Welcome. Paul Tennant Orbit Group Chief Executive

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2 Welcome Welcome to this year s Orbit Story our annual report for With housing an increasingly important topic on the political agenda, last year was a busy and challenging one for the sector. At Orbit, we also saw it as a year of opportunity. April 2013 saw us launch our 2020 Vision, with nine stretching targets attached around housing choice, customer offer and community investment. Through this vision we demonstrate our long term commitment to improving the social, economic and environmental prospects of our customers and communities. However, we know we must balance those ambitions with a continuing focus on day to day delivery to meet customer need. Such a balance is a challenge, especially in light of external and substantive change around funding, regulation and commerciality. This report gives summary insight into our response to the challenges and opportunities of the past year, alongside some personal stories from our customers on how we ve touched their lives. For more, please go to our online, in-depth report at As ever, our achievements in are down to many people; I d like to thank our staff, customers, partners and our Board for their on-going efforts and commitment to the success of Orbit. Paul Tennant Orbit Group Chief Executive

3 About Orbit Group Orbit Group is a 37,000-home housing organisation, operating in around 100 local authority areas across the Midlands, East, South East and London. We combine national influence with regionally and locally-delivered service through our operating associations Orbit Heart of England, Orbit East and Orbit South. Our staff work closely within our communities to understand and respond to customer need, and to develop robust, long term partnerships with stakeholders. However, our customer offer goes beyond general needs homes Orbit Independent Living provides homes and services for those needing extra support, including sheltered, supported and extra care housing. We have a strong development pipeline through Orbit Homes, our development and sales arm. We build and develop a range of tenures through from rented to market sale. Service Matters also supports our commercial agenda by selling professional services as a partner of choice within the sector and beyond, also taking in our Help to Buy Agency. Internally, Orbit Services provides our back office functions. Orbit Treasury Limited is our joint treasury vehicle, seeking major investment to fund new homes, improved homes and services to our customers and communities.

4 Our structure

5 A view from the Chair When I started my role as Orbit Group Board Chair in February 2013, I was a relative newcomer to the sector. Over the past year, not only have I learnt a great deal about the world of housing, but I ve also been involved with an organisation that is doing much to tackle the country s housing crisis and make a real difference to thousands of people s lives. With the backdrop of a slowly recovering economy, changes to regulation and the certainty of decreased funding, Orbit continues to deliver homes. Last year we built 865 new crosstenure homes, providing for a wide range of customer need and circumstance. When others are scaling back development programmes, we are scaling up this year we plan to build over 1,300 more. But we recognise that to achieve our 2020 ambition of 12,000 new homes, we must create a more commercial culture and drive efficiency gains through a relentless focus on value for money. However, where we live is about more than bricks and mortar, it is about community. Building Communities is Orbit s mission but the key is having a positive and long-lasting impact on those communities. We invested 1.6 million into our communities last year, delivering real change through training programmes and employment opportunities, financial and energy advice and support, and innovative health and wellbeing initiatives. And yet there is plenty more to do. We need to continue building homes and investing in communities, but we also need to focus on continually improving our customer service. Quite rightly, our customers will judge us on our core services, such as timely repairs, providing high-quality homes and creating safe neighbourhoods. At the same time we must anticipate and meet emerging and changing need, especially through digital services, given that two-thirds of our customers are online. Our customers and communities will continue to evolve and Orbit must do so too I look forward to what the coming year holds. Baroness Tessa Blackstone, Orbit Group Board Chair Baroness Tessa Blackstone, Orbit Group Board Chair

6 Board Members and EXECUTIVE TEAM

7 Our highlights

8 Our financials In , Orbit s turnover was 221 million, with an operating surplus of 62 million, which made our operating margin 28%. This turnover shows an increase of 28 million on results. Overall surplus came in at 67 million, which is Orbit s largest ever surplus. Of this, 38 million came from property sales and stock rationalisation. Our annual programme of kitchen, windows, bathroom and boiler replacement costs around 14 million this is not included in the calculation of our surplus and therefore becomes the first and most important area the surplus is used for. We have also been increasing the monies allocated to our Community Investment objectives to: alleviate fuel poverty reduce financial exclusion improve health and wellbeing contribute to the worklessness agenda Over half of our surplus came from property sales, as we continue with our commitment to support our development programme through generating surpluses. A total of 106 market sales were completed by Orbit Homes during the year, making a surplus of 2.6 million. We also made a surplus of 10.8 million selling 120 properties which had become void. In March 2014 we made a 22 million surplus, transferring a portfolio of 449 homes in south London to Notting Hill housing association. In we spent a total of million acquiring and developing new affordable homes.

9 Our performance In our business plan we set out five key performance indicators (KPIs) for our customer offer and attached targets to them. We achieved our targets in three out of the five areas: Gas servicing we achieved our 100% target Arrears we achieved 2.72% against a target of 3% Re-let times we achieved 23 days against a target of 23.5 days We were also proud of achieving 55.9% right first time, exceeding our target of 55%. We missed out on achieving our two other KPI targets: Overall customer satisfaction was at 76.6% against a target of 82% Customer satisfaction with repairs was at 78.5% against a target of 86.8% We know that in we need to up our scores in these areas to ensure we are providing the best possible service to our customers. To do this, a key internal focus for all staff is on driving performance and delivering excellent customer service. We also set KPIs for delivery of homes and achieved three out of four of these: We completed 754 affordable homes against a target of 694 We achieved 14.4 million from first tranche sales income, against a 13.9 million target Our void property sales brought in 15.6 million against 14.4 million Our target of 26.1 million for outright sales income was not met we actually achieved 21.1 million. However, we expect this to change in , due to tightening up of our development offering.

