Winter 2025

A message from Tracy Allison, our Chief Executive

Welcome to our winter edition of Stakeholder News, put together especially for our partners.

I am pleased to be able to share with you our Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year 2024/25. This together with our Residents' Influence and Impact Report, brings to life our achievements and the outcomes for our customers and communities we operate in.

We remain in strong financial health, delivering well against our budget and plans. Highlights include delivering a £8.6m surplus and operating social housing margin of 28%, achieving 3.53% rent arrears, delivering 180 new homes, with a further 311 in construction or contract, achieving overall customer satisfaction of 4.27 out of 5 and TP01 overall satisfaction with services at 79.4%.

A focus for this year was to improve our complaints handling. Our recently published complaints and service improvement report 2024/25 highlights how we’re using complaints to improve our services. We were delighted to receive a letter from the Housing Ombudsman Service saying that the improvement in our complaints handling reflects a highly positive complaint handling culture and that they wished to collaborate on sharing the insights gained from our exemplary practices.

Since our last newsletter we have completed a refinancing deal with NatWest to support investment in new homes and secured £1.3 million from the Social Housing Fund Warm Homes initiative, enabling us to upgrade 200 homes to EPC grade C. This programme, starting in Swanley and delivered in partnership with Fortem, includes solar panel installations, insulation upgrades, and annual servicing - helping residents reduce energy costs and live more sustainably.

On a personal note, as many of you know, I will be retiring in February next year. I’m delighted that Ian Joynson will succeed me as CEO of West Kent. Ian lives locally here in Kent and brings over 20 years of experience in the social housing sector. He is currently Chief Investment Officer at Platform Housing Group.

I hope you enjoy the news from around West Kent. Keep an eye on our website and LinkedIn page for more stories from our residents and staff.

Enjoy the festive season and I wish you health and happiness for 2026.

Tracy

Tracy Allison, Chief Executive, West Kent

tracy.allison@wkha.org.uk 01732 749415

Annual report and financial statements

We’ve published our annual report and accounts for 2024/25, which reflect a year of progress, shaped by our commitment to putting residents first.

Complaints and service improvement report

Our recently published complaints and service improvement report 2024/25 highlights how we’re using complaints to improve our services.

StartUp, our business support programme

In partnership with Sevenoaks District Council, we’re offering a free eight-week programme to help Sevenoaks District residents explore self-employment.

ASB Awards shortlisting for Housing Provider of the Year

Our community safety team has achieved brilliant results over the past year, leading to us being shortlisted for the Housing Provider of the Year award at The ASB Awards.

Building communities in West Kent

We recently hosted Placeshapers and shared our latest regeneration project at Greatness Lane, Sevenoaks. Hear from Joanna Charlton, Communications Lead at PlaceShapers, about her visit.

My West Kent home: "A place we lived and grew"

One of our former residents and current employees, Emma, shares her powerful story of how social housing offered her and her daughter stability, dignity, and a chance to build a future.

Our new partnership with Better Housing, Better Health

We've partnered with Better Housing Better Health (BHBH), which will help us to support vulnerable households facing fuel poverty.

Building for a more sustainable future

We’re proud to share the positive impact we’ve made this year as we continue to invest in and build high-quality, sustainable homes.

Your partner newsletter

We'll send this newsletter four times a year. If you don't wish to receive this, please unsubscribe below.