary p3

2. Introduction p6

3. Scope of the Strategy p6

4. Drivers for the Strategy and Strategic Objectives p7

5. Strategic Context and Financial Resources p8

6. Establishing Maintenance Needs p10

7. Resident Participation p12

8. Investment and Maintenance Strategy p14

9. The 7 Major Investment Programmes p19

10. Supporting Maintenance Programmes and Responsive Repairs p23

11. Procurement p26

12. Delivery p30

Appendices p36

A. Newham Council’s ‘mix-and-match’ strategy for Decent Homes delivery- stock figures

B. Newham Homes’ forecast capital funding 2006-11C. Sheltered Housing SchemesD. Newham Homes’ Indicative Capital Programme 2006-11E. Organisation structure charts

Title: Asset Management Strategy V4.0 Page 2 of 36

Newham Homes

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1 This strategy document describes Newham Homes’ strategy for stock investment and maintenance as it has developed by spring 2008, following the completion of the procurement of the partnering frameworks that will deliver the bulk of the Decent Homes programme. It covers all Newham Council’s rented and leasehold stock (except those in let PFI contracts), all building components, all delivery methods (from major capital projects to responsive repairs), and both capital and revenue sources of funding.

1.2 Key drivers for the strategy are: Newham Homes’ Delivery Plan integration with the Newham Council’s Housing Strategy and HRA Business Plan achievement of the Government’s Decent Homes objectives Value for Money resident aspirations

1.3 Our strategic objectives are to: anticipate capital and revenue funding identify the need for repair and improvement invest prudently in major projects and planned maintenance, so as to reduce

future maintenance costs optimise the proportion of revenue repairs spending on planned maintenance achieve a high level of resident satisfaction secure long term value for money ensure satisfactory thermal comfort integrate the maintenance and improvement process

1.4 Newham Council has over 19,000 rented homes, of which it is estimated 11,720 were non-Decent at the Decent Homes baseline in 2001, and 9,611 in April 2006. Newham has taken a ‘mix-and-match’ approach to tackling investment and regeneration needs in its housing stock, with some of its neediest stock being tackled by PFI and major regeneration projects which should achieve the Decent Homes standard in those areas by the government target of 2010.

1.5 For its ‘mainstream’ solution for the bulk of its stock, Option Appraisal led the Council to choose the creation of an ALMO. The government agreed the Council’s ‘bid’, and Newham Homes ‘went live’ on 1 December 2005. Providing funding is forthcoming at the levels anticipated, Newham Homes should also achieve the Decent Homes standard in the remainder of the stock by the end of 2010.

1.6 Maintenance investment needs are established through a stock condition database based on a comprehensive survey covering most building components in 100% of the stock externally and 10% internally. Additional data is constantly added to refine its accuracy. This data assessment is refined by professional technical assessments to plan and prioritise future investment needs, covering every building element.

1.7 Resident participation is key to our strategy. At a strategic level, Borough-wide Tenant Liaison Committee is consulted on the Housing Strategy Statement Update, the Annual Business Plan and the annual update of the Indicative Capital Programme, and operational maintenance strategies. Residents are involved in developing standard specifications and in selection during the procurement process.


Newham Homes

Our Tenant Consultation Protocol provides for maximum choice and consultation at a scheme level, and feedback surveys are arranged on individual projects.

1.8 We are committed to best practice in maintenance policy, and intend to build on our excellent record in energy efficiency, for instance by improving the environmental impact of our operations in other areas and by continuing to review the scope and standards of our standard specifications.

1.9 Our investment strategy is designed to achieve residents’ aspirations for ‘Modern Homes’, picking up not only the Decent Homes standard but also other elements of maintenance and improvement which are essential for prudent asset management and creating sustainable communities. We have developed 7 major programmes designed to meet these investment needs by the end of 2010, based on the principle of optimising economy and efficiency, and minimising inconvenience to residents.

1.10 Every one of our homes should receive external work to the extent necessary to meet Decent Homes and good maintenance standards over the period to the end of 2010, thus laying the basis for a cyclical planned maintenance programme and sound asset management.

1.11 We anticipate making a substantial contribution to Newham Council’s ‘Gershon’ efficiency savings. We are moving towards the Audit Commission target of 60% of repairs and maintenance expenditure being spent on planned maintenance, reducing responsive expenditure to 40% of revenue, thus reaping benefits of economy and efficiency. Expenditure on responsive repairs is planned to fall as a result of this change in delivery; the impact of major capital investment on poor property condition; and reducing stock numbers.

1.12 We are committed to the ‘Egan agenda’, and see strategic partnering as the prime tool for delivering best value, continuous improvement and quality results for our residents, through constructive long-term relationships with constructors and suppliers. This is particularly important because of the need to control costs and ensure continuity of supply in the face of the accelerating ‘boom’ in the building industry in our sub-region. We are procuring all our 7 major investment programmes through a series of frameworks, each agreed with a specific constructor. We will also apply partnering principles to our main servicing and responsive maintenance requirements.

1.13 Client-side planning and delivery are managed by Newham Homes’ new integrated Property and Asset Management Service. Asset management strategy, programme and policy development lead through to robust project management arrangements for programme delivery. Client-side delivery of an integrated maintenance service is provided by our Technical Services Group, while the Mechanical and Electrical Group provides expertise on building services ‘in-house’.

1.14 Making the most of experience and constructive relationships, our in-house direct labour maintenance force is re-engineered as the Repairs and Maintenance Service, released to focus on continuously improving the quality of the service at a controlled cost, achieving best value for our residents.

1.15 Responsive repairs can be reported by residents to Newham Homes’ call centre or via Community Housing Services staff, or at Newham Council’s Local Service Centres in order to maximise customer accessibility. It is planned to improve the service significantly by a project to increase the number of repairs that are ‘right first time’, and by optimising the numbers of ‘emergency’ and ‘urgent’ repairs.


Newham Homes

1.16 Finally, an Action Plan is provided to show how it is planned to improve the planning and delivery of our housing maintenance and improvement services. Tasks are identified in particular areas where progress is required, and sub-tasks with target timescales are included.


Newham Homes

2. INTRODUCTION

2.1 What this Strategy encompasses

This document covers:

the strategic framework for investment, repair and maintenance operations

the strategic drivers for them

the strategic objectives they are intended to achieve

the identification of repair and improvement needs

the planned utilisation of financial resources so as to meet strategic objectives and repair and improvement needs

resident participation in planning, delivery and performance assessment

the organisational framework to deliver the operations

procurement methods

provision for reviewing the strategy to maintain relevance, and an action plan to develop it further

2.2 The development of an Asset Management Strategy

Newham Council had in recent years adopted a complex and sophisticated Housing Maintenance and Improvement Strategy. However, Newham Homes as an Arm’s Length Management Organisation (ALMO) has now developed its own Asset Management Strategy, using the opportunity to widen the strategic scope and to incorporate new initiatives, in conjunction with residents’ representatives to ensure it maximises customer-focus. This was agreed by Newham Homes’ Board in July 2006. Since then Newham Homes has achieved 2-star status in the Audit Commission inspection of autumn 2006, There has also been further development in our strategies and development processes, particularly as our partnering frameworks came to fruition. This means that to keep our Asset Management Strategy up to date, a second, updated edition of the Strategy document is required.

3. SCOPE OF THE STRATEGY

3.1 The Asset Management Strategy covers:

Rented and leasehold stock

All building components, including mechanical and electrical services

All methods of delivery, including partnering frameworks, “one-off” major projects, planned and cyclical maintenance, and responsive repairs

Both capital and revenue sources of funding


Newham Homes

3.2 Our intention is to develop an integrated and seamless maintenance and improvement process, within which major capital investment projects, planned and cyclical revenue programmes, and one-off responsive repairs complement each other and create synergy, rather than overlap with each other or mismatch.

3.3 It is intended to review the Asset Management Strategy as part of the review process for Newham Homes’ Delivery Plan, which in turn will integrate with Newham Council’s Housing Strategy review process. This is to ensure it is still ‘fit for purpose’ and the most effective way to meet the Council’s strategic objectives in the field of housing asset management, maintenance and improvement.

4. DRIVERS FOR THE STRATEGY AND STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

4.1 Key drivers for the Strategy are:

Modern Homes – maximising achievement of the Newham Homes’ Board’s objectives for refurbishing homes, including the target for no Council homes to fail any “Decent Homes” criteria by the end of the ALMO’s investment period.

Value for Money – establishing procurement methodologies that ensure the limited financial resources available stretch as far as possible, ensuring tenants and leaseholders receive quality repairs and improvements at the best possible price.

Resident Aspirations – maximising the satisfaction of tenants’ and leaseholders’ aspirations, by consulting effectively and by continuously improving customer services.

Integration with Newham Council’s Housing Strategy and HRA Business Plan – ensuring maintenance and improvement investment and the operations resulting from it are based on corporate and housing service strategies, and contribute to the achievement of the relevant objectives and targets they specify, particularly by contributing effectively to wider regeneration and by pursuing Best Value.

4.2 Our strategic objectives are to:

anticipate capital and revenue provision for maintenance and improvements

identify the need for planned maintenance and improvements, including in communal areas which have sometimes been neglected in the past, and make short and long term plans accordingly

invest prudently through capital projects and revenue-funded planned maintenance programmes, so as to maximise preventative maintenance and thereby reduce the total level of future revenue required to maintain stock in a satisfactory condition

achieve best value and continuous improvement in our investment programme by a thorough adoption of partnering methodology, delivering high quality results at an economic cost

optimise the proportion of revenue repairs spending on planned maintenance

achieve a high level of resident satisfaction


Newham Homes

secure long-term value for money

ensure satisfactory thermal comfort standards, promote energy efficiency and contribute to the elimination of fuel poverty, by improving insulation and heating

integrate the maintenance and improvement process so as to enhance complementarity between major capital investment projects, planned and cyclical revenue programmes, and one-off responsive repairs, and thus promote the use of preventative maintenance

4.3 There are significant risks to the strategy being successfully achieved:

availability of funding- while Newham Homes ALMO bid has been agreed, the 2-star status necessary for the release of the special ALMO capital funding has been achieved,, and definite allocations secured for the period up to March 2011 there are risks that economic or political changes at a national level might affect special ALMO funding (especially the £15m earmarked but as yet not allocated and thus not ‘secured’), or reduce anticipated ‘mainstream’ funding

change in regulation- statutory obligations or building regulations and similar external issues are subject to change and could have a major impact on strategy and costs (cf: the reduction of water pressure by Thames Water)

rise in the cost of building works- there is a major risk that the accelerating overheating of the building industry in the sub-region will defeat strategies used to address it, and that rising costs will lift the overall cost of the programme above the limits of funding available

unforeseen works- despite data on stock condition continuously improving in scope and accuracy, new factors sometimes become apparent that need to be addressed and that require additional funding

5. STRATEGIC CONTEXT AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES

5.1 Leila to check /update the figures in this para. Newham has a housing stock of just over 19,000 rented homes, plus almost 6,000 leasehold properties. In age profile, only 2,300 are pre-war. In terms of property type, 15,000 are flats, and of these a very significant portion- 4,400- are high-rise, in blocks of 6 or more storeys.

