Deputy CEO/Director of Finance and Corporate Services

About Rural Stirling Housing Association

The Association is a Registered Social Landlord (RSL) and a Scottish Charity. We were formed by local people concerned at the lack of affordable homes within the area, and registered in 1990.

We operate throughout that part of the Stirling Council area extending to the north and west of the A9. This is around 750 square miles, around half of which falls within Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. We currently own 672 homes which are spread throughout 18 communities – stretching as far as Tyndrum and Killin in the north and to Strathblane in the south west, with the small town of Callander roughly in the centre.

The Association is overseen by a volunteer Management Board of up to 15 people. These currently include Association tenants, local community activists and people with professional expertise that all have an interest in and commitment to the work of the Association.

Visits

Our vision is strong and attractive rural communities.

Our mission is to provide affordable, quality housing and support community aspirations.

We will build and manage affordable homes and other services to help our communities grow and thrive. We will do this by working closely with our customers, communities and local stakeholders. Great service and value for money will be at our core and we will strive relentlessly to balance both.

Values

The following values will shape how we do business:

• Accountable – Our Board will provide strategic leadership and oversight, ensuring tenant and other service users’ priorities are protected and at the forefront of all that we do. All our staff will be accountable, and we will always be transparent.
• Ambitious – We are committed to being excellent, and maximising opportunity for our people and the tenants and service users that we serve.
• Caring – The services that we deliver will meet the needs of our tenants and service users and will be delivered by professional and caring staff. We care deeply about the design, life-long quality and cost of our homes, and their impact on the physical and social environment.
• Collaborative – We will work collaboratively with all sections of the local community, our tenants and service users, and with our partners to improve the lives of our residents. We will be a proactive member of our local communities, seeking out new, innovative ways to address issues that impact our residents.
• Inclusive – We are strong advocates of equality and diversity, and value the perspectives and contributions of everyone with whom we are connected.
• Respectful – We will treat everyone with respect: this is equally important for those outside the organisation, such as customers, communities and partners, as it is for our employees and Board.

Housing stock

The majority of our 672 homes have been built by the Association during the last 25 years and meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS). A relatively high proportion (98%) already meet the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH) which we were required to fully comply with by 2020. Notwithstanding this, we have plans to replace the heating systems in around 40% of our properties in the next five years.

Most of our stock is mainstream housing for social rent. We also have 14 shared ownership units still in management. A factoring service is provided to a small number of owner-occupiers.

We have an ongoing development programme with plans, as set down in the Stirling Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) to build around 100 new homes in the coming five years, on a range of sites throughout the area. Our most recent development was completed last year providing 50 new rented houses in Callander. We are currently on site with new homes in Kippen with further new build developments in the pipeline at Drymen, Balmaha, Killearn, Croftamie, Strathblane and Tyndrum.

Venachar Ltd

We have established a non-charitable subsidiary, Venachar Ltd, to undertake activities and deliver services that meet the objectives of the Association but which RSHA cannot directly provide. Venachar does not employ staff and all services are provided by RSHA personnel under a Service Sharing Agreement. Through Venachar, we offer property management services to private and community bodies and are providing a small number of Mid-Market Rent (MMR) properties by buying-back shared ownership properties and leasing them to Venachar to be let out on a MMR basis.

The Deputy CEO/Director of Finance and Property Services sits on the Board of the subsidiary as a Director.

Staff

Our staff team benefit from hybrid working from home and our Office in Doune located 8 miles north of Stirling. A copy of the staff structure can be found on the Role page.

We currently buy-in development services from Macdonald and Cameron Ltd.

The Association is a member of Employers in Voluntary Housing (EVH) and sets staff salaries and terms in accordance with EVH Conditions of Service. We are also a member of the SFHA, Scottish Housing Network (SHN), Scottish Procurement Alliance and the training agency SHARE. We are an Investor in People (IIP) Silver accredited employer.

Working with others

We work closely with Stirling Council, the Scottish Government Housing More Homes Division, Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, local communities and other voluntary agencies. We are members of the StrathFor Housing Alliance, along with Ochil View HA and Forth HA. Through StrathFor we aim to achieve maximum benefits from collaborative working whilst retaining our independence and local control.

We have a track record of working with others to provide “wider role” services and employ an Income Maximisation Officer to support our tenants to deal with welfare reform impacts.

Further information is available in the documentation below.