Maintaining Strong Finances

We aim to be financially strong and resilient and invest in the future of social housing for you and your communities.

Here’s how we are doing…

Performance Measures

Key stats

Maintaining Strong Finances – The Year in Review

We have continued to manage our finances carefully so we can invest in your homes and services while remaining strong for the future. This was recognised with the highest V1 regulatory grading for financial viability, reflecting our strong financial position.

Despite ongoing economic pressures, we delivered a £6.4million surplus, achieved through increased income and careful management of costs. This means we can keep investing in your homes, maintain services and continue providing support where it’s needed most.

We focused on getting the best value from every pound we spend. Demand for our homes remained high, helping to reduce empty properties and increase rental income. At the same time, we carefully managed our running costs and interest payments, while continuing to invest in the services that matter most to you.

During the year, we invested more than £25 million in maintaining and improving existing homes. This included day to day repairs, major improvements, and longerterm work to keep homes safe, warm and fit for the future. We also invested over £21 million in building and acquiring new homes. Some projects were delayed due to planning changes, meaning some investment will now take place in future years. This helps us invest at the right time and deliver high quality homes in the right places.

We continue to closely monitor key financial measures, including interest cover, to make sure we can manage our borrowing responsibly. This helps us maintain the trust of lenders and continue investing in what matters most to you.

Overall, our strong financial position means we are well placed to keep investing in homes, supporting you, and planning for the future.

Customer Voice - We listened, we acted

We listened

You told us rent letters could be clearer, and that more accessible information would help you understand changes and where to get support.

We acted

We improved our annual rent letters to make them clearer and easier to understand and added more information about how changes affect you and the support available.

Positive Feedback

It’s not just about improving; it’s about celebrating what works well too. Here’s some of your positive feedback:

Service Standards

Our service standards set out what we aim to deliver for you, including how quickly we will respond, how we will keep you informed, and the timescales we work to across key services.

This year, we reviewed our performance against these standards. We met several standards across customer contact, tenancy visits, major adaptations, communal safety checks, grounds maintenance and stock condition surveys. Some standards were partly met or not met, including areas linked to complaints, minor adaptations, repair appointments, damp and mould inspections and empty home repairs.

Where we did not meet a standard, we are using the results to understand what needs to improve and how we can provide a more consistent service for you.

Have you read our summarised policies?

We have summarised our customer policies to make them accessible and easy to read.

Summarised Customer Policies

Consistently Delivering Excellent Customer Experience and Digital Services

Supporting Balanced and Sustainable Communities

Supporting Sustainable Tenancies

Providing Quality Sustainable Homes

Building and Acquiring Sustainable Homes

Maximising the Talent and Contribution of our People

Maintaining Strong Finances

How do I apply for a Livin home or bungalow?

We advertise all of our available homes on our Find A Home page, simply visit this page for more information.

Before you can place a bid on one of our homes, you must first have an active account with the relevant Choice Based Lettings Scheme. Almost all our homes are located in County Durham and therefore are allocated through the Durham Key Options scheme. Durham Key Options (DKO) is a partnership between Durham County Council and landlords across County Durham.

We have a small number of homes which are located outside Durham, these are all advertised through Tees Valley HomeFinder, Hartlepool HomeSearch and Darlington HomeSearch; They are similar to Durham Key Options but we do not process applications registered for these schemes. If you wish to register an application for homes advertised in this area, please apply directly.

Once your application is approved, you will then be able to bid on homes that meet your needs. You can access the application form directly by visiting the relevant Choice Based Lettings system.

How long will it take for my application to be processed?

We aim to start processing your application within 10 working days. If we require any further information after this point, we will contact you to ask for this. Once we have received all the required information we will notify you of our decision within 20 days, and if accepted we will activate your account. You can also check your application status online by logging into the DKO portal.

How can I get involved with Livin and help to shape services?

To find out more about the different ways you can get involved, please visit our getting involved section.

Can I apply to buy my home under Right to Buy?

Tenants who have been with Livin since before the transfer from Sedgefield Council in 2009 may have the “Preserved Right to Buy” their property. Full details of the scheme are available on the Government Right to Buy website. If you are thinking of applying, please contact us.

Can I apply to buy my home under Right to Acquire?

If you have been a tenant for 3 or more years you may have the right to buy your property under the Right to Acquire scheme. Full details of the scheme are available on the Government Right to Acquire website. If you are thinking of applying, please contact us.