DRONFIELD PIONEER HEALTH AND HOUSING SOCIETY LIMITED

DRAFT
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday, 1st October 2025,

at The Pioneer Club, Dronfield.

Attendees:

18 Members

Richard Langner, Finance Officer

Reva Corran, Admin Secretary

In the absence of a Chairman, Vice Chair Mr Frank Hayes presided.

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 21st September 2024.

The minutes of the AGM held on 21st September 2024, having been handed out to each attendee on entrance to the AGM, were taken as reviewed.

Mr Frank Hayes invited questions relating to these minutes, none were raised.

The minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 21st September 2024 were proposed and seconded to be a true and accurate account therefore were signed as a true record by Mr Frank Hayes.

Committee’s report, presented by Frank Hayes;

2025 has been pretty much the same as 2024 with no major hiccups, it saw us carry out roofing works on the 2, 4 bed properties on Hardwick Close, the roofs are costing around £15,000 per pair, this year we are also hoping to reduce the backlog of general maintenance, something that we are trying to mange whilst also ensuring essential work continues. We realise some tenants are frustrated at the time these jobs are taking to complete but would like to reassure you that the Committee do all we can to ensure these jobs are done as soon as possible, however, as well as prioritising our limited funds reliable tradesmen willing to take on these smaller projects are becoming very difficult to find.

We are starting to identify potential major work, for example, pointing and cracks are becoming increasingly apparent on properties, although these are caused by the natural movement of the buildings due to the weather and the natural spring running under the estate this is an ongoing remedial job that needs doing. We also have issues with a large number of garages. These need urgent attention to ensure they are not at risk of collapsing, which will involve the cost of structural engineers.

Having said that we still work towards consolidating our cost to reflect the need for those jobs that haven’t been carried out at the end of 2024 and the first part of this year. It is important that we try and keep on top of those little jobs in order that they don’t escalate, which is inevitable. Julie Woodhouse commented at this point that most of the outstanding jobs are now complete. Frank thanked Julie and explained that if there is any spare budget the Committee would look at continuing the roofs.

We have, over the last couple of years, seen the cost of materials continue to rise, coupled with more maintenance being requested this won’t get any easier any time soon, so the maintenance team meet monthly to go through the program of work, prioritise the jobs and look for the best quotes and tradesmen to support us. Please be patient with them and make sure you put requests in writing, however good the team are they can’t keep all that information in their head, please also include an up-to-date contact number. They will then speak with you and come and look at the work needed. Be mindful that not all jobs will be the responsibility of The Society, in these cases we will try to help out but sometimes this will just be your responsibility.

Before the next financial year in 2026/7 The Committee will meet to discuss the next phase of house roofs, but as I’ve said earlier, we must be mindful of cost. These will get done but in conjunction with the maintenance. Our intention is to carry on where we left off in 2025, but this will be monitored together with the current maintenance cost.

I also ask, what do we do for residents? Well we try our best to serve you, we drive Richard Langner mad, we want to keep rents as low as possible for you but need to keep the budget on track. If we need a rent increase next year we will do our best to keep it low, less than 5%. You will be informed in writing beforehand if this needs to happen.

As well as tackling the reported repairs the team are going to take a general look around the estate to identify things that need doing and ask that you do the same in your areas. Most areas of the estate are tidy and well maintained please take a look and see if there is anything you can do better.

On behalf of The Committee our thanks must go to our partners who have again shown great commitment to helping The Committee get through as many jobs as possible, this in a time where craftsmen are few and far between. These are: - Scott Ives for his job of windows and doors together with other tasks taken and we have had some great feedback on the quality of his work. Classic Windows for the PVC doors and windows. Will Earl for electrical, Shaun Elliott for roofs and Chris Lemons, one of our residents who goes above and beyond to help out. These crafts men are nailed down to a good price and do well for us when they could earn more elsewhere. Next time you see them on the estate please show your appreciation.

The maintenance team of Dean, Ian and Julie has been a huge success yet again and I would like to thank those three for taking the responsibility to ensure it all runs smoothly together with their efforts of keeping the estate up to scratch. I would particularly like to thank Julie for her support on the maintenance admin along with other tasks she helps with.

My thanks must go to our secretary Reva and to our Financial Officer Richard who are always on hand to help and have on many occasions gone above and beyond.

I know I have said this before, but both are a real asset to The Society, and we would be hard pressed to find anyone near their ability or give their efforts.

A big thank you to apple pie Jill Radford, head of our events team who organises our Lawn fun days. I really want to drive that. I’ve noticed some community BBQ s, this is great but I would like to think bigger and get everyone involved, like it used to be. Also, think about the Pioneer Club, their rent goes towards our estate and we need to support this. They hold many events that we could get involved in as a community and when you are planning your family events try The Pioneer Club.

2025 has seen us lose a few of our residents Myrtle Smith, Sandra Fearnehough and Ken Howson who played an active role for many years on The Committee. These were all long established residents, our thoughts and condolences go to their families and friends.

Just a few housekeeping points if I may, please avoid parking on the grass edge and also ask others politely to avoid this, we appreciate the roads are narrow, but this leaves the area looking worn and we are finding this happening more and more. The council won’t do anything about the grass verges so we are left with the cost to keep it looking like somewhere to be proud of.

We know parking is difficult and isn’t really going to become any easier, with this in mind can I ask that you work together as neighbours on this and please do not obstruct resident’s garages, leaving them looking for the owner of the car in order to get in or out of their garages. Be mindful that they may need to get somewhere urgently. If you have a garage, please use it for your cars whenever possible.

