Bradford homes to be proud of

When BCHT took over responsibility for 26,000 social homes in 2003, it set itself the goal of becoming the landlord of first choice and made promises to improve homes, neighbourhoods and services.

Mrs Howley admitted BCHT was "not totally there yet" but was keen to talk about the "considerable progress and achievements" of the last five years.

In that time, BCHT has invested more than £175 million on modernising thousands of homes that had seen little investment in previous years, installing 9,700 new central heating systems along with 7,000 new kitchens and bathrooms.

From BCHT's headquarters on Shipley-Airedale Road, the effects of the five-year renovation programme are clearly visible across on Manchester Road, where run-down 1960s tower blocks have been transformed into city centre landmarks.

Pointing towards the high-rise flats, Mrs Howley said: "We have been looking to find more radical solutions, like on the Manchester Road tower blocks with the wind turbines.

"We made a statement there looking at energy issues and that is just the beginning. We are asking ourselves what can we do that's different?' Mrs Howley said the district-wide investment meant 90 per cent of BCHT's homes now met the Bradford Standard, a level above the Government's Decent Homes Standard.

The refurbishment work led to high customer satisfaction levels, but also produced a number of disgruntled tenants, many of whom contacted the Telegraph & Argus to vent their frustration about delays, quality of workmanship and disruption.

But Mrs Howley said: "We do thousands of repairs and spend £300,000 a week so, out of that, we are going to get some people who say no, that was no good for me' "But for the volume of what we do, we are pleased with the results.

"We are not totally there yet but we are a far more responsive service."

Mrs Howley said the Repairs Service was improving rapidly thanks to a new dedicated Repairs Service Centre to handle all customer calls, a 24-hour repairs hotline (01274 257003), and hand-held mobile equipment to allow BCHT staff to deal with repairs on the move.

Latest data showed that 97.5 per cent of all emergency repairs - those that need attention within 24 hours - are carried out on time and to a high standard.

Mrs Howley said: "Our next priority is to increase the supply of affordable housing - not just rented housing but we are looking at shared ownership.

"When we transferred, there were areas of low demand but that's not the case any more.

"For family housing, we get more than 100 to 150 people interested in each property. Over the next few years we will have another 1,000 homes. We have got grants for 340 new homes."

When BCHT came into existence, it inherited a waiting list containing the names of about 2,000 people who wanted to live in its properties.

Mrs Howley said the best indication of increased demand could be found in usage of the Bradford Homehunter service.

About 1,500 people actively bid for an average of between 50 and 80 available properties on the weekly cycle of Homehunter, while more than 16,700 people submitted bids for homes available in the district in 2007.

BCHT was unable to provide a breakdown to show how many of those people were existing BCHT tenants and how many were potential new tenants.

Mrs Howley said: "There's a growing demand because we are a growing population and because the quality of the property is higher.

"The demand has outstripped the supply, not just in Bradford but nationally."

When asked about the most pleasing achievement of the last five years, Mrs Howley said: "Seeing new properties coming out of the ground again has been quite exciting because the Council had not built since the 1980s. We have created more mixed communities."

But BCHT has had its critics, particularly in Keighley where homes on the Woodhouse estate were recently described as "squalid" by the town's MP, Ann Cryer.

Mrs Cryer said tenants had been living in damp and miserable conditions and she blamed BCHT for dragging its feet in getting on with repairs.

But BCHT said it had now come up with a solution to the problem after asking residents for their views on alternative development options, including extensive refurbishment of existing homes or demolition and replacement.

Mrs Howley said: "In some areas we have been looking at what life the existing properties have left to see if we should be putting investment into something that is past its sell-by-date.

"What we have decided in Woodhouse, after consultation, is that the outer ring of homes is fine and they are going to be invested in, while the inner ones are going to be demolished and rebuilt.

"The consultation processes do take time. It doesn't happen overnight."

The work in Woodhouse will add to previous major estate improvement projects in Baildon, Bierley, Bradford Moor, Crossflatts, Manchester Road, Scholemoor, Thorpe Edge, Westgate Gardens, Windhill and Wyke.

BCHT's three construction partners - Bullock, Lovell Partnerships and Wates - are now busy on 13 more sites, including a £2.5 million project at Guardhouse, in Keighley, £3.5 million schemes in West Bowling and Odsal and a £2 million project in Queensbury.