5.2 For an inner London borough with high levels of deprivation, the basic stock condition is comparatively good, especially as regards the external envelope, as a result of comparatively high levels of capital investment from the mid-1980s onwards. However, surveys indicate that a very substantial ‘backlog’ still needs to be dealt with through a ‘catch-up’ programme of investment. Option Appraisal and the ALMO Building Cost Model indicated capital funding in the region of £365 million will be required over the period from 2006 to meet the Decent Homes target and other essential maintenance objectives by the end of 2010/11. At the Decent Homes baseline of April 2001, we estimated that 11,720 of Newham Council homes were “non-decent” stock. As a result of prudent investment planning, the position has been kept almost the same at April 2006 (and even improved slightly at 9,611), even though stock has deteriorated and the additional funding to deal with the repair backlog and meet the Decent Homes target has not yet been obtained.


Newham Homes

5.3 Newham Council has a sophisticated 10-year Housing Strategy covering the decade 2000 to 2010, recognised as ‘fit for purpose’, which is refined and fine-tuned on an ongoing basis. It is closely integrated with the Borough’s Regeneration Strategy, and is focused on the Council’s Vision of transforming Newham into “a major business location and a place where people will choose to live and work by 2010”. It recognises that the housing management of the Council’s own housing stock, and the way financial investment in the fabric of that stock is planned and controlled, are both crucial to the wider regeneration of the Borough as a whole.

5.4 The level of housing demand in Newham is such that all our stock is lettable, but in some areas a combination of social and regeneration issues and poor stock condition threaten sustainability. In these areas, specific demolition of around 1,850 properties and replacement with new RSL housing is necessary, and major regeneration programmes are already underway. The Housing Strategy describes how specific regeneration programmes using special funding sources will deal with stock condition in particular areas simultaneously with their wider objectives, thus leaving the remainder of the stock to be tackled through a ‘mainstream’ approach.

5.5 Newham Council’s strategy plans that some 2,180 homes will be demolished or have their investment needs (including the Decent Homes standard) met by 2010 through a series of major ‘special funding initiatives’:

PFI contracts covering the needs of 1016 rented and 216 leasehold homes in Canning Town (the contract started in 2005) and 937 rented and 420 leasehold homes in Forest Gate (planned to start on site in early 2008)

Canning Town Regeneration Project- This is one of only three schemes nationally in the government’s Mixed Communities Initiative, and the only one in London. Around 260 homes are being retained as Council housing and refurbished to a high standard; the remaining 1,600 unsustainable properties homes are to be demolished and replaced by new owner-occupied and RSL housing to create a more balanced community.

Brooks Estate- this project in association with New Deal for Communities has already cleared 214 non-sustainable dwellings; new RSL homes are being built and 494 Council homes refurbished to Decent Homes Standard

Carpenters Estate- one non-sustainable tall block is being decanted for demolition, while options for two others are being progressed.

5.6 Newham’s Option Appraisal led to the Council deciding in 2004 that a ‘mix-and-match’ approach was appropriate for the stock as a whole, with these special funding initiatives being tailored to the particular needs of limited areas. This left the issue of the best solution for meeting the Decent Homes Standard and other vital investment needs for the remaining ‘mainstream’ properties, which form the majority of the Council’s stock. Following expert advice and extensive resident consultation, the Council decided to form an ALMO. Appendix A illustrates the main avenues in the Council’s overall strategy for delivering Decent Homes.

5.7 Newham has two TMOs (Tenant Management Organisations), Carpenters (613 homes) and CTR Triangle (292 homes), which manage a range of functions including responsive repair and voids management. However, the delivery of major investment requirements, and the maintenance of communal areas, rests with Newham Homes.


Newham Homes

5.7 Our ALMO Building Costs Model estimated a total of £365 million capital funding would be required over the 5 year period 2006-11 to deliver the Decent Homes Standard, and meet essential maintenance and other strategic investment objectives. After taking into account estimated Major Repairs Allowance and Regional Housing Pot resources over this period, we bid under Round 5 of the ALMO Programme for £240m (£228m for Decent Homes, £12m for sustainability). The bid was accepted, but release of funding for any ALMO is subject to achieving at least a 2-star Audit Commission rating. Newham Homes’ was successful in gaining a 2-star rating as a result of inspection in autumn 2006, and the first tranche of £12 million extra funding was immediately released for 2006,07.

5.9 Apparently as a result of the Comprehensive Spending Review and greater take-up of the ALMO programme than anticipated, the government’s Communities and Local Government department (CLG) requested Newham Homes and the Council to ‘re-profile’ the special ALMO funding to allow for some £15 million (around 6%) to be pushed back to just beyond original 2006-11 investment period to 2011/12. This will have a minimal impact on investment planning, as this represents only around 2 months of expenditure at the full capacity of our partnering frameworks, and may also assist in smoothing the quantities of funding over the period.

Appendix B shows the main sources of capital funding currently forecast for the 2007-12 period.

5.9 Sheltered housing presents special challenges in terms of, because as with other local housing authorities Newham found that tenants’ expectations have changed significantly since the schemes were built, leading to letting difficulties and issues of sustainability. Thorough review led to the decanting and closure of 5 sheltered schemes which comprised largely non-self-contained bedsits, which did not meet our service standards and were difficult to let. Re-provision of higher quality sheltered housing has been achieved via partnership working with RSLs. Of our remaining schemes, 6 provide a good standard of accommodation, following a programme of capital investment which has ensured they now all have lifts, modern warden call and fire alarm systems, CCTV and security monitoring, and showers in all studio flats to make them self-contained. Of the remaining 3 schemes, a consultants’ review has confirmed that one will with investment provide high quality and sustainable accommodation, while the other two are not sustainable. Newham Homes is working with the Council to develop a satisfactory funding framework to ensure that the decanting and redevelopment of these two schemes will release funding for the refurbishment and improvement of the remaining scheme. (See Appendix C).

5.10 This para to be revised in conjunction with Surjit/ Paul M. Revenue budgetary provision for Repairs and Maintenance budget totals £14.004 million (2006/07). As reflected in the HRA Business Plan, it is envisaged that this will remain at the existing unit cost per property (including 0.5% p.a. real growth in costs) until 2010, when it is assumed that the results of prudent capital stock investment will result in a 20% reduction in revenue maintenance costs. In addition, Capital budgetary provision of £3m p.a. is planned to provide supplementary funding, for items of operational R&M responsive expenditure that fall within the capital definitions fund (major void works, replacement boilers, reactive rewiring, etc.).

5.11 In line with the government’s targets for public sector savings following the Gershon review, Newham Homes plans to make substantial savings over the next few years. The bulk of these, both ‘cashable’ and ‘non-cashable’, should be achieved through the strategic partnering initiative, right across the investment programme. This is anticipated to result in savings in procurement and management costs, in investment


Newham Homes

costs (though some of these may be used to increase the standard of specification and become ‘non-cashable’) and ongoing maintenance costs, as well as leading to continuous improvement in quality.

.5.12 An early indication of the sort of savings we hope to achieve has been identified in

our ‘Heating Plus’ programme. A new tall block internal refurbishment scheme under the new partnering framework, to Decent Homes Standard including new heating, kitchen, bathroom and rewire, has a unit cost of £12k. However, for the same scope of works on a very similar specification by the same contractor on a similar recent scheme, but prior to the framework, the cost was £18k.

5.13 However, it is intended to use value engineering to gradually identify points where various partners can identify new solutions to particular design and specification issues which can bring reduce costs for all the partners undertaking similar work. Combined with specific procurement exercises to improve costs and/or performance further down the supply chain, this should lead to continuing reductions in the out-turn costs of work over the life of the frameworks.

6. ESTABLISHING MAINTENANCE NEEDS

6.1 Our approach to investment in maintenance and improvement is centred on the comprehensive assessment of stock condition. This assessment is based on a detailed stock condition database, supplemented by complimentary methodologies based on professional assessment.

6.2 Our current stock condition database is based on Microsoft Access 2000, covering all major building components and services other than asbestos and true structural repairs (because these could not be economically ascertained in a general stock condition survey). It shows when work is required to replace or maintain the component, and the estimated cost of doing so.

6.3 The database was populated with data collected by a comprehensive stock condition survey by Hunters, covering 100% of the stock externally, and 'cloning' data for internal components from a selection of 10% of the stock. The survey had an accuracy baseline of April 2000.

6.4 The database has since been developed significantly, so it has a user-friendly 'front end' and can provide the data required for stock assessment and for investment programming with a satisfactory degree of ease. In addition, Decent Homes data can now be generated by using survey data that equates either directly to Decent Homes criteria, or to proxies that closely relate to them. The database is now held within the Amethyst Solutions ‘Asset Management System’ and is available on server to a range of officers in within Newham Homes.

6.5 The database is updated on a regular basis by Newham Home’s Data Analyst when major projects are completed. It is intended to refine accuracy further by updating for those minor works which are delivered individually but affect stock condition. This will include, for example, individual gas central heating boiler replacements, or rewiring and kitchen improvement as a result of routine void refurbishment.

6.6 Check this for accuracy. We are developing the scope of the database by incorporating detailed information on asbestos from a specialist survey, and on tall block structures from specialist surveys commissioned from council’s engineers. Accuracy is also being improved by new data for specialist areas such as communal electrics, environmental improvements and so being added.


Newham Homes

6.7 The cost data held on the database is also updated annually in line with maintenance building costs indices.

6.8 Validation of the stock condition data is carried out on an ongoing basis, and will be particularly important in checking the accuracy of the cloning assumptions in the stock condition survey. A specific one-off validation survey, focusing particularly on internal parts, was undertaken by specialist consultants in 2003, and this very largely confirmed the accuracy of the existing data.

