Housing in Castle Vale Following the Landlord Ballot in October 2003, the vast majority of HAT tenanted houses formally transferred to CVCHA, the preferred choice, in October 2004. (See Successor Organisations for details of the ballot). Housing 2004/2005 Housing officer in discussion with resident HAT Homes in Management to March 2005: 1,317 Service & Maintenance repairs completed: 4,101 (94% customer satisfaction achieved) Average annual rent collected: 99% 11 Year Housing Review For review of housing performance over the last 11 years please click here. Repairs staff visit tenants' home to inspect a repair Castle Vale resident celebrates moving into her new home Examples of HAT Housing initiatives: The HAT has: Embarked on an ambitious clearance programme (Example: over 700 households [8 tower blocks] were decanted within only 18 months in 1996/97 to make way for the building of over 350 new low rise homes). Streamlined policies and procedures with the Tenants and Residents Alliance (TRA) and CVCHA to ensure compatibility between other estate landlords and Birmingham City Council. HAT Mobile Warden signs up resident to the 'Eskimo Life Pak' scheme Introduced a Mobile Warden and the 'Eskimo initiative' designed to help vulnerable residents in emergency situations, and set up an Exercise for Older People Scheme. Established a service level agreement between the HAT and CVCHA. Developed Leaseholder Policy. Set up 'ValeWatch', a partnership with the Police, other landlords and schools to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. A Community Safety Forum has also been established and the HAT is pressing the government to increase the powers of HATs and RSLs to deal with anti-social behaviour e.g. through the use of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders. Undertaken a benchmarking exercise involving comparing Castle Vale HAT housing management services to other similar sized landlords and introduced a tenant compact. Introduced Carbon Monoxide alarms in tenanted homes with gas appliances - the first landlord to do so in the UK. Fresh Start Decorators In partnership with Mercian Housing Association, CVCHA and Merlin Venture set up a 'Tenant Decorators' Scheme. Fresh Start Decorators provide a free decorating service to elderly and disabled tenants. The scheme won the NHF Midlands Regeneration Award for economic development. For details contact The Merlin Venture.