Martin Smith, BCHT Group Chairman said: "The Trust has made significant improvements across the business and everyone - customers, board members, staff and partners - have played their part. Looking ahead, we are committed to improving our services by listening and working with our customers."

Arthur Goff, chairman of the Aire-Wharfe Alliance which represents more than 30 tenants groups, said: "Over the last five years, BCHT has worked extremely hard to involve tenants and invest in improving homes and neighbourhoods.

"They have taken on the challenge after many years of little or no investment in social housing but making improvements takes time. However, tenants are seeing the benefits."

BCHT is getting ready to follow its five-year improvement programme with a £100 million three-year programme starting in Spring 2008.

Group backs 'cheaper fuel' drive

Bradford Community Housing Trust and Manningham Housing Association are among 23 groups that are urging the main energy companies to stop charging higher rates to customers on pre-payment meters.

A letter from the National Housing Federation and the housing associations wants them to align the higher pre-payment meter tariff with their best standard credit tariffs.

People on pre-payment meters, who are often on low incomes, can pay a premium of up to £90 a year more for gas or electricity than quarterly-billed consumers and up to £330 more than those who pay by online direct debit.

Around 163,000 households in Yorkshire and Humberside already suffer from fuel poverty according to the Regional Assembly. Energy prices have almost doubled in the last few years and are predicted to rise a further 25 per cent.

A joint letter has been sent to the chief executives of all the energy companies operating in Yorkshire and Humberside calling for action. This follows a summit on fuel poverty by the regulator Ofgem.

Geraldine Howley, BCHT group chief executive, said: "Rising gas and electricity bills are putting pressure on all households and particularly people on low incomes. The high premiums paid for those on pre-payment meters means the poorest in our communities are suffering.

"It is important that the main energy companies address the issue. BCHT fully supports the National Housing Federation's campaign for a fair deal."

Key dates

• 25 Feb 2003 - BCHT Group launched.

• March 2003 - Bradford Homehunter team win Housing Team of the Year' at Local Government Chronicle awards.

• April 2003 - The first BCHT refurbishment scheme starts at Maple Court in Bingley.

• November 03 - Bradford Homehunter wins UK Housing Award for Promoting Diversity in 2003.

• Dec 03 - The first Garden Awards take place to celebrate the creative work of BCHT tenants.

• Feb 04 - Work starts on £27 million modernisation of 16 high-rise blocks on Manchester Road and Otley Road.

• May 04 - BCHT achieves its first Investors In People award.

• June 04 - The Trust's Disabled Persons Housing Service becomes the first local authority-wide service to receive full accreditation from the National Disabled Persons Housing Service.

• 2005 - BCHT named one of 13 Regional Champions' for tackling homelessness.

• Feb 05 - BCHT Foundation Ltd, a charitable subsidiary, set up to support community projects.

• May 05 - Launch of tlc reward and loyalty card.

• Sept 05 - Trust recruits its first female trade apprentice, plumber, Michelle Holdsworth.

• Sept 05 - The first of the high-rise rooftop wind turbines at Manchester Road was switched on.

• Dec 05 - The Trust's first shared ownership properties are released at Wrose.

• April 06 - Launch of trustcare 24/7 mobile response service.

• July 06 - BCHT's first new build is officially opened at Haworth Road.

• Nov 06 - One of BCHT's biggest refurbishment schemes to date - 319 homes on the Bierley estate - is completed.

• Jan 2007 - BCHT completes its restructure to create a more customer focused organisation.

• Feb 07 - BCHT received a full set of three green lights' for its overall performance from the Housing Corporation.

• April 07 - In Keighley, Wates complete 2,500th home refurbishment on behalf of BCHT.

• Spring 07 - A repairs hotline (01274 257003) and anti-social behaviour reporting line (01274 254274) launched to help customers.

• March 07 - Dedicated one-stop Repairs Service Centre launched to handle all customer calls.

• Aug 07 - The Audit Commission award Trust 3-stars with excellent prospects for improvement.

With Bradford Council

• Feb 08 - Work starts on £1.8 million major supported housing scheme for homeless families in partnership with Bradford Council.

• March 2008 - Trust awarded £10.9 million in Housing Corporation grants to build over 340 affordable homes.