6.9 The development of the partnering frameworks has provided the opportunity to increase the scope and accuracy of our stock condition data very significantly. All our properties except those refurbished externally in the last 2 or 3 years will receive external enveloping work at some point during the investment period, and we needed individual internal property assessments to identify what if any works were required within each home to meet the Decent Homes Standard (as our 10% sample was not suitable for this purpose), We therefore commissioned Savills surveyors to carry outa 100% scoping survey of the stock which could directly feed into schedules of work for the partnering frameworks, completing in very early 2008, However, this also brings our survey data completely up to date, increases the accuracy of internal data as it is now based on 100% surveys, and also includes assessment for all homes under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) and for Energy Performance Certificates (required for all homes being let from October 2008).

6.10 It is planned to integrate the stock condition database with the Housing Department’s Nothgate ‘iWorld’ integrated housing management computer system (known within Newham as ‘iSYS’), and thereby with the Corporate Address Database and the Land and Property Gazetteer. This will improve the functionality of both systems, and create interfaces particularly with the iSYS Estates and Repairs modules and the Planned Maintenance module, which has been progressed rapidly and should be operational in spring 2008. It is intended that major project and individual repair data will automatically be up-loaded on to the stock condition database as works are completed, and that front-line practitioners and managers will be able to access stock condition data from the iSYS front-end.

6.11 It is probable that increased functionality, improved integration with iSYS, easier operation and improved support will be provided by a move to Keystone Asset Management System during 2008.

6.12 While the Savills’ surveys (6.9) will bring our stock condition data completely up to date at the beginning of 2008, in the longer term we intend to follow the latest guidance and best practice by combining new stock condition re-assessment surveys with the specification surveys required for cyclical maintenance works. This rolling approach to surveys will ensure that an approximately equal number of properties are surveyed on a regular basis every year. This approach will have several advantages over the traditional approach of making a full check on validation through a fresh stock condition survey after, say, a 5-year interval: lower cost overall data consistently more ‘up-to-date’ on average regular work flows for staff maintaining the database avoidance of possible conflict in interpretation and format between existing and

new stock condition survey dataA fully cyclical programme cannot be introduced until the ‘catch-up’ period of investment during 2006-11 lifts all our stock to a satisfactory standard capable of a more standardised approach.


Newham Homes

7.0 RESIDENT PARTICIPATION

7.1 Importance of Residents’ Participation

Our strategy recognises the crucial importance of encouraging residents' participation throughout the planning and execution of our maintenance and improvement process, from beginning to end. Resident participation ensures that financial resources are focused most directly on needs identified by the end user; and it is also essential in maintaining confidence and the sustainability of our housing stock as a whole. The framework for resident participation in the maintenance and improvement process is outlined in 'Compact 2000', Newham's Tenant and Leaseholder Compact, and in more detail for major works in the 'Tenant Consultation Protocol'.

7.2 Strategic Direction

7.2.1 The Borough-wide Tenant Liaison Committee is consulted on the Asset Management Strategy and the annual update of the Indicative Capital Programme before it is finalised. The complex nature of the issues under discussion has meant our provision of relevant training to residents' representatives has become particularly important.

7.2.2 The framework for the overall 5 year investment programme from 2006-11, even down to the detail of the prioritisation of individual schemes, is discussed through the Tenant Liaison Committee structure. While the Decent Homes Standard and basic maintenance requirements are fairly objective and leave comparatively little scope for re-prioritisation, we recognise that the people who know most about the properties are our residents, and their views are therefore critical for establishing accurate assessment and prioritisation. Consultation on the annual reviews of the programme is carried out in the same way.

7.2.2 Newham Homes newsletter ’Update’ ensures all tenants and leaseholders are aware of the issues.

7.2.3 Residents’ focus groups have been heavily involved in setting standards (e.g. the extensive range of kitchen options, the lettable standard for voids) and, very significantly, in procurement (participating in the evaluation panels for partners for the major investment programmes). For internal modernisation options, a residents’ ‘Modern Homes Group’ selected a range of unit finishes, worktops, handles etc., and this was given a practical trial. The most popular combinations, as selected in practice by individual tenants, were then selected as recommended ‘examples’ in order to enable constructors to achieve economies of scale, while tenants are still given the opportunity to select any combination of components they wish from the most popular ranges.

7.2.4 The Resident-Led Improvement Programme, ReLIP, (developed from the Tenant-Led Improvement Programme which has run since 2000), makes a vital contribution to maximising resident involvement in major stock investment projects by allocating a substantial proportion of the annual capital programme entirely within residents' discretion. Individual residents and local tenants and residents associations identify needs across a very wide scope of work, and determine the prioritisation of the selected schemes.


Newham Homes

7.2.5 For repairs and planned maintenance, the Property and Asset Management Service regularly consults Borough-wide Tenant Liaison Committee and Newham Tenants and Residents Federation on overall strategies, and includes residents representatives on the tender evaluation panels of key contracts. Borough-wide Tenant Liaison Committee monitors operations through regular reports on performance indicators.

7.3 Scheme Consultation and Feedback

7.3.1 Tenants and residents are consulted on the design and programme details of each scheme as soon as the design team is appointed. Residents' views are particularly important in environment and security schemes where their knowledge and experience as the users of the buildings means they have a unique understanding of the potential effects of different design solutions. The 'Tenant Consultation Protocol' provides for maximum choice wherever the technical content of a scheme allows it: for instance, tenants can choose colour combinations in exterior and interior decoration and in kitchen unit components, from as wide a range as practical. Local meetings are always held prior to commencement of works, discussing how the scheme will be carried out, and how complaints will be dealt with. There is a single person responsible for residents to contact, and residents are notified of this in writing.

7.3.2 Feedback on residents’ satisfaction on major projects is arranged through a survey of all the residents who have been affected by the scheme. The survey design has been agreed with residents' representatives on the Borough-wide Tenant Liaison Committee. The survey covers the adequacy of consultation, the effectiveness of the resulting repair or improvement, and the actual process of carrying the works out. The feedback surveys have been built into a performance measurement system.

7.4 Diversity

Newham has a very diverse community. In terms of ethnicity, over half of the population is BME. This diversity and Newham Homes’ approach to equal opportunities is reflected not only in service delivery, but also in the field of resident participation. Here the Housing Services’ Resident Empowerment and Consultation Team promotes diversity in the consultation structures, both at area and borough level and in terms of local tenants’ and residents’ associations. Scheme-level consultation is designed to take into account the special needs of disabled people and those for whom English is a second language, so that the possibilities for participation are maximised.

7.5 Performance Monitoring

A range of surveys gauge resident satisfaction with responsive repairs. These include telephone surveys by the Repairs Operations Centre (ROC), and postal response surveys of the residents’ opinions both about the service from ROC and also about the actual repair works. Borough-wide Tenant Liaison Committee also monitors operations through regular reports on performance indicators.

8. INVESTMENT AND MAINTENANCE STRATEGY

8.1 Overall Planning- ‘Modern Homes’


Newham Homes

8.1.1 The stock condition database (see Section 6) is used strategically to inform overall investment strategy at a high level, by showing what the overall investment requirements are for different building components, and when and where they will arise. The HRA Business Plan and our ALMO Building Costs Model, takes into account on the one hand these levels of investment, and on the other the impact of stock loss through Right to Buy, transfer and demolition, and also the contribution of additional funding sources such as PFI and New Deal for Communities.

8.1.2 Every single building element covered by the stock condition database is now assigned to bundles of related work (e.g. ‘electrics’) which enable the investment programmes to be built up. Using the criteria of type of work and property type, 6 major investment programmes have been developed which address all the investment needs of the stock. Of these 5 are procured and delivered on a partnering basis along ‘Egan’ lines, the remaining one not being suitable due to the diverse nature of the work (environmental and security work). They have developed out of Newham Council’s previous capital programme framework which was themed around the Council’s Housing Strategy, but they have been fundamentally re-thought. While they contribute even more effectively to the Council’s objectives, they also particularly address the new context of Newham Homes as an ALMO and the additional funding that will follow from a satisfactory Audit Commission inspection. The programmes also cover Newham’s two TMOs at Carpenters Estate in Stratford and CTR in Canning Town North, as major works investment is not part of the services delegated to them. The programmes are described further in Section 9.

8.1.3 The programmes are designed to achieve the Decent Homes Standard in all of Newham Homes’ properties by the end of the investment period. In addition, they will address other key investment objectives, such as other essential maintenance items (e.g. the renewal of any lift more than 30 years old) and the environmental and security improvements necessary for community sustainability, so as to achieve Newham Homes’ objective of meeting our residents’ aspirations for ‘Modern Homes’. The following table illustrates the key issues addressed in providing modern homes for all our tenants:

Decent Homes Other Essential Maintenance Other Essential Improvements WallsWindows RoofsDoorsInternal electricsHeatingInsulationKitchens BathroomsWater Tanks

LiftsCommunal electricsCommunal and emergency lightingWarden Call systemsFire alarm systemsHeating and gas risersDoor entry/ CCTV repair/ renewalPaintingCurtlilage maintenance

Disabled adaptationsLandscapingDoor entry/ CCTV installation

8.1.4 The programmes are integrated not just with our overall strategic objectives, but also with our approach to planned maintenance, void works and responsive repairs. For instance, where a void needs major elements of the kitchen replaced, a whole new kitchen will be provided by the constructor partner to the same specification used in the main investment programmes, maximising the efficiency of the main programme by working in a void property without the costs involved in working in occupied property.

8.1.5 The procurement of the partnering frameworks (establishing cost) and the completion of the scoping surveys (establishing the quantum of works required; see 6.9) have provided an opportunity to review the affordability of the work envisaged. This


Newham Homes

means that early in 2008, it will be possible to see whether it is possible to expand the amount of work that can be done, or indeed whether it is necessary to reduce it.

