星空传媒

鈥淚鈥檇 rather concentrate on the future鈥� is something Stephen Howlett, chief executive of the Peabody Trust, says a lot.

It appears to have become his mantra after four months at the reins of possibly the best-known, most venerable registered social landlord in the country. He鈥檚 got another one, too: 鈥淥ur immediate priority is improving customer service.鈥�

His emphasis on these two points gives a clue to the pressure Howlett is under at Peabody. He came into the job at what was one of the difficult periods in the trust鈥檚 140-year history. A string of bad news had dented its illustrious image, from cost overruns on one of its flagship developments in December 2003 (HT 9 January, page 7) to a scathing inspection report in May 2004, and it emerged that the trust may have more trouble meeting the decent homes standard than many people in the sector had expected: two-fifths of its 17,000 homes are currently below par.

A man who is genial and animated on the whole, Howlett looks genuinely pained when talking about the troubles he inherited 鈥� hence his preference for focusing on the future. But it鈥檚 clear that he has studied recent history very closely, for he is now advocating a solution. Under his charge, Peabody will go back to basics, concentrating on meeting the decent homes standard and improving basic services for tenants.

It鈥檚 clearly a response to the Audit Commission鈥檚 inspection report. 鈥淭oo much emphasis has been directed to developing cutting-edge and innovative designs that don鈥檛 meet the housing need of tenants,鈥� said the report. 鈥淭his focus has detracted from the real issues of modernising the greater proportion of traditional blocks.鈥� Under Howlett鈥檚 predecessor Richard McCarthy 鈥� now director-general of sustainable communities at the ODPM 鈥� Peabody鈥檚 reputation as a trailblazer grew thanks to developments such as the pioneering BedZed estate in south London, famous for its environment-friendly features. But the commission judged the trust鈥檚 services overall to be 鈥渦nimpressive compared with its peer group鈥�.

Cost overruns on BedZed 鈥� some 拢10.6m on a budget of 拢14.1m 鈥� contributed to the decision to make 51 people redundant

(HT 19 December 2003, page 7). Another factor was that Peabody faced 鈥� and still faces 鈥� having to raise more than 拢200m to bring its homes up to its own, more demanding, decency target. With income constrained by the government鈥檚 rent restructuring policy, which aims to bring RSL rents in line with the lower ones generally charged on council homes, that was never going to be easy, particularly given the cost of working on the trust鈥檚 7000 or so pre-1900 properties.

鈥淭he Victorian properties are a fantastic legacy,鈥� says Howlett, who was 鈥渕oved鈥� when he saw the estates Peabody has maintained in central London. 鈥淏ut they have their challenges. There鈥檚 no public money and we can鈥檛 raise rents though ours are 拢20 a week below the government鈥檚 affordability target.鈥�

Falling behind Hugh Boatswain, the Audit Commission鈥檚 lead housing inspector on the Peabody inspection, has some sympathy for the trust鈥檚 predicament, but maintains that it had fallen too far behind in terms of maintaining decent homes. 鈥淥ur concern was that they hadn鈥檛 sufficiently addressed the problem,鈥� he says.

Howlett says the scale of the decent homes backlog was no surprise. The board had been aware of the level of investment needed several years ago, he claims. Regardless, the harsh reality of meeting the decent homes standard means that Peabody must sell some of its stock, and Howlett is now considering which land or properties could be sacrificed. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have much choice,鈥� he says, although 鈥渟ome things have come to the end of their useful life鈥�. Current projections indicate that 650 properties 鈥� 3% of the trust鈥檚 total stock 鈥� will have to be sold to raise the 拢156m required to meet the basic decency standard. More than 1000 must go in order to meet the advanced standard.

Howlett tries to put a positive spin on the prospect of disposals. Contrary to the public perception of Peabody鈥檚 stock as large, homogeneous estates, it actually owns a lot of individual street properties that can be sold when they fall vacant; doing so will promote mixed communities as well as raise cash, Howlett says somewhat blithely. But despite the smile, one gets the sense that the prospect of the sales genuinely upsets him.

More painful decisions await in terms of personnel and Peabody鈥檚 numerous local offices. Last year the trust鈥檚 operating costs were cut by 拢4m out of a total spend of 拢75m; the staff budget came down by 拢1.5m to roughly 拢20m. Howlett admits he will have to try to cut costs even further.

鈥淚鈥檓 committed to this organisation running cost-effectively,鈥� he says. That may mean some of the Peabody鈥檚 32 estate offices closing down, too: the Audit Commission didn鈥檛 think they provided value for money, and Howlett is partly inclined to agree.

鈥淚 want to ensure housing staff are freed up from administrative things so they can really focus on our customers,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd having so many local offices means the small teams are stretched just to keep them open. We鈥檙e in talks with residents about how we can provide a better service as cost-effectively as possible, because the present service doesn鈥檛 work as well as it should.鈥�

Meanwhile, the trust has 鈥渓ots going on鈥� in development, says Howlett. He is adamant its 鈥渟pirit of innovation will retain its sparkle鈥�, and projects in the pipeline include a 15-unit scheme in south London in which Peabody will continue its experiments with off-site manufacture. BedZed, argues Howlett, 鈥渁chieved real results鈥� and he remains convinced that modern methods of construction will one day be more time- and cost-effective than traditional ones. But in the mean time, 鈥渆very scheme will be judged on its merits and, in each case, its economics鈥�.

He鈥檚 no stranger to pushing through change. Having worked in London housing for 17 years, he became chief executive of Swale Housing Association in Kent in 1992, when it was a struggling post-transfer association. Howlett helped get Swale out of supervision and improve the quality of service. Later, as chief executive of Amicus Group, he helped turn round Hastings-based subsidiary 1066 Housing Association, which was also under supervision.

The Peabody job was one of the few that could have lured him from Amicus, he says, 鈥渂ecause Peabody is special 鈥� it has a sense of history鈥�. The evidence is all around him: above his desk is a letter from Queen Victoria to George Peabody, the trust鈥檚 founder; paintings of the trust鈥檚 famous estates of the 1900s hang on his office walls and a grand marble bust of its founder overlooks the hall.

A Londoner for the past 30 years who studied plenty of Victorian social history during his degree, Howlett is well aware of the contribution charities such as the Peabody Trust have made to tackling poverty in the capital. The next chapter in its history will be Howlett鈥檚. Although there鈥檚 no knowing yet what it will say, it鈥檚 bound to be quite different from what鈥檚 gone before.