Chief executive Sarah Boden describes her personal highlights from the last financial year.

When I look back, I’m filled with enormous pride about what Housing Plus Group has achieved. With the highest regulatory ratings of V1 for viability and G1 for governance, we are a strong, effective Group delivering on our commitment to provide the best possible homes, services and care for our customers.

Our wonderful colleagues, boards and partners have ensured that we have delivered strongly against the challenging targets set in our corporate plan.

Highlights from the past year include:

• Building 168 high-quality new homes and the purchase of residential development land in the village of Perton, which will provide 220 houses.
• Rental income collection rates continue to withstand the ongoing threat of Universal Credit, with Group-wide rent arrears ending the financial year at 1.46% against a target of 2.5%.
• The continued expansion of our domiciliary care services across Shropshire and Staffordshire, doubling the number of care hours we provide and the aquisition of the Homelife service.
• Investing nearly £2 million into our retirement living schemes, ensuring that these communities are modern, bright and desirable.
• Completing more than 25,000 repairs and customer satisfaction with the service rising to over 90%, helped by the introduction of a new rapid response triage service.
• Delivering an impressive 372 kitchens, 631 bathrooms and 694 heating systems/boilers during the last financial year through our planned maintenance scheme.
• Receiving recognition nationally through being shortlisted or winning national awards for the way we support our customers back into training and work, our apprenticeship scheme and our excellent property compliance standards.

Looking to the future, Housing Plus Group and Stafford and Rural Homes are to merge, creating a new, influential housing, care and property group for Staffordshire and Shropshire.

The new combined group - including Severnside Housing and South Staffordshire Housing Association - will own and manage around 18,000 homes. Providing employment, training and apprenticeships for 800 local people, it will have an annual turnover of almost £100m.

Together, the new Group will have the financial resilience and strengthened capacity to continue to grow, providing more high-quality homes and services for our customers, whilst retaining our deep roots in local communities.

Thank you for your continued support.