8.1.6 Newham Homes’ investment plans have always been based on a strict interpretation of the Decent Homes Standard. ‘Modern Homes’ exceeds the Decent Homes Standard because:- the standard of specification (for example, for kitchens, bathrooms, heating and

windows) is higher than the minimalist standard implied in the DHS- it includes environmental, security work and other improvements where these are

central to residents’ aspirations and good management- it includes esstential maintenance work apparently intended to be outside the

DHS e.g. lift renewal, electrical riser replacementHowever, it has always had a strict understanding of the DHS itself. A major implication of this is that investment plans have allowed, unless exceptional circumstances applied, for the renewal of only a kitchen or a bathroom, and only where both ‘failed’ the DHS age and condition criteria. We have been considering whether it may be possible to expand the scope of internal works from renewing a kitchen or a bathroom where both are ‘old and in poor condition’ (as required by the Decent Homes Standard), to replacing each kitchen where it is ‘old and in poor condition’ and each bathroom where it is ‘old and in poor condition’. The former criterion has always been clear in Newham Homes’ consultation and literature, ever since launch. Obviously, Newham Homes would like to achieve the ‘higher’ standard, which would also be much easier in terms of consultation, resident liaison and delivery, and would meet residents’ higher expectations.

8.1.7 Depending on the outcome of the affordability review, it may be possible to adopt this ‘higher’ standard of assessing the need to replace kitchens and bathrooms, or even to improve it further by reducing the age at which each is replaced.

8.2 Decent Homes Strategy

8.2.1 Using our stock condition database as a tool, we have been able not only to estimate our current Decent Homes position but also to make forecasts of the rate at which homes will become non-Decent as they age. It is much more difficult to predict the rate at which homes will be made Decent (or prevented from becoming non-Decent) because of the elemental nature of the Decent Homes Standard criteria. The consequence of the criteria is that for an evenly-spread programme of investment over a period of years which will successfully result in the elimination of non-Decency at the end of the period, the rate at which homes become wholly Decent will accelerate over the period, as the renewal of separate external and internal elements combine to meet the Standard. However, it must be emphasised that while the rate at which progress is made towards the Decent Homes target is extremely complex to estimate, the works required to achieve the target by the end of the period (and the funding required for them) are clearly identified through the stock condition database, subject to the provisos that apply to the underlying survey data.

This table illustrates the forecast position over the initial investment period for the number of homes becoming non-Decent, and the indicative estimate for the overall non-Decent Homes position taking into account the impact of investment:

Leila to check out revised figures for this table.

2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 to end 2010


Newham Homes

Non-Decent at start of year 9611 9067 8037 6283 4459Homes becoming Non-Decent during year 816 890 871 1681 115Homes being made Decent during year 1000 1600 2400 3300 4539Non-Decent at end of year*(adjusted for loss of stock)

9067 8037 6283 4459 0

8.2.2 However, the development of a detailed programme of works over the initial investment period, specifying individual homes currently identified as requiring work to meet the Standard, means that it becomes possible to generate a more tailored estimate of how the investment programme will impact on Decent Homes figures in the intervening years before the target is achieved. When the draft programmes are fully developed, revised forecasts will be produced of the annual progress towards the Decent Homes target.

8.3 Maintenance Policy (LEILA/GARY to check and enhance all of 8.3)

8.3.1 We are committed to developing best practice throughout our asset management and maintenance services. Important areas for innovation are in the areas of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability and in the development of robust common standard specifications for use across all our operations. To promote this the policy strategy function in the Asset Management Group is being strengthened.

8.3.2 Such is Newham Homes’ commitment to energy efficiency that we have developed a separate Energy Efficiency and Affordable Warmth Policy. In terms of investment in the stock, we have continued the Council Housing Department’s enviable record by both insulation and heating installation/replacement programmes and the prudent accessing of Energy Efficiency Commitment funding. We have been replacing outdated and expensive electrical systems with gas condensing boiler wet systems with modern controls, which are easily maintainable, cut emissions and reduce energy costs for tenants, thus combating fuel poverty.

8.3.3 We are now taking this further with the evaluation of solar panels linked to gas central heating systems to reduce energy consumption. Subject to evaluation of our trial installations, we hope to introduce this as part of the specification for future heating schemes in appropriate properties, which should completely eliminate summer water heating costs in the relevant homes.

8.3.4 All told, the average SAP rating in Newham’s stock was 60.8 at April 2005, and we are on target to reach 65 by 2010.

8.3.5 We have also (light bulbs)

8.3.6 We are also committed to improving the impact of our operations on other areas of Environmental Sustainability, and are developing a separate policy for this too. We are looking at an advanced policy of reducing waste in conjunction with our constructor partners. We will review the environmental impact of all our major building materials., and are specifically promoting the use of recycled materials as recommended by WRAP.

8.3.7 We will use the same standard specifications consistently across capital improvement, void and responsive repair works. Newham Homes’ new kitchen and bathroom specifications not only improve standards to a higher level in line with our commitment to ‘modern homes’, but are also used in all situations. For instance, whenever whole kitchen installation is required in a void, the same specification and suppliers will be used as in the capital improvement programme. This will reduce


Newham Homes

abortive work, reduce costs, and minimise inconvenience to tenants, and may in some homes result in the earlier achievement of the full Decent Homes Standard.

8.4 Major Investment Programmes

8.4.1 The overall indicative programme for the 6-year period 2006/7 to 2011/12 is attached at Appendix D. By far the greatest proportion of this programme completes in 2010, which coincides both with the target for the Council’s Vision (5.3) and with the Government’s original Decent Homes target (5.5). However, as a result of the government’s deferral of £15m of our total £240m special ALMO capital funding into 2011/12, it has been necessary to extend the period covered by our investment planning for a further year. However, this will have little practical impact, as this represents only around 2 months of expenditure at the full capacity of our partnering frameworks, and may also assist in smoothing the quantities of funding over the period. (see 5.9) As can be seen, the overall programme is broken down into a number of major programmes (especially the 6 major investment programmes), and smaller budget allocations that deal with specific issues.

8.4.2 The 6 major investment programmes (for which see Section 9) are based on the most efficient ‘bundling’ together of work, so that each home is visited once only to repair or refurbish its external components. Similarly, if a home needs internal components renewed in order to meet the Decent Homes Standard, the works are bundled together so that the home requires only a single ‘visit’ to deal with its internal requirements.

8.4.3 The identification of individual schemes within the programmes is based firstly on overall data on stock condition, which has been made fully comprehensive and up-to-date by the scoping surveys required for the partnering frameworks (see 6.9). Schemes are then prioritised in discussion with constructor partners, seeking to balance technical priority with the additional economies constructors can create from carrying out works in the most efficient order (the use of the same site compound for several successive contracts in the same area, for instance). The draft programmes are of course fully consulted on before finalisation, since the knowledge of local residents is critical to accurate assessment of priority.

8.4.4 While clearly stock condition is the prime factor in assessing investment priorities, regard is also had to environmental and strategic factors such as regeneration implications, and to the knowledge of local residents. The latter is particularly critical for environmental and security improvements, where local ‘bids’ for schemes come through local housing management staff in conjunction with residents.

8.5 Preventative Planned Maintenance

8.5.1 An efficient investment and maintenance policy will preserve the fabric of homes and building services in good condition, through effective planned maintenance programmes. It will also minimise expenditure on reactive repairs, as they are both more costly and also provide poor customer care in that they needed to be done reactively at all, rather than being forestalled by preventative work. A critical and often neglected element of a comprehensive approach to planned maintenance is to have a cyclical preventative planned maintenance programme for the basic fabric of the housing stock; this will be dealt with first, before returning to other planned maintenance programmes.


Newham Homes

8.5.2 A planned preventative maintenance programme for the envelope of our homes, carried out on a cyclical basis, is essential for maintaining all our homes in a satisfactory condition that both protects the structure of the buildings and ensures an attractive living environment, and has a major role in preventing expensive deterioration in the structure. It is also particularly important in maintaining the appearance of internal as well as external common parts, which have a major impact on the perceived desirability of flatted blocks as residential accommodation.

In 2000 the Council set up a £2 million revenue-funded programme to cover the regular re-decoration of the stock and the associated maintenance, but this was not adequate to fund an effective cyclical maintenance programme across all of our homes. The creation of Newham Homes and the funding for the Decent Homes programme has enabled a more thorough approach to the whole issue. Much of the fabric work in a cyclical maintenance programme requires preliminaries (including scaffolding) that are most efficiently provided for by ‘bundling’ the works together with other major works due on the property (e.g. window or roof replacement). Meanwhile £4 milliion revenue a year, sufficient to fund a simple cyclical maintenance programme, has been committed to fund the Investment Programme as a whole.

Accordingly, we have established a full programme of works for every one of our homes, varying by property type:Tall Blocks- all the works, both ‘minor works’ (including redecoration) and ‘component renewal’ are bundled together in a single programme (Major Investment Programme 1- Tall Block Enveloping Programme)Low-rise purpose built homes- all the works, whether major components need renewal or not are bundled together in a single programme (Major Investment Programme 2- Low-Rise Enveloping Programme)Street Properties (e.g. acquired Victorian homes)- ‘minor works’ (including redecoration), ‘component renewal’ and any necessary internal work are bundled together in a single programme (Major Investment Programme 3- Street Property Programme)

The impact of this is that all homes will be in a sound condition by 2011/12 that will not only meet the Decent Homes Standard but will also mean that the fabric is maintained to a good standard, thus physically protecting assets, reducing responsive repair costs and improving the attractiveness and sustainability of our homes.

From the end of the investment period in 2011/12, as the rate of major component renewal should reduce, the proportion of ordinary, simple ‘cyclical preventative planned maintenance’ work will increase. However, where new major external components fall due for renewal we will continue to combine the work with ‘minor works’ (including redecoration) to maximise efficiency.

8.5.3 The Audit Commission has set a target ratio for this good practice indicator of 60:40 ‘planned’ to ‘responsive’ revenue expenditure. The creation of Newham Homes has already enabled substantial progress to be made on achieving this very challenging target. New methods of working and careful budgetary planning has already meant that the proportion of ‘planned’ maintenance expenditure is already estimated at having risen from around a third to very nearly a half of the total revenue expenditure on repairs and maintenance. Budget breakdowns are shown in the table below:

Figures to be updated by Mick Seal

2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09


Newham Homes

Out-turn Out-turn Out-turn Anticipated PlannedPlanned £k £4,920kResponsive £k £8,962kTotal Revenue R&M

£13,882k

Planned % 35.4%Responsive % 64.6%

This ratio is anticipated to improve further substantially in the near future, as the major investment programmes make their impact, particularly those which ensure the envelopes of every property in the whole stock are thoroughly overhauled over the period to 2011/12 (see 8.5.2).