10 Our 2020 VISION In April 2013, we launched our 2020 Vision and nine stretching targets to ensure we deliver it. We made a great start on these in the first year of our 2020 programme Deliver 12,000 new homes: We delivered 865 homes in , exceeding our target of 850. Provide a full range of home rental and ownership options: We started to explore options to develop private rented homes. Provide a flexible housing journey for customers: We started exploring a product to move people from renting to owning a share of their home. Provide 10,000 training and capacity building activities to support empowerment, opportunity and jobs: We provided 1,662 customers with training and capacity building activities, against a target of 600. We helped 155 achieve positive job outcomes 55 more than we targeted. Deliver 30m of investment into communities, including external funding: We invested 1.6m into community projects last year, meeting our target, with 315k more of finance and volunteer resource brought in. Our Home Improvement Agencies brought in an additional 488k. Achieve a minimum energy rating of Band C in our homes: We set up ECO funding arrangements to help us achieve this target. Have 75% of customers contacts online: In we worked to launch a new website (launched in June 2014), with improved functionality for customers, including live chat and a customer secure area. Provide a range of tailored services which satisfy 90% of customers: We achieved a 76.6% customer satisfaction rating in our STAR survey, falling below target. We have increased focus on performance and customer service to ensure we meet our target of 82%. Provide financial and energy efficiency advice to 20,000 people: Last year 5,967 people received energy efficiency and financial advice (2,907 received energy advice, 3,060 received financial advice) against a combined target of 1,500.

11 Housing choice For Clare and Ben Bissett and their son Oliver living in private rented accommodation, with no means of saving for a deposit, left them thinking they would never own their own home. They were living in an old, pretty, but damp rented cottage, which cost a fortune to heat, and Clare had a two hour commute to drop Oliver off at her mother s home for childcare. Realising the difficulty of their situation, Clare s mother downsized her own home to release some money, giving that to the couple to put towards a deposit. However, living in the Norwich area, the money wasn t enough to enable them to buy a house outright. The couple looked at their options and found an Orbit Homes development offering shared ownership. After successful application, they secured and moved into their own three bedroom home in Wymondham. The couple could afford to buy a 60% share of their house, paying a subsidised rent on the remainder. The change from private rent to shared ownership, coupled with the decrease in bills (in part due to the solar panels on their roof) has meant they are 200 a month better off. This saving means they can afford to save so that they can increase their stake in the future by staircasing. The couple are delighted to be settled, with Ben summing it up: We re very happy and relieved. We never really felt settled and secure in a private rented place, but now we have a home of our own.

12 COMMUNITY INVESTMENT Deepmore Road, Rugby is an 11 bed hostel offering up to two years supported accommodation for young people between 16 and 25 years old. Julia Lee, Employment Support Officer, has been working with them since November 2013, providing employment, education and training support services, based on the individual s needs and ambitions. Alex came to Deepmore Road in November Within his first week he had successfully gained a place on a Coventry employment boot camp. This experience helped Alex grow with confidence, increase his team-working skills and led to him securing a six month paid work placement as a ground maintenance operative. His employer speaks highly of him, describing him as a polite, hardworking member of the team. Scott is currently studying at Warwickshire College for a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport Development, Coaching and Fitness. He had four university interviews and has been offered two unconditional places for October Georgia is on an apprenticeship course as a florist. She works in a local shop as well as attending Northampton College as part of her on-going training.

13 customer offer Orbit s Energy Doctor scheme really took off in , with 450 visits, averaging an annual saving per property of 242 that s over 100k in just one year. 242 is a substantial sum, which as well as helping with fuel bills, could help sustain tenancies by avoiding or repaying rent arrears. But for Orbit s customers there s more to it than money - the benefits of improved thermal comfort cannot be underestimated. Many customers told Doctor Jenny that, while draught excluders or advice on using night storage heaters may not save significant money on a monthly bill, the impact on feeling warmer and more comfortable in their home is huge. But the Energy Doctor initiative isn t just helping those customers that Jenny goes to see. A number of Orbit s customers who have received advice have gone on to share it, passing on advice to their neighbours by helping them understand things like the benefits of switching tariff or setting the boiler correctly. One customer s story is a great example of what a difference the Energy Doctor has made: An elderly lady in Leamington was struggling with her energy bills, which had recently increased. Jenny checked tariffs with the supplier and helped her switch onto a tariff that could save her around 150 a year. She was also able to help the customer apply for and receive the 130 Warm Home Discount rebate. Jenny also fitted foil behind the radiators in the coolest parts of the house and gave further energy saving advice to help the customer reduce her bills even more. The customer said: I am absolutely delighted with the visit, it was a great help and is already reducing my bills.

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