THE YEAR
IN REVIEW
Table of Contents
- Opening from Chair & CEO................................................................3
- Performance Review............................................................................4
- Tenant Focus..........................................................................................6
- Village Ambition....................................................................................13
- Better Homes & Community..............................................................20
- Value for Money Statement...............................................................23
- Accounts.................................................................................................26
- Board of Management & Advisors...................................................28
- “To provide quality homes and services for our tenants and wider community”
- A Joint Welcome Forward Statement on our Year 2025/26 by our Chair and Chief Executive
Hello,
- Brian Dunn Agnes Crawford
Mr Brian Dunn Ms Agnes Crawford
Chair Chief Executive
Performance Review
- PERFORMANCE REVIEW
  - 2025/26
  - 2024/25
- “Response Repair Completion Times Exceed All DFC Targets”
RENT COLLECTED
- 2025/26
- 2024/25
RENT ARREARS AS AT
- 2025/26
- 2024/25
31 MARCH 2026
- £55,154.00
- £53,937.23
- Arrears of all current tenants
- Current arrears as % of total amount due DFC Target Rate for Arrears
- 4.03
- 4.12
- <5%
- <5%
- Compliance with
- Statutory Obligations
ANTI-SOCIAL
- 2025/26
- 4
  - 4
  - 0
  - 0
- 2024/25
- 5
  - 2
  - 0
  - 0
BEHAVIOURR
- Complaints (First Stage)
- Anti-Social Behaviour cases recorded
- Court Action
- Units Recovered
VOIDS LOST
- 2025/26
- 2024/25
Tenant Focus
- Tenant Satisfaction Survey 25/26
- We had a 38% response rate an 82% increase compared to the last survey.
Tenant Voice Group
- We believe that a strong community is built on a strong voice, and our Tenant Voice Group is at the heart of this principle.
The Helping Hand Service
- Our "Helping Hand" Repair Service continued to deliver significant value for both our tenants and the organisation. Designed to support eligible tenants with minor household maintenance, the service completed 376 minor repair jobs across 142 households over the course of the year.
- This targeted initiative delivered notable operational and financial benefits, generating approximately £26,000 in cost savings by reducing reliance on reactive response repairs. More importantly, by directly lowering fall and injury risks for older residents, the service played a pivotal role in contributing to a 17% increase in overall repair satisfaction.
- The service's positive impact was also recognised on a national stage. Grove Community Housing Association was named a finalist for the highly competitive "Best Tenant Impact" award at the prestigious National Housing Maintenance Forum (NHMF) Awards in Stratford-upon-Avon on 19 January 2026. While narrowly missing out on the top prize in a strong category, this national recognition highlights the dedication of our team and the tangible difference made within our communities.
- The true value of the service is best reflected in the words of those it supports. As tenant Esther Lunn shared:
- "The Helping Hand service has been invaluable; the respectful support has made everyday tasks much more manageable."
376 minor repair jobs completed
Launch of Text-Message Service
Text-Message Service was launched by GCHA in 2025
Tenant Engagment Conference
Community Engagement Fund
£900 Funding Allocated to Community Projects
Village Ambition
- Social Value
- In 2025/26, we delivered 15 Tenant Engagement Events
Community Partnerships
- We are delighted to report on the success of our community events this year, which were made possible through valuable partnerships with a wide range of statutory and voluntary organisations, as well as local businesses. These collaborations are fundamental to our mission of building strong, thriving communities. By working hand-in-hand with our partners, we were able to deliver events that not only brought tenants together but also provided essential services and resources.
- Our key partners for these events included:
Annual Events
Summer Fun Day 2025
Easter 2025
Halloween 2025
Christmas 2025
Session with Ulster Bank
Strengthening Community Ties Through Tenant-Focused Arts
Strategic Collaboration & Tenant Advocacy
Amplifying Tenant Voices: Domestic Violence & Resettlement
Protecting Future Social Housing Supply
Sector Leadership & Infrastructure Advocacy
Looking Ahead
International Placements at Grove: Strengthening Communities & Fostering Global Connections
- Over the past year, Grove Community Housing Association (GCHA) has built on its successful partnership with Intern Europe by hosting international placement students. These exchange opportunities provide valuable professional experience for trainees while bringing fresh ideas, operational support, and rich cultural exchanges to our staff, organisation, and local community.
Better Homes & Community Environment
- Five Year Fixed Wire Testing
- Digital Transformation & Investment
SDM Planned Maintenance Module
Development: Old Grove School Site
- Current Progress & Next Steps
- Initial Plan highlighting culvert in purple
- Design Solution
- Our Gearing reduced to 5.36% in 2026 (down from 6.30% in 2025) as existing loans were progressively repaid. This is substantially lower than the sector average of 32.94%, highlighting GCHA’s low financial risk profile and strong borrowing capacity for future developments. It is expected that as we return to development and the provision of new homes gearing will increase in line with new finance arrangements.
Figure 2.
Internal Benchmarking Performance - Operational Performance
- GROVE 25/26
- KPI’S
- DFC
- TARGET
- Despite housing allocations remaining at five, void loss reduced by £2,316 to £3,026. This reduction stems directly from enhanced communication with contractors, streamlining turnaround times.
Working in Partnership to Support Households with Increased Cost
- We understand that households are impacted by increased living costs. Despite these pressures, rent arrears saw a slight decrease of 0.09% (reaching 4.03%, below the 5% statutory target). To mitigate financial hardship, we conducted weekly case reviews and continued to partner with the North Belfast Advice Partnership (NBAP) to refer those with added needs. To ensure this service reaches our residents and community we provide free office space and reception services in our offices throughout the year. This enabled NBAP to resolve 1,126 queries from 358 individuals (95% benefit-related), securing a staggering £709,891.37 in financial support for our residents. This brings immense relief to those who need it most and ensures people don’t fall into rental arrears and receive all they are entitled to.
Helping Hand Service Delivery
- Our new "Helping Hand" service was recognised when shortlisted for the NMHF ‘Best Resident Impact’ award category. It carried out additional tasks for 142 households. This new free service provided significant savings for residents through not having to pay their own handyperson. We also saved on staffing costs as we re-defined a vacant role within the existing staff budget to deliver a role that added real value to tenants current needs after consulting with them on their dissatisfaction with the repairs service. It also resulted in some things in the home not requiring a costly contractor call out repair later down the line with some ‘how to’ advice like bleeding a radiator.More importantly, we greatly reduced fall/injury risks for vulnerable residents, carrying out tasks that statistically can result in injuries and admission to hospital. We achieved value for money by accessing grants to install EV charging point for the electric ‘Helping Hand’ van while also saving on carbon emissions and supporting good air quality. We look forward in 2027/28 to commencing measuring the social value savings impact this has on vital health and social care services and environment.Having a friendly ‘helping hand’ service to meet immediate needs has resulted in a 17% increase in overall repair satisfaction.
Accounts
- Statement of Comprehensive Income for the year ended 31 March 2026
Statement of Financial Position as of 31 March 2026
Board of Management & Advisors
- Chief Executive & Company Secretary
- Registered Office
- Department for Communities