8.5.4 Within the planned proportion, specific budgets are allocated to each of the following programmes, to the level of need identified for each type of work (for 2007/08):

Figures to be updated by Mick Seal for 2007/08

Planned Maintenance (Envelope) £1,704k

Gas Servicing (incl. repairs) £2,421k

Lifts Servicing £475k

Water Tanks £1,000k

CCTV and Door Entry maintenance £290k

Planned decorations £314k

Asbestos Removal £784k

TV Aerials £117k

TOTAL £7,105k

These service and planned maintenance contracts are described further in Section 10.

8.6 Responsive Repairs

8.6.1 Total revenue expenditure on Responsive Repairs in 2004/5 was £8.962 million, covering all responsive repairs, including garages,etc. Figures to be updated by Mick Seal

8.6.2 It is intended that the level of responsive repairs should decrease significantly. This should result from: the increasing proportion of revenue being devoted to works undertaken on a

planned or programmed basis (see 8.3) the impact of increased capital investment eating into the maintenance backlog

and achieving the Decent Homes target, and thus in the longer term reducing the call on revenue resources for ongoing maintenance as a whole

It is already anticipated to fall to just over £7 million for 2005/06.Figures to be updated by Mick Seal

8.7 Voids


Newham Homes

8.7.1 Voids which need investment of under £15,000 to bring them up to Newham Homes Lettable Standard are renovated through a routine process by the direct labour organisation (RMS) on the basis of a tendered schedule of rates.

8.7.2 Voids with refurbishment costs of over £15,000 are almost invariably Victorian acquired properties. These are uneconomic to be brought back into lettable condition with our own resources, and are passed to the Council’s Housing and Public Protection Service.

8.8 Physical Disability

It is anticipated that the demand for disabled adaptations will continue at approximately its current level of £750k p.a. Check

To minimise the need for these, we ‘mainstream’ the needs of disabled people into our main delivery programmes as far as possible. We incorporate as many aspects of ‘lifetime homes’ in our standard specifications as is economically practical; the individual detailed design of kitchens and bathrooms is tailored to the needs of our tenants with minor disabilities; and lettings take into account the existence of adaptations carried out for the previous tenant.

To assist with this, we have increased the funding for our SLA with Newham Council’s Home Improvement Agency, to pay for a dedicated Occupational Therapy service that enables a prompt response to be made to residents whose needs have been newly identified during the initial assessments for the Modern Homes programme. Prompt action can be taken to create a suitable degree of adaptation, tailored to the individual, without disrupting the flow of work and incurring unnecessary costs.

9.0 THE 6 MAJOR INVESTMENT PROGRAMMES

9.1 The programmes are designed around the principle of bundling necessary works together in tailored packages designed for effective delivery. The result is that over the delivery period to 2011/12 almost every Newham Homes property will receive some form of external work- if it needs no major component renewed or improved, the least it will benefit from is complete decoration and overhaul repairs externally and in internal communal areas. Exceptions will be where the property has been externally refurbished very recently (in 2004/05 or later) and will not need external treatment again, based on a 7-year cycle, before 2011/12. Ideally there should be only one ‘visit’ for external work, to reduce procurement and delivery costs and to minimise inconvenience to residents. Exceptions to this will be where urgent the renewal of a particular component (e.g. communal electrics, lighting and door entry systems) cannot wait for the scheme into which those works would normally be ‘bundled’, and which for some other reason cannot itself be brought forward. Similarly, for those properties where internal investment works are required over the period, these too will also only be visited once, again to reduce costs and to minimise inconvenience to residents.

9.2 The scope and expected size of the programmes are outlined below, with current plans for packaging and delivery. Each package will be delivered by constructor partners procured on a ‘best value’ basis for the duration of the initial investment period, in order to maximise potential gains from an ‘Egan style’ relationship, including continuing improvement and economies of scale. Appendix gkjk illustrates


Newham Homes

the constructors appointed to each programme. Overall, we have appointed 9 constructor partners, each covering one or more programmes in particular areas of the borough.

9.3 Programme 1- Tall Block Enveloping Programme

Covering all our tall blocks (6 stories and over), this programme will refurbish the exterior (including renewal of windows, cladding or roofs where required) and internal common areas, bringing them all up to Decent Homes standards or keeping them there. It includes the improvement of refuse disposal arrangements, and the renewal or refurbishment of landlord’s electrics (risers, laterals and lighting) and door entry and CCTV systems where required, and remedial maintenance to the surrounding immediate environment.

It will also include the replacement of lifts where these need renewal, thus saving the expense and disruption of a separate contract involving building works and site co-ordination. Where single lifts are renewed, second lift shafts are generally provided if the building design allows and residents prefer; otherwise temporary lifts are provided during renewal. In blocks with two lifts, one is renewed at a time, and stops are provided on every floor if the existing installations are ‘skip lifts’ serving only odd and even floors respectively.

Due to the complexities of tall block structure and their building services, this programme is fully designed by specialist consultants (currently by Newham Council’s Design Services, who have very considerable historic knowledge of these buildings).

The current estimate of the programme value is up to around £40 million over the period to 2010, inclusive of professional fees. Apollo, Connaught and Mullaley have been engaged, each covering a geographical section of the borough.

9.4 Programme 2- Low-rise Windows and Roofs Plus Programme

This programme covers all our purpose-built, low-rise properties (both flats and houses), renewing major components such as windows, roofs or doors where this is necessary, but also repairing and redecoratiing externally and in internal common areas. All such homes are therefore bought up to or maintained at Decent Homes standards. It includes the improvement of refuse disposal arrangements, and the renewal or refurbishment of landlord’s electrics (risers, laterals and lighting) and door entry and CCTV systems where required, and remedial maintenance to the surrounding immediate environment.

The current estimate of the total programme value is up to around £90 million over the period to 2010, inclusive of professional fees. Apollo, Connaught, Mullaley and Breyer have been engaged, each covering a geographical section of the borough (in the case of the first three, one which overlaps significantly with their Tall Block Enveloping area to produce efficiencies).

9.5 Programme 3- Street Property Programme

Newham owns around 1,300 homes acquired from the private sector, the vast majority of them dating from the Victorian period. These vary dramatically in location,


Newham Homes

condition and layout, and we have developed a separate programme to accommodate this by providing individually specified, comprehensive refurbishment inside and out, to ensure the properties meet the Decent Homes Standard.

The current estimate of the total programme value is up to around £30 million over the period to 2010 inclusive of professional fees. Apollo, Mullaley and Mansell have been appointed. The first two will each cover properties in an area of the borough overlapping with their other work; Mansell will at least initially concentrate on an estate of former Port of London Authority homes which need major structural alterations to bring them up to acceptable modern standards.

9.6 Programme 4- Heating Plus

This programme centres on renovating homes to meet our ‘Modern Homes’ standard where any central heating work required needs to be fully designed because of the technical implications. This applies to tall blocks (6 stories and over) and to the replacement of obsolete district heating schemes. Any homes in the programme receive any heating, kitchen, bathroom or rewiring work that is required to meet the standard. The programme will install new gas wet central heating systems in those properties that still have obsolete space heating of different types. In addition, many boilers in older gas wet central heating systems will require replacement by 2010 in order to meet the DHS, and in many cases (e.g. where back boilers are involved) technical requirements mean that this will entail the replacement of the entire heating system.

Resident choice is paramount. Resident representatives can choose from a selection of component colours, styles and finishes available for both bathrooms and kitchens, in terms of units, worktops, flooring, tiling, etc.(see 7.2.3)

In addition, this programme is intended to deliver a pilot project for solar heating. This will cover a limited number of properties where the installation, maintenance and impact on energy consumption of different solar heating systems can be carefully monitored. If successful, appropriate systems will then be selected for installation more widely over the delivery period up to 2011. The systems are intended to use solar energy for water heating, reducing gas consumption and also therefore reducing carbon dioxide emissions and reducing fuel poverty.

The current estimate of the total programme value is up to £50 million over the period to 2010 inclusive of professional fees. EPS and United House have been engaged, each covering a geographical section of the borough.

9.7 Programme 5- Internal Modernisation

This programme provides new kitchens in the remaining purpose-built properties where the Heating Plus programme has not resulted in the home meeting our ‘Modern Homes’ standard. (largely low-rise flats and houses). Any homes in the programme receive any heating, kitchen, bathroom or rewiring work that is required to meet the standard.

We use the same specifications and range of residents’ choices as in the Heating Plus programme.


Newham Homes

The current estimate of the total programme value is £90 million over the period to 2010, inclusive of professional fees. Given the volumes involved, 6 constructor partners have been engaged, each covering properties in a geographical sector of the borough. These are Connaught, Mullalley, EPS, United House, Lakehouse, and ROK. The first 4 generally are undertaking work in areas which overlap significantly with the areas where they are delivering other programmes.

9.8 Programme 6- Environmental and Security Improvements

This programme covers schemes of landscaping and/or electronic or physical security improvements, enhancing the environment and community safety. Increasingly, as the mainstream partnering frameworks get underway, many routine elements of such maintenance or improvement work will be picked up by constructors undertaking the Tall Block Enveloping or Low-rise Enveloping programmes- for instance, replacing door entry systems, or maintaining boundary fences, walls or pramsheds. However, there will still be a need for specific, careful design enhancements designed to address the needs of a particular location and help to ‘turn it round’, by introducing major and significant alterations.

The delivery of such work by designers and constructors should be common, it is envisaged that these schemes will be identified, consulted on and developed through two different mechanisms.

A substantial proportion will be delivered through our Resident-Led Improvement Programme. This develops further our successful Tenant-Led Improvement Programme, where tenant participation in prioritisation and design has been particularly extensive.

However, it has become clear in the last few years that there is a need to fund some schemes involving security and landscaping/ boundary work even when residents have not submitted a bid through the TLIP/RLIP process. Sometimes this is due to the issues being on estate boundaries and being ‘off radar’ for most residents, even though there are significant technical, housing management or safety issues involved. It is proposed that the Neighbourhood Renewal and Security Programme will enable these schemes to be identified, developed and funded, and then consulted on with residents in the same way as mainstream programmes.

In terms of the delivery vehicle, we anticipate that the best way forward will be to procure standing offer contracts based on a Schedule of Rates that covers this sort of work. This will be supplemented by an illustrated ‘catalogue’ of ranges of standard components such as wall and fencing designs or communal door types. This approach should help to reduce significantly the consultation, design and procurement timetable for individual schemes, which has been a major hindrance in delivering such work in the past and a cause of some resident disaatisfaction. .