We are getting a few complaints regarding the bushes and overgrown trees. Some are ours and some are the Council’s. The Council don’t want the issue, we help wherever possible. For instance the fir trees on Hardwick were causing an issue with damp and we managed to negotiate a price of £150 to have the pair taken down.

Finally, thank you to all our residents for your patience and support. We want your input and opinions too, if you have anything you can share please speak to a Committee member or write in.

Financial Report, presented by Richard Langner.

This is only a short report. Comparing the 2025 accounts to the previous year, you will notice an increase in income, of £10,000. The last rent increase brought in less than 2% of that. The main increase was from negotiating the renewal of the Club lease with a higher rent.

That extra income has helped fund the repair work and we are now on track to balance the books once more. The only other significant expense was the legal fees to deal with the club lease renewal.

The rest of the accounts are similar to previous years but if you have any general questions about the accounts, I can take them now, or if you require more detail you can see me after the meeting.

Frank Hayes explained to the Society members that the original lease for The Pioneer Club had a lower agreed rent to allow them to get established. As they are now up and running the new lease is at market value based on assessors we had out to value the land and property.

Frank also asked the Society members to consider ideas to generate contingency funds as the Society doesn’t currently have one.

Auditor’s Report.

Frank Hayes continued with the auditor’s report, explaining that Wells Richardson provide a good and professional service and even with Richard Langner negotiating good rates these are still rising as with every thing else. Therefore not having the auditors attend is another way to keep these costs down.

In the absence of a representative of Well’s Richardson, the auditor’s report can be found in the copy of the accounts that were handed out on entrance to the meeting. All questions can be directed to Mr Richard Langner now or by email.

No questions were asked at this time.

Election of Members of the Management Committee;

Retiring members re-standing:

Madge Ashmore

Gill Jackson

Ian Prest

Nominations received:

Liz Hunt

The Committee have voted to increase the number of Committee members to the maximum of 10 as stated in the Society rules therefore no vote is needed.

Election of Auditors

The current Auditors are Wells Richardson, after being proposed and seconded, Wells Richardson were elected as Auditors for The Society again for this year.

Any Other Business

Prior to the AGM, tenants were encouraged to submit their any other business points to allow a more concise answer, questions submitted were;

What is the long term plan for finishing the roofs on the houses? When can we expect them to all be finished? As we are heading into another winter with a roof which is extremely damp, it would be good to know. Frank Hayes explained that there is a widespread damp issue on the estate, some of this is to do with ventilation, some to do with lack of loft insulation, roofers will report back on this as they tackle each roof, but yes, some are down to the roofs. However, this will be a long job as only two to four can be replaced each year due to the cost unless funds can be found elsewhere. The roofs were started with the most in need first the remainder are being done in turn as they are all equally in need of replacing.

Is there a long term plan to increase rents on the estate? If not, what is the long term financial sustainability plan for this estate? Given that last year, Richard Langner discussed the fact that the estate had already used repairs and maintenance money budgeted for future financial years, and we are already in a deficit, how will the estate continue to maintain the properties? Frank Hayes referred members back to earlier comments about funds for the estate wherein it was explained that maintenance costs are kept as low as possible and streamlined for better cash flow and income has been boosted by the increased rent from The Pioneer Club but added that since the society was started around 1956 there has never been any contingency plan in terms of funding what has come in has always been paid straight back out. The Committee will always try and keep rents down or at a minimum increase, as the ethos of the estate was and still is affordable housing. We’re also aware that some residents are not able to pay more and are already living to their means. However, we are not in the 1950’s and 60’s any more and given that other rental properties are approximately £800 - £1200 per month we have to be realistic and realise that the tenant is correct in that these rents don’t seem sustainable. We also need to consider the fact that these houses were not built to a high standard. In addition to this, we have recently found ourselves having to cover insurance claims and subsequent insurance premium increases, so even when funds are available they won’t always go where needed. We need to ask ourselves what happens if something does go wrong? If we have a crisis on the estate? If we need to put someone in temporary housing, there are things that could cost us more that we have readily available. Therefore, at the next meeting I will be asking the Committee how we can “get ready”, what can we do for the community for the upcomming years. These points will be raised at the next meeting to find the answers needed. If no other solutions are found then yes, rents will have to be increased.

Frank Hayes brought forward a point from last year’s AGM, solar panels for the estate. Tony Cutts has looked into this over the year and explained that although many people worry about the positioning of their properties the direction to the sun is not actually an issue. The main issues that the Society will face are, funding as we are a unique set up in not owning our own properties. However, next year there will be funding for housing associations which might help. The other issue is storage of the energy as it would not be cost effective to have storage at each individual home.

Reva Corran added to the funding and ownership issue that this has previously been discussed with Solicitors while dealing with the cavity wall insulation and central heating systems, they deemed at the time that as each tenant is a member of the Society and the Society is the landlord the tenants can sign as landlords/owners of there own property, this could be looked into as a possibility for applying for funds.

Frank Hayes suggested that the additional land owned by The Society could be the solution to the storage issue. Frank explained that he has also looked into the benefits of solar panels for the estate and said that it is something that he will bring up with the Committee, however, being such a large issue, if the Committee are interested in going ahead with it they would first write to all tenants and ask for their feedback.

There being no other business the meeting was declared closed at 7:41pm.