Charles Alexander
Chair of the Board
At VIVID we are highly focused on our customers and are continually improving our services and support. It’s been a trying year for many people due to the high cost of living and increased food and energy prices, and we’ve proactively adapted to provide increased levels of support for those customers who need it. Many have needed this more than ever to maintain their tenancies, and to cope with a level of financial pressure due to economic conditions unseen for decades.
Sustainability is high on our agenda to make our homes as comfortable and affordable to live in as possible for everyone, and I’m pleased we’ve made excellent progress over the year. Over 80% of our homes have an energy efficiency rating of EPC C or above and we’re aiming to be at 100% by 2030 – helping to minimise energy costs for customers and improve quality of their homes.
There are so many positive outcomes housing associations achieve on a day-to-day basis. At VIVID, our deep roots throughout our operating area and strong local partnerships enable us to provide targeted community investment to maximise positive impact on people’s lives.
Retaining top ratings of G1 and V1 in March 2024 by the Regulator of Social Housing, serves as confirmation of how well our organisation is run and confidence in our abilities to manage through uncertain times to achieve what our customers need and expect of us.
Nonetheless, there is much work to do for the sector to improve and rebuild public trust for the long-term. I’m confident that at VIVID we’re well placed to continue to develop that trust with our customers. We are committed therefore, to ensure a great customer experience, provide good quality homes, and to build many more new affordable homes.
Mark Perry
Chief Executive
Meeting customers’ needs and expectations with the homes they live in, and services and support we provide is our absolute priority. Over the year, we’ve welcomed over 3,000 new customers to a VIVID home, made it simpler and easier for customers to contact us and access our services, and invested £87.5m to maintain and improve the standard of homes.
In a year defined by the high cost of living, our priorities have been clear – ensure we do all we can to help customers through this, look after our people, and ensure our financial resilience to enable us to deliver the homes and services our customers and communities need from us. I’m pleased with our achievements on all three.
We saw an increase in demand for our tenancy support services, especially money and benefits advice, and provided over £243,000 in welfare funding to customers who needed extra help. We quickly adapted our business to meet this increased customer contact by redeploying people into frontline teams to give the best customer service and advice possible.
Customers have provided us with invaluable insight on what’s most important to them in respect of the homes and services we provide. This feedback has always been and continues to be fundamental in helping us shape our services, and by working even more collaboratively together, we’re well on the way to modernising and transforming the experience customers have when interacting with us. We’re extremely thankful for our customers’ time in helping us understand what’s going well and what needs addressing.
As a result, the priority for every single one of our people this year has been on customer experience, focusing on 3 service areas: ensuring services are easy to use and access, keeping customers informed, and the speed in which routine repairs are completed.
We’re part-way through a 3-year business transformation programme due to complete in 2025. I’m pleased we’re seeing quicker responses to customer enquiries, more customers registering and using their online account, and evidence that our new methods of accessing information and services 24/7 is proving beneficial, with plenty more to do.
Looking ahead, we’re operating in the context of landmark changes in the sector with the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023 which will introduce a new set of consumer standards, increased scrutiny and the results of the consultation on Awaab’s Law. We remain unwavering in our focus on increasing the supply of new affordable homes to address the country’s continuing housing emergency. I’m delighted that despite the uncertainty of the housing market, we have delivered over 1,500 new homes – the highest annual amount since our formation in 2017.
We’re evolving our business for current and future generations. I’m confident that by taking these actions, enabled by our financial strength, expertise and partnerships, we’ll deliver on our ambitions and be able to help many more people to have the safety net of a safe and secure home and springboard to a brighter future.