The current estimate of the total programme value is up to £30 million over the period to 2010, inclusive of professional fees. It is planned that 4 constructor partners will be engaged, each covering properties in a geographical sector of the borough.

10.0 SUPPORTING MAINTENANCE PROGRAMMES AND RESPONSIVE REPAIRS

To be reviewed by Paul Monday


Newham Homes


10.1.1 Repairs are logged on the integrated repairs system (iSYS) and are picked up through an interface either by the direct labour organisation (RMS) or by the gas servicing contractor (Planned Maintenance Engineering).

10.1.2 Repair times are determined by the type of job, and are pre-set within the repairs system. Monitoring is carried out in a number of ways. ROC carries out telephone surveys, an independent company called ‘Kwest’ carry out a survey, and satisfaction questionnaires are left by operatives when they complete a job.

10.1.3 Whenever possible, an appointment will be offered for the repair reported, and the repairs contractor (RMS) endeavours, where possible, to carry out the work on the first visit. Occasionally, it is necessary to return to complete the work, and in these instances, the contractor will inform the tenant, by phone or letter, of the follow-on appointment date.

10.1.4 There is currently a complicated priority regime within the Repairs system for orders, and revisions to simplify these priorities have been proposed and are due to be consulted with tenants and residents’ groups.

10.2 Voids

10.2.1 All voids should achieve a minimum standard (known as the ‘Lettable Standard’). This standard has recently been revised, and is due to be consulted on with tenants. The properties should be in good repair and ready to occupy (with the exception of redecoration), but the minimum standard will not in itself bring a home up to the full Decent Homes Standard, as this would have a significant impact on void turnaround times and would not benefit from the full efficiencies available from large-scale estate based delivery schemes.

10.2.2 However, void management does however integrate fully with the investment programme delivery and the achievement of ‘modern homes’ and Decent Homes. Whenever works are required in relation to relevant components (for instance, the installation of new kitchen units because the existing ones are in poor repair and unserviceable), the specification used will be the same as used for the Internal Modernisation and Heating Plus investment programmes, using the same supply chain sources. This makes the void works more economically efficient; it avoids possible abortive interim work (where installations during void works are replaced within a short period by programmed work of a higher standard); and it ensures all new installations (whether delivered in void works or in major programmes) use the same components, making for efficient ongoing maintenance. Any property becoming void within a current investment project will of course be included within the works, and, where possible, prospective tenants involved in decisions regarding layout and choice of colour.

10.2.3 A property which becomes void will be brought up to the Lettable Standard and will almost always include a full decoration allowance, payable to the new tenant, for decorating materials. In collaboration with Newham Council’s Lettings Agency, a new approach to void management has being introduced. The ‘Redesign Process’ involves the prospective tenant with the void property very early on. The prospective tenant sees the property before any works are carried out. They discuss with a void officer and operative what works are proposed (to bring the void up to the Lettable Standard) and they can then discuss particular requests they may have to make the property suitable for them (for instance choice of tile colour or location/layout of


Newham Homes

kitchen). The prospective tenant then signs the tenancy agreement prior to any work starting. This enables them to move in directly the works are completed, reducing considerably the traditional void period.

10.3 Mechanical and Electrical Services

To be reviewed by Chris Easy

10.3.1 There are various Service/Term contracts covering the Planned Maintenance, Servicing and Responsive Repairs of Mechanical and Electrical Services within Newham Homes Housing Stock. The Contracts cover various aspects of services internally within the property and externally in communal areas, from Gas Servicing to CCTV. There are other contracts in place covering the Risk Assessment and inspection of various services to comply with legislation- for example, water tanks and the L8 regulations on Legionella.

10.3.2 Gas Service-

there are around 16,200 properties on the gas service contract where we carry out an annual service and gas safety check, plus carry out any repairs and response requests. In-house staff also carry out an audit of 10% of new gas installations based on CORGI requirements. The contract includes key performance indicators that the Contractor is assessed against, which are discussed at regular monthly meetings. Included in the contract is the replacement of boilers that are found not to be repairable, using the range of boilers at procured very economically as part out our partnering procurement strategy (see 11.5.2).

10.3.3 Lifts-

the Lift service contract covers at the present time 176 lifts in 101 tall blocks. In the service contract the lifts are inspected and serviced once a month, and a one-hour response time is provided for a trapped person. The contract includes key performance indicators, with a two-hour response time to attend to a breakdown. Regular meetings are held with the contractor discuss performance of the contract and maintenance issues on the lifts. Resulting from this, new lift controllers are being installed on a programme covering the next three years to replace obsolete equipment and therefore improving the reliability of the lift.

10.3.4 CCTV/Door Entry:Tall Blocks-

this contract covers the planned maintenance and response repairs on all the CCTV cameras and associated Door Entry systems. The contract includes key performance indicators for a 24-hour response time for breakdowns. Regular meetings are held with the contractor to discuss performance of the contract and any maintenance issues. This has, for instance, resulted in the CCTV system in North Woolwich receiving a major upgrade.

10.3.5 Door Entry:Other-

responsive repairs are carried out by RMS direct labour, where the costs are based on a schedule of rates.

10.3.6 Communal Aerials-


Newham Homes

-our communal aerial systems have all been already replaced with systems for digital and satellite reception. The service contract is fully comprehensive, the only additional costs being for vandalism and ‘acts of god’.

10.3.7 Electrical Testing-

there are two areas of testing carried out, for individual homes and for communal services in blocks of flats. RMS Electricians carry out check of 10% of stock annually on a rolling basis, so as to ensure all homes carry a valid electrical certificate with a 10-year life, and carry out any minor repairs at the same time. Any properties requiring urgent rewiring as a result of test failure have the work carried out immediately by RMS, based on a discounted schedule of rates. For communal services, tests in tall blocks have resulted in a major prioritised capital replacement programme, and scheduled tests on low-rise properties will identify replacement work to be carried out as part of the investment programme (see 9.3 and 9.4).

10.3.8 Water Tanks-

Risk Assessments to meet requirements of the L8 regulations for Legionella are carried out on water tanks on all High Rise and Low-Rise blocks. The risk assessments are carried out every two years, with a visual inspection every twelve months. This work is carried out by Newham Council’s Property and Design Consultancy for the high-rise and RMS for the low-rise. Any work resulting from the risk assessments are carried out on the revenue budget and any tank replacements via capital.

10.3.9 Sheltered Housing-

there are various service term contracts covering the following areas of work in sheltered accommodation, beside those covered above: Warden Call systems maintenance, Water Treatment, Portable Appliance Testing, Fire Alarms and Emergency Lighting.

10.3.10 Other Service contracts-

there are various small value service term contracts from Car Park barriers to Pump maintenance which are manage by the Mechanical Electrical Group, and which provide planned maintenance and responsive repairs.

10.4 Asbestos

To be reviewed by Chris Easy

A four-year Asbestos survey contract is in place, which is currently in the second year. The results from the survey are added to Newham Council’s asbestos register, and key details are held on the Asset Management System. The contractor manages any asbestos identified, and where necessary removes it. The programme for the surveys is pre-planned, and adjusted to take into account forthcoming investment schemes where asbestos surveys would be required anyway to enable the projects to proceed.

11.0 PROCUREMENT


Newham Homes

11.1 Strategic Context- ‘Partnering’

11.1.1 The creation of Newham Homes has both necessitated major developments in the procurement of works, supplies and services for investment and maintenance, and provided an opportunity to progress this.

11.1.2 Central government has increasingly sponsored the ‘Egan agenda’ in recent years- the adoption within the building industry of the principles of long-term, mutually beneficial ‘partnering’ arrangements between client and supplier common in manufacturing industry. This should replace the short-term and often confrontational relationships encouraged by the procurement methods and forms of contract traditional in building, and lead to financial benefits for both client and contractor/supplier, as well as time savings and (importantly) quality improvements.

11.1.3 While Newham Housing Department launched a working party in 2004 to progress the mainstream adoption of ‘partnering’. Besides the inherent economies and efficiencies that could be expected, it was also anticipated that over the investment period to 2010 and thereafter, partnering arrangements were likely to considerably increase continuity of supply of labour and materials and also give considerably higher control over cost than would have been the case otherwise. This is of special concern in Newham, as we face in the sub-region particularly extreme building industry overheating, with others seeking to engage the same contractors, labour and supplies for: meeting the Decent Homes target in 2010 Thames Gateway Stratford City, Canning Town Regeneration Crossrail Olympics in 2012

11.1.4 The working party included the head of the Council’s strategic procurement unit and legal and finance staff, as well as housing and building professionals. It was clear however that there was negligible housing partnering experience in the full sense, and a specialist consultant was engaged.

11.1.5 The resulting procurement strategy includes the creation of a dedicated Procurement Team (see Section 12.1.3), the recruitment of project management and other staff with partnering experience, and the adoption of partnering as the basis for undertaking the vast bulk of the Decent Homes and other major investment work, and for the main service contracts.

11.1.6 We have been explored the use of consortia, including Procurement for Housing, LHC, and particularly LAPN (London ALMO Procurement Network) where we were involved in development and launch. We are convinced of the theoretical advantages of economies of scale that should be possible through consortia. We had been intending to pursue a ‘belt and braces’ approach, pusung our own procurement arrangements and those of LAPN in parallel, to make absolutle certain we had viable partnering arrangements in place to deliver our programme.

11.1.7 However, we had been concerned that the specification, the scope of works and the materials suitable for a range of clients might not match the exacting requirements and standards we have developed with our residents; and also in some cases that the consortium’s arrangements would not be procured quickly enough meet the requirements of our timetable. Meanwhile, our own initial procurement exercises for materials obtained a guarantee that prices would match anything made available to


Newham Homes

these consortia. It was therefore becoming clear that the volumes we would require in materials and works were so high that, if any further scope for economies of scale existed at all, they would be negligible compared to the benefits of a more direct relationship with the constructor or supplier. Finally, while we were party to the LAPN application for dispensation from leaseholder recharging consultation to the Leashold Valuation Tribunal, the difficulties they encountered at that point meant that we were in practice obliged to concentrate solely on our own arrangements

11.1.8 Newham Homes has adopted Newham Council’s Procurement Code of Practice, which is sufficiently flexible to encompass partnering, until a bespoke replacement code is adopted.

