Quality of Housing

We have been unable to improve our SQHS by much this year as some of our properties are exempt, and some tenants won’t allow us in to do the necessary work. We will improve this figure when we’re able to. For example, when a tenant moves away.

This is the first year we have had to report on EESSH (Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing). The standard aims to improve the energy efficiency of social housing in Scotland and will reduce energy consumption, fuel poverty and the emission of greenhouse gases.

Homes meeting SHQS

How a pound of rent is spent

90.5% Tenants satisfied with quality of housing
85.3% Homes meeting EESSH

Repairs, Maintenance and Improvements

Although our time to complete repairs has increased since last year, we are still well within our target of 4 hours to complete emergency repairs and 15 days to complete non-emergency repairs.

Average time taken to complete emergency repairs

Average time taken to complete non-emergency repairs

84.1% Tenants satisfied with repairs service
10,352 Number of repairs completed
92% Repairs 'right first time'
40 Number of kitchens installed
12 Number of bathrooms installed

Antisocial Behaviour and Complaints

The number of cases we received of antisocial behaviour has dropped from 247 last year. We recently reviewed our antisocial behaviour procedures and we now try to spot issues earlier and work with tenants before issues escalate further. We are continuing to increase the amount of antisocial behaviour cases we resolve on target, which has been rising steadily from 70% in 2016. It currently compares favourably to the Scottish average of 94.1%

169 Number of cases of antisocial behaviour reported
94.7% Percentage of antisocial behaviour cases resolved on target
62 Number of complaints received
96.8% Percentage of complaints responded to on target
1 Number of tenants evicted due to antisocial behaviour

Tenancy Sustainment

Our Tenancy Sustainment team continues to go from strength to strength. Last year they managed to gain over half a million pounds in additional income for our tenants. A phenomenal achievement. If you would like to find out if your income can be maximised, then please get in touch. Our team would love to help you.

617 Number of people helped with our welfare benefits and money advice service
£513,369 Amount gained
56 Number of medical adaptations completed
85.2% Percentage of new tenants still tenants after 12 months
9 Number of abandoned properties

Lettings

Our performance on the average number of days it takes us to re-let properties has declined in the last two years. This is due to a couple of reasons: to meet local housing need we let some properties that had been ‘out of management’ for a long time which has significantly increased our average figure, and there have been difficulties with a shortage of suitable contractors in the Highland area to carry out major works. We are putting significant focus in this area, particularly since the restrictions Covid-19 has brought has meant increased challenges to us being able to carry out work to our homes.

Average number of days taken to re-let properties

New tenants

3,232 Number of homes
283 Number of homes available to rent this year
14% Percentage of tenancy offers refused

Rent and Money

We collected 103% of the rent due to us and our rent collection remains strong despite a small dip last year. This figure also includes former tenants who were in rent arrears, which is why this figure is above 100%.

We lost a bit more money this year through our properties being empty. This is linked to our performance around the average time taken to re-let properties.

Rent collected as percentage of rent due

Percentage of rent loss through properties being empty

£93.95 Average weekly rent
£15,730,380 Rent due
£594,470 Rent lost because of arrears
5 Number of tenants evicted because of rent arrears

Tenant Participation and Communication

We are continuing to see tenants contact us more digitally. The number of calls to our contact centre has dropped by over 1,000, while the number of webchats has more than tripled. This is a trend we expect will continue to grow over the coming years.

52,851 Number of visits to our website
341 Number of tenants signed up to My Cairn
42,732 Number of calls to our contact centre
1,150 Number of webchats
835 Followers on Facebook

Our Communities

Our Community Fund has funded projects in areas where our tenants live since 2015. In that time, we’ve given over £70,000 to 70 projects.

If you’d like to apply to our Community Fund, go here for more information.

9 Number of Community Fund projects funded
£7,790 Amount funded through Community Fund
11 Number of charities match funded
£1.68m Amount spent on Care & Repair projects
1741 Number of handyperson jobs carried out

More Information

We hope you enjoyed our 2020 Annual Report.

We’d love to hear what you think about the report or our performance.

If you’d like to find out more, you can visit the Scottish Housing Regulator website to see how Cairn compares to other housing associations and local authorities.

You can also find our financial and governance information here (PDF).