Small is beautiful at Dale & Valley Homes

Size is certainly not everything and Dale & Valley Homes believes that being one of the smallest ALMOs works in its favour, helping it to provide better, more reactive, services for customers more efficiently

It manages around 4,200 properties in the Wear Valley area of County Durham and employs just 84 staff, many of whom are part time but the ALMO feels that such a small team makes it easier to share information and introduce new practices quickly.

Chief executive Peter Chaffer said: “The great strength of Dale & Valley Homes is the team – staff working together because they can. Everyone knows everyone else and new people quickly become part of the team. We do not suffer from an ‘it’s not my job’ culture.”

There is a sense of commitment and loyalty demonstrated by the low staff turnover rate and the fact that only half a day per employee has been lost to sickness so far this year.

“Our staff will put themselves out to achieve what is necessary, such as helping our customers during extreme weather or helping when we moved offices last year,” says Chaffer.

It is not just about keeping staff happy, customer satisfaction is also high on the agenda and Dale & Valley Homes has been working hard with its partners to constantly improve services.

Customer satisfaction with the repairs service is at more than 88 per cent against a target of 80 per cent and the property services department has a 100 per cent success rate with gas safety certificates.

As a customer-focused organisation Dale & Valley Homes is constantly striving to include customers in its development, using focus groups, questionnaires and the independent customer panel to identify areas of concern and find out where customers feel their needs are not being met. As Chaffer explains: “Despite our best efforts things can still go wrong and we have a clearly defined complaints procedure to follow when people are not happy with our services. The average time to deal with complaints has fallen from 9.55 days in 2008/09 to 8.3 days in the current year.”

Staff development is important to the ALMO, which believes that one of the key ways to get the best out of staff is to invest in their professional development. “We make it clear that we are offering employees a career and not a dead end,” says Chaffer. “To this effect many staff are studying for professional exams, including several doing masters degrees.”

Dale & Valley Homes runs a trainee scheme in partnership with Bishop Auckland College and most people who have come through the scheme remain as permanent members of staff.

“The young people come to us eager to learn and receive their qualifications. They are local people and, as we are in one of the country’s highest areas of unemployment, it is terrific that we can employ home-grown talent,” says Chaffer.

“As they progress through the scheme they grow in capability and confidence, becoming valuable members of our team and we are eager to retain them at the end of the training.

“Some people who have come through the scheme have become managers and are now key people in the organisation.”

A significant current project for the ALMO is a new-build scheme in Crook. Durham County Council has secured £3.5 million of government funding towards the £8.5 million scheme.

Apartments and bungalows for the elderly and family homes will replace outdated and unpopular sheltered housing schemes which have become increasingly difficult to let.

Local people will be fully consulted and kept informed throughout the development, which is in the early stages of planning.

“Being part of the local community is important to Dale & Valley Homes, taking the extra step to support communities in our area in ways that go beyond providing a basic service,” explains Chaffer.

The ALMO has a team of estate caretakers who carry out minor repairs and generally improve the look of estates. They also help people with gardening if they are unable to do it themselves and during Christmas and New Year cleared snow from paths to help the elderly get out and about. “Their job is to improve the look of estates and make them places where people are proud to live and willing to make an effort themselves,” explains Chaffer.

It is also doing its bit to help the wider community through the Better Homes, Better Lives fund, a pot of money which gives grants of up to £500 to events and groups in the Wear Valley area. Its major partners, Dunelm Property Services and Gentoo, have both contributed to the fund.

Although less than a year old, it has already helped stage sporting and social events, supported after school activities for youngsters, replaced essential equipment for luncheon clubs and funded repairs to vital community halls.

Dale & Valley Homes is proof that good things come in small packages, as an organisation that hasn’t allowed its size to be a barrier to achieving high levels of customer satisfaction, getting involved in the community or even branching out into new build schemes.