11.1.9 Some areas of service will not require procurement to be outsourced, as we have retained the services of our direct labour organisation (now Newham Homes’ Repairs and Maintenance Service- RMS) which has established excellent satisfaction levels and good working relationships with our residents. It is restructuring and ‘re-engineering’ in order to ensure best value is demonstrated and delivered.

11.2 Major Capital Works

11.2.1 The majority of major works were previously tendered competitively, either on an individual basis or where economies of scale make it appropriate (e.g. for door entry schemes) with a number of schemes combined into an economically effective package. RMS would be invited to tender unless the specialist nature of a particular contract is not within its technical the capability. Where appropriate, standing offer ('call-down') contracts were used to maximise flexibility, e.g. gas central heating installation in scattered properties.

11.2.2 However, our new partnering strategy will mean that all new schemes let will be under new arrangements by the end of the 2007/08 financial year, unless exceptional circumstances apply. Each of the 6 main programmes (see Section 9) have been divided into a number (at least 2 for each programme) of 4-year streams of schemes of sufficient scope and value to attract constructors who will be large enough to ensure reliability and efficiency for this type of work but not so large as to exclude them. Each of these ‘streams’ of work is being procured from constructors as a framework arrangement, each a ‘Qualifying Long-Term Agreement’ under the leasehold recharging requirements of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002. The constructors have been appointed after a rigorous process involving OJEU advertisement and multi-staged evaluation (including resident representation) which balances quality and price in order to achieve the most economically advantageous result. Individual projects within them will then be formally let as PPC (‘Project Partnering Contract’) 2000 contracts subject to the constructor partners continuing to show continuous improvement. The framework arrangements are limited by EU law to 4 years, but they will have 2 year ‘call off’ arrangements so they can reach 2011 and can cover the procurement of successor arrangements for the following period of investment.

11.2.3 Each framework will be valued on an open-book cost basis. This move from price-based to cost-based valuation will enable transparency in cost analysis and ‘drilling down’ into the costs, so that best value solutions can be identified reliably and regularly.

11.2.4 These framework arrangements where a particular constructor is ‘signed-up’ for a specific stream of work should be a clear improvement on more general ‘frameworks’ set up by some social landlords. These have involved considerable bureaucracy in


Newham Homes

establishing which available constructor should take on any new scheme, and which more fundamentally provide no reasonable certainty of an ongoing relationship between the client and a particular constructor, and which therefore undermine the possibility of continuous improvement in terms of cost, quality, time, etc.

11.2.5 Reference to Section 9 will show that as an outcome our arrangements have led to 9 constructor partners altogether being engaged on our major programmes of all types. At least one other constructor will be available on each programme to take on a new scheme, if for any reason it is necessary or desirable that the scheme should not be let to the constructor for whom it was originally intended.

11.2.6 It is anticipated that Newham Homes’ own in-house maintenance contractor, RMS, will be undertaking a proportion of the major works investment contracts. RMS is developing its own multi-trade kitchen installation team, which will be able to take on part of the Internal Modernisation programme (see 9.8 above), on the basis of it meeting the benchmark of the mid-point of the costs of our other constructor partners for this type of work. While this will form a small proportion of the overall programme, it is significant to RMS as it will maintain overall turnover. This will itself assist long-term organisational viability of our in-house service, which itself is essential to maintaining best value across the spectrum of maintenance services (especially responsive repairs), particularly in the light of increasing pressure on labour and prices arising from the heating of the market in the sub-region.

11.2.7 Where the specification of particular materials makes a significant difference to the perceived quality of the total scheme (e.g. boilers, doors), we are ‘drilling down the supply chain’ to suppliers- see Section 11.5.

11.3 Planned Maintenance

Ann to check

11.3.1 The procurement for our Enveloping Programmes (see 9.5), which includes work traditionally undertaken as ‘cyclical maintenance’, is undertaken as one of our major partnering investment programmes, as described at 11.2.

11.3.2 The majority of the building services operations have traditionally been tendered to private contractors on term contracts. RMS does however carry out electrical tests and emergency rewires, and provides general woodwork support to the specialist Door Entry System contractors.

11.3.3 However, as contracts expire they will be replaced with contracts that are more formally structured around partnering, establishing the way forward for quality and cost improvements. It is likely that they will be for a 3 to 5 year period, extendable by 2 years and a further 2 years. It is anticipated that contractor partners will be supporting Newham Homes with IT, including real-time hand-helds which should reduce costs and enhance service delivery.


Paul/Sayeed to check

11.4.1 The bulk of responsive repairs work is carried out under a Schedule of Rates contract tendered every three years, split into three areas to maximise competition.


Newham Homes

11.4.2 Responsive repairs for gas services, lifts, and CCTV/Door Entry Systems are carried out by specialist contractors. The majority of remaining responsive repairs have traditionally been undertaken by RMS, Newham Homes’ DLO (direct labour organisation). We will be benchmarking RMS using the methodologies recommended by Sprunts consultants, following a review intended to ensure long-term best value and viability.

11.4.3 The continuance of a strong, effective, economic and efficient DLO is critical in maintaining an effective service responsive to residents’ needs. This is particularly so in the light of the current acceleration in the building industry ‘boom’ (see 11.1.3), which would cause severe problems in our ability to obtain service continuity and controllable costs from the private sector.

11.5 Materials, Supplies and Components

Ann/ Andy- please can you update this in the light of the boiler and forthcoming FED exercises.

11.5.1 In relevant cases, where the specification of particular materials makes a significant difference to the perceived quality of the total scheme, and to our ability to maintain it afterwards, we are ‘drilling down the supply chain’ to suppliers and even manufacturers of building components. This is the case, for instance, for central heating boilers, where performance, reliability, etc vary widely, and so a large-scale multi-stage process has was undertaken to identify the right models. We intend to undertake similar exercises where specification will impact significantly on quality.

11.5.2 Gas Central Heating, Boilers and Controls and Domestic Brassware, taps and

accessories-

Newham Homes had initially pursued an EC Procurement process and then by agreement an open and transparent extended procurement system with manufacturers and their Supply Chain merchants. This involved an innovative initial information conference to share our vision and to emphasise the commercial opportunities for manufacturers, as well as site visits and extensive resident participation. As a result of this procurement, Newham Homes have selected three Boiler Manufacturers on quality, availability and price. In addition, each of the manufacturers have agreed in principle a 10 year Warranty (one year parts and labour and nine years parts only) with Newham Homes, the cost being a single premium for the period covered. Discussions are also ongoing to have an Insolvency Insurance added to the basic Warranty.

Two manufacturers for Central Heating Controls and two manufacturers for Domestic Brassware have been selected and their added value guarantees are in the process of being settled.

In the evaluation and selection process for the Boilers and Controls residents were fully involved with Technical Teams. In the selection of Brassware, residents were consulted and involved in the final selection.

11.5.3 Sanitaryware-

Investigations are being undertaken, for selection and replacement purposes in the future, sanitaryware from two manufacturers. Discussions have been held with manufacturers and merchants and also with Procurement for Housing (PfH), the procurement purchasing consortium.


Newham Homes

11.5.4 Kitchen Units and Worktops-

The generic specification has been developed, together with the choice for tenants, availability, delivery and future replacement criteria for kitchen units and worktops. This has involved Newco Products and other manufacturers. Tenants have also been consulted in relation to product availability.

11.5.5 Other Programmes-

The basic specification for windows and front entrance doors for flats requires further development, particularly with regard to environmental impact and to continuity of use in relation to future maintenance and replacement. Studies are also being undertaken in association with the Council’s Property & Design Consultancy into the use roofing materials, including warranties, and selection criteria for them.

11.5.6 The same components from the same source will also be used outside the main partnering programmes, in void refurbishment, maintenance and repair, so that the benefits of economy of scale in purchasing are maximised, and the high standards achieved after improvement can be maintained without ‘patching’.

12.0 DELIVERY

12.1 Organisational Context

12.1.1 The formation of Newham Homes has provided the opportunity for the integration and rationalisation of a number of property, asset management and maintenance functions.

Until 2005 the planning and control of capital investment was run within Newham Council Housing Department’s Regeneration and Sustainability Division, while the clienting of servicing, maintenance and responsive contracts (and for a short period the specification and supervision of straightforward capital schemes) was combined with the DLO in the Repairs and Maintenance Division.

12.1.2 With the creation of Newham Homes, the asset management and capital functions have been developed and integrated with the client-side functions of the former Repairs and Maintenance Division to form the Property and Asset Management Service. PAMS is now able to deal in a co-ordinated way with the whole range of property-related challenges facing Newham Homes, from Decent Homes planning and delivery to our repairs call centre. Meanwhile, our DLO- the Repairs and Maintenance Service (RMS)- is a separate service under its own Service Director, and can focus on its role as a ‘building contractor’ and internal trading organisation in providing excellent services at a satisfactory cost. Structure charts are shown at Appendix E.

12.1.3 Within PAMS, the Asset Management Group’s Programme and Investment Unit assess the need for investment, obtains and matches resources and plans the programme, developing policy to ensure best practice in such areas as energy efficiency and sustainable materials. The creation of a Delivery Unit within the Asset Management Group was under consideration for some years in order to address the narrow scope of the clienting function in Newham Housing Department, particularly following the results of a HACAS Chapman Hendy report on Egan compliance. The prospect of both partnering methods of delivery and a vastly increased programme


Newham Homes

made what was previously highly desirable both vital and urgent, and a new Unit has been set up to commission and client major schemes, project managing them through to successful achievement. Finally, the vast amount of innovative new procurement work necessary to set up partnering has necessitated the creation of a specialist Partnering and Procurement Team, which will decrease in size as the initial procurement workload decreases.

12.1.4 The Technical Group in PAMS manages and supervises repairs and maintenance service apart from mechanical and electrical work through to major individual repairs and disrepair claims, and general maintenance services. The Mechanical and Electrical Services Group provide our in-house professional expertise on building services: it manages service and maintenance contracts (e.g. gas servicing) and provides expert guidance on M&E requirements for our major investment programmes, and supplementary information on maintenance, stock condition and life cycle history.

12.1.5 For RMS, the creation of Newham Homes and the advent of partnering have produced fresh challenges, enabling it to re-organise its structure into individual business units focussing on particular clients and/or services, e.g. responsive repairs, voids (empty properties), cyclical works, etc.

