£142m programme will prioritise making homes greener and more affordable to run
Curo has committed to spending £142m on customers’ homes over the next 10 years through our new long-term property investment plan. As part of this we’re launching a new ‘whole house’ approach that will carry out a range of home improvements at the same time, prioritising work that will make residents’ homes warmer, greener and more affordable to run.
In our Greener Homes survey customers told us saving money on energy bills and reducing energy because of the environmental benefits were more important than what their homes look like on the inside and outside.
With those priorities in mind, our new maintenance programme for houses and bungalows will improve the thermal performance of the home and tackle some common causes of damp and condensation.
If a home needs it, we’ll top up or replace loft and cavity wall insulation, and bring forward the replacement of windows, doors or roofs at the same time as washing down or redecorating the outside of homes. That means that if a window or door replacement is due within three years of this maintenance programme, we’ll do these at the same time to leave homes warmer and more efficient while also minimising disruption for our customers at the same time.
We’re also making progress on our decarbonisation journey. We’ve applied for grant funding that we’ll match to improve 122 of our least energy efficient homes. We’ll also decarbonise and aim to cut carbon emissions to zero for 22 bungalows in Pensford.
Elsewhere in our budget, we’re continuing to prioritise the health and safety of our customers through:
- investing more money in our fire safety remediation programmes to keep homes and buildings safe
- launching a new servicing programme for ventilation systems, helping to prevent damp and mould
- launching a new testing programme for radon gas
- continuing a servicing programme for renewable energy sources like solar panels, air and ground source heat pumps following a successful pilot in 2022
Everyone is feeling the pinch with the cost of goods and services going up, and Curo is no different. The Government’s decision to cap rents means we have had to reduce our operating costs while continuing to provide the services customers expect.
To fund this, we’ve had to pause the maintenance and redecoration for the inside and outside of our blocks of flats for one year (during the 2023/24 financial year) and extend our lifecycles on kitchens to 30 years. We’ll also be replacing boilers in line with manufacturers’ recommendations instead of three years earlier as we were doing before.
We know this could increase the repairs needed to these items so we’ve put aside extra money to cover additional repairs and gutter clearances that might be needed. We will restart the maintenance and redecoration of blocks of flats in 2024/25 and we’ll continue with maintenance of two buildings this year that we’ve already started or are in contract.
Our investment decisions are made in consultation with our customers, through the Greener Homes survey and our customer panels. We’ll continue to work closely with customers to determine our investment priorities and to monitor how our approach is working. We’ll also continue to collect data on our homes through home condition and energy efficiency surveys so we know how our homes are performing and help us prioritise investment where it’s needed the most.
Where customers are directly affected by changes to work that was planned, we’ll be in touch with details. Customers can also check to see what’s planned for their home by logging in to our customer portal, MyCuro.
Your questions answered
Where can I see what’s planned for my home, and when it will happen?
You can check what planned maintenance your home is due, as well as when it’s planned to happen, on the MyCuro portal. The dates shown are when we think we’ll do the work – the dates may change if they are affected by other customers in the current year’s programme declining any work, the condition of your home, and any changes to our financial plans. If your home is planned to receive an upgrade this year, we’ll be in touch when we’re in your area.
Does this focus on energy efficiency/warmer homes mean you won’t be making other improvements or upgrades?
To provide the things you’ve said are most important to you, we’ve had to increase the length of some planned maintenance cycles (that’s the frequency that we carry out work).
Kitchens and boiler replacements have been extended but these remain in line with the boiler manufacturer's recommendation and the Decent Homes Standard. Redecoration and external maintenance for blocks of flats will be paused for one year but will resume after this.
We’re continuing to do all other maintenance as planned to make sure your homes are safe. This includes our fire safety improvements in blocks of flats as well as introducing new servicing programmes for radon and certain ventilation systems (helping prevent condensation and mould).
Because the cycles for kitchens and bathrooms have become longer, we know they will need more maintenance so we’ve put aside extra money for this. We’ve also allowed extra money for maintenance that might be required on our blocks of flats during the year that the redecoration and external maintenance programme is paused (for example clearing gutters).
Will you still be upgrading my kitchen/bathroom/boiler?
If you’re directly affected by changes to work that was planned, we’ll be in touch with details. You can also see an up to date schedule of what’s planned for your home by logging in to our customer portal, MyCuro.
I live in a flat. Do these changes mean you won’t be upgrading my kitchen/bathroom/boiler as planned this year?
The pause on redecoration and external maintenance for blocks of flats doesn’t affect any other planned programme. So, if your block was due fire safety improvement works or your home is due a kitchen, bathroom or other upgrade during this time, these will go ahead as planned.
How do you decide what work will be carried out and when it will happen?
We plan when things need servicing and replacing based on how old something is, what condition it’s in and any regulatory timescales we have to comply with to keep you safe (like annual gas safety checks or lifecycles set by the Decent Homes Standard).
We check the age and condition through a home condition survey. This is a visual inspection of your home that we carry out every five years. This helps us make sure the information we hold on your home is up to date. You can find out more information about these surveys here.
Why don’t you use some of this money to build new homes instead?
Building new, affordable homes remains a high priority and we are still building hundreds of homes across the region. Between now (April 2023) and November 2024 we plan to build 127 homes for affordable rent and 193 for social rent. That’s on top of homes we’re building to sell on the open market. The income from open market sales is reinvested across the business so we can continue to deliver services for both new and existing customers.
How often will you carry out external maintenance for houses and bungalows?
We’ll carry out our external maintenance programme of Curo houses and bungalows every five years. Although we will upgrade the windows, roof and insulation levels while we’re there, we’ll only do these things if they’re required or if these things are nearing the end of their useable life. This means some years we might do more work to your home than others.
What’s included in the external maintenance programme for houses and bungalows?
The work we’ll do to your home depends on what your home looks like and how your home is finished. We’ll do things like redecorate previously painted finishes on timbers, windows or doors, clear gutters, wash down render or repoint brickwork.
My kitchen has been delayed. When will it be replaced?
Any kitchens which we can no longer replace next year will be rescheduled to happen over the next four years. If you’ve told us you don’t want a replacement kitchen, we’ll set this date beyond four years. We know you might be disappointed by this news and will prioritise updating kitchens that had to be postponed where possible.
Please can my kitchen replacement be brought forward?
If there are cancellations on the current year’s programme, we’ll bring forward kitchen upgrades in homes that were due in the next year’s programme. We may be able to bring forward a small number of kitchen upgrades in this way. In most cases however, the dates are fixed and we won’t be able to move them.
When considering which homes we can bring forward, we’ll look at the properties that are closest to the areas we’re working in or that we know to be in poor condition through our home condition surveys.
I have another question that's not answered here - who should I contact?
Please get in touch with our Customer Contact Team and they'll answer your question, or put you in touch with someone who can.