12.2 Capital Programme

12. 2.1 Once the Programme and Investment Unit has matched the need for investment to the funding available and developed the outline structure of the programme, the Delivery Unit then implements the individual schemes, within the partnering frameworks or in exceptional cases as ‘one off’ conventionally tendered schemes. Project Managers brief the design professionals or constructors, ensure effective consultation with residents and other parties, and control the whole project process through to successful completion. Success is measured through control of costs, adherence to timescale, and a satisfactory outcome in terms of quality, in regard both to resident satisfaction and to economic long-term maintenance implications.

12.2.2 The development of partnering as our predominant delivery methodology means that new roles and skills need to be developed. The project managers will be working in a different way with a series of linked projects rather than individual schemes, design professionals will be released from the bureaucracy of repetitive procurement and enabled to focus on the skills for which they were trained. Project Partnering Teams work on each PPC2000 contract, accountable to a structure of ‘core groups’ which will ensure the dissemination of best practice between successive contracts in the same framework and between the frameworks with different constructors. A Strategic Partnering Group will be essential for the integration of the partnering programme as a whole and the co-ordination of the various ‘core groups through the Strategic Alliancing Agreement’ In addition, a few major conventionally-tendered schemes were ‘converted’ to one-off PPC2000 contracts, in 2006 in advance of the main partnering programmes, so as to provide a learning experience for the organisation as a whole as well as staff individually.

12.2.3 Our approach to professional services is to make the most of the valuable experience and working relationships established by ‘in-house’ staff, often developed over many years, wherever this can give firm assurance of best value. This applies not only to former Council Housing Department staff now working within Newham Homes, but also to technical staff employed by Newham Council’s Property and Design Consultancy (PDC) and Engineering Consultancy (EC). This will be particularly valuable in the accelerating ‘building boom’ scenario, where risks in service


Newham Homes

availability and cost control affect consultancies just as they do works contractors and supplies.

12.2.4 However, we are very aware of the need to test best value, and also of the sheer growth in size of the investment programme due to Decent Homes funding, which means that there will inevitably be a significant growth in the amount of design and contract administration work undertaken by private consultants. We are also aware of the specialist nature of partnering consultancy, of which Newham Council staff have had virtually no experience. Accordingly, while our Management Agreement with the Council requires the use of PDC and EC staff under suitable SLAs which will be reviewed in accordance with Newham Homes SLA review programme, we have used an OJEU procurement exercise to engage consultants for work volumes beyond the work capacity of Newham Homes and PDC/EC staff, and for use after the expiry of the initial period.

12.2.5 Savills and John Rowan & Partners (JRP) have been appointed to provide strategic partnering support. Newham Council PDC/EC, JRP, IG9 and MMBL consultancies have been appointed to provide professional consultancy services at project level, including cost consultancy: Programme 1- Tall Block Enveloping Programme (fully designed)- PDC/EC Programme 2- Low-rise Enveloping Programme (design and build)- private

consultants Programme 3 Street Property Programme (design and build)- private consultants Programme 4- Heating Plus Programme (fully designed)- PDC/EC Programme 5- Internal Modernisation- (design and build)- private consultants Programme 7- Environmental and Security Improvements (design and build)-

private consultants

12.2.6 It is planned to develop a project evaluation process for all capital projects, which will cover both actual works and also design and contract management. Crucially it will incorporate the residents’ views using the feedback process outlined at 7.3.

12.3 Planned Maintenance

12.3.1 Works such as the redecoration of external and internal communal surfaces and overhauling/holding repairs that might traditionally be undertaken through a cyclical planned preventative maintenance programme. However, we have taken an innovative approach and combined it with major component renewal where this is required in the major investment programmes, taking advantage of efficiencies through bundling work together and programming all work on similar blocks in an area in an integrated approach (see 8.5.2). This also avoids the difficulties and costs that arise where cyclical planned maintenance programmes and major renewal projects intersect- for instance, avoiding the replacement of windows that have been repaired and painted only recently.

12.3.2 To improve to improve the communal areas of estates, which is so important to residents’ aspirations and community sustainability, a dedicated team has been set up. A new ‘Communal Repairs Procedure Manual’ has been drafted for consultation. The thrust of the procedure is that programmed visits to estates are undertaken, in conjunction with Newham Homes Community Housing and Council Public Realm staff and residents’ representatives, to inspect not only the condition of the blocks, but also the wider areas including play areas and estate roads. The ‘Estates Repairs Team’, located within the Technical Group, will take forward repairs identified during these inspections and ensure works are carried out. This client team will be


Newham Homes

complemented in RMS, who will provide a dedicated supervisor and operatives to undertake communal repairs. Other issues identified on the estates inspection, for instance grafitti, or anti-social behaviour, will be taken up by officers from Community Housing or the Council’s Public Realm service. Involving residents’ representatives will assist the process and provide invaluable information.

12.3.3 The Mechanical and Electrical Team run a large number of planned maintenance and servicing contracts for mechanical and electrical services. Depending on the degree of specialist technical supervision required, contracts are specified and managed either directly by the Team, or indirectly via the Mechanical or Electrical Engineering groups in Newham Council’s Property and Design Consultancy (PDC):

Type of Work Agency

Gas Servicing and repairs Newham Homes M&E Group

Communal Water Tanks- high-rise blocks incl. L8 Risk assessment PDC

Communal Water Tanks- low-rise blocks incl. L8 Risk assessment Newham Homes M&E Group

Water treatment and testing- sheltered housing Newham Homes M&E Group

Lifts Servicing PDC

Communal Ventilation Servicing PDC

Lightning Conductors PDC

TV Aerials Newham Homes M&E Group

Door Entry Systems Newham Homes M&E Group

CCTV Systems Newham Homes M&E Group

Booster pump sets PDC

Warden call systems PDC

Portable appliance testing PDC

Fire alarms and emergency lighting PDC

Dry Risers Newham Homes M&E Group

Electrical testing of homes Newham Homes M&E Group

Electrical testing of communal services Newham Homes M&E Group

Car park barriers Newham Homes M&E Group

Asbestos surveys and removal Newham Homes M&E Group

Communal Boilers PDC

Sewage Pumps PDC


12.4.1 Responsive repairs can be reported by residents through a variety of sources in order to maximise customer accessibility: -

Newham Homes’ Call Centre which forwards them to specialist repair agents in the Repairs Operations Centre (ROC- based in the Repairs and Maintenance Service)

via Newham Homes’ Community Housing Services staff, or estate-based staff (e.g. in a local concierge reception)


Newham Homes

on-line via the Newham Homes and Newham Council websites

via Customers Services staff at Newham Council's seven corporate Local Service Centres ('One-Stop Shops')

It is intended to maintain the number of repairs arranged on an appointment basis, and thus maximising resident convenience, at the current very high levels.

12.4.2 Gas responsive repairs are carried out by specialist contractors. The majority of remaining responsive repairs are undertaken by our Repairs and Maintenance Service DLO.

12.4.3 It is planned to improve the service significantly by: getting responsive repairs ‘right first time’, thereby both increasing resident

satisfaction and reducing costs. This will avoid the need for return visits for remedial action to correct error or poor workmanship, and where the technical nature of the work permits, this will mean one visit. Performance indicators for this are being investigated.

optimising the numbers of ‘emergency’ and ‘urgent’ repairs by reducing them to the level which is essential, thus avoiding unnecessary costs

12.4.4 Quality is maintained by: good human resource management in the RMS workforce- qualified

tradespeople, low turnover, an apprenticeship scheme with high retention, ex-trade supervisors, and trained ROC staff with dedicated technical support

increasing the use of standardised, high-quality components and specifications a rigorous inspection regime, both internally within RMS (including ‘work in

progress’ inspections which maximise the opportunity to ensure repairs are satisfactory at completion) and also involving ‘client side’ surveyors. The inspections are recorded and the process can be audited closely, enabling careful follow-up

analysing complaints and feedback surveys (see 7.3), and using this to inform decisions

12.5 Disabled Adaptations

12.5.1 Newham Council has an integrated service for delivering adaptations for the needs of disabled householders in all tenures, where specialist technical staff cover Disabled Facilities Grants as well as adaptations for Council tenants. Occupational Therapists are an integral part of the team, ensuring both prioritisation and design are carefully tuned to the real needs of the individual. The benefits of this experienced and specialist service are such that Newham Homes will continue to use its services on the basis of an SLA. In fact, we have provided additional funding to ensure an O.T. dedicated to our Modern Homes programme is available to provide a highly responsive service: this enables our partners to carry out simple adaptations to the way they are, for instance, fitting kitchens and bathrooms, tailoring them to the needs of individuals with minor disabilities; and ensuring modernisation is co-ordinated with the more major adaptations so that the partnering programmes do not encounter costly delays.

12.6 I.T. Systems


Newham Homes

12.6.1 Electronic data technology is essential to effective asset management and maintenance systems. At the operational end, Newham Homes have adopted the Northgate integrated housing management system, branded locally as ‘iSYS’. The Repairs module has now been implemented and interfaces directly with the ‘Task’ contractor system for RMS, and the module for major projects is approaching full implementation in spring 2008.

12.6.2 At the assessment and planning end, we use the Amethyst Solutions’ Asset Management System (see Section 6). This has been developed and expanded to hold asbestos and detailed heating/ energy efficiency data. However we anticipate greater functionality and integration with iSYS by moving to the Keystone asset management system.

12.7 Performance Standards

12.7.1 Performance standards throughout the investment, maintenance and repair process are monitored by Newham Homes’ Performance and Support Team, assisted by the Performance and Monitoring Officer within the Property and Asset Management Service.

12.7.2 The centrality of KPIs to the partnering process means that we have been able to increase significantly the number of meaningful performance measures we use to monitor, assess and improve our performance. A full range of the performance measures now in use is shown in Appendix.mngvmnbc.


Newham Homes

APPENDICES

LIST OF APPENDICES

A. Newham Council’s ‘mix-and-match’ strategy for Decent Homes delivery- stock figures

B. Newham Homes’ forecast capital funding 2006-11

C. Sheltered Housing Schemes

D. Newham Homes’ Indicative Capital Programme 2006-11

E. Organisation structure charts


Newham Homes Asset Management Strategy

Documents

newham homes strategy

decent homes standard

decent homes programme

investment strategy

rented homes

modern homes

decent homes baseline

maintenance strategy