2026 Annual General Meeting

The meeting went well, with 16 members in attendance to hear an update on the last year from our Chair, Yvonne Alexis, information from Azets, our Auditors, and the appointment of the new Management Committee.

Chairperson's Report

In Yvonne's speech she mentioned it was a challenging year for the social housing sector in Scotland, especially with some high-profile protests at other Housing Associations relating to the perception of allocation of homes. She mentioned that Yorkhill continues to abide by regulatory and statutory guidance while remaining a locally controlled organisation.

Yvonne also mentioned that the Scottish Housing Regulator had visited the Association in May 2026 and this was a positive experience. While discussing our working practices the Regulator decided to publish some examples of where we are demonstrating good practice among the rest of the sector. This demonstrates our good performance in relation to governance and assurance.

The Chair mentioned that the Annual Return on the Charter (ARC) had been submitted in May, and performance was very good, especially in comparison with our peer group and Scottish average.

The speech included an update on the Association's four-day week pilot, which was going well. There was no change to performance metrics and no sign of any impact in service quality. This will continue to be monitored over the remanider of the pilot period.

The Chair also noted significant technological improvements adopted over the past year, with a new website, online customer portal and phone system all rolled out to diversify the avenues for customers to make contact. A handful of staff also keep abreast of any developments in Artificial Intelligence which may benefit the Association in future.

Excellent progress continues to be made on the ‘GreenHeat’ project at Overnewton Court, which will see a highly innovative, modern and environmentally sustainable heating solution implemented in the coming months to the benefit of residents.

It was noted that 2026 has been another trying year, with pressures from central government arising from the housing shortage in the country and the continued trend of social landlords becoming involved in delivering services which would traditionally have been handled by councils. To this end, the Estate Caretaker service has continued to be a success, and has been increased to 3 full-time staff who work to maintain the Yorkhill area.

The Chair advised that Senior Staff and the Committee will continue to monitor the overall political situation surrounding the housing sector, and wished to thank all staff for their hard work over another challenging year.

Auditor Report

Azets Audit Services presented the Annual Accounts for the financial year ending 31 March 2026.

A high-level narrative of the Association’s Statement of Comprehensive Income was presented, which showed that overall income was just over £2.85m – an increase of £120k on last year, largely owing to the latest rent increase which was effective from April 2026.

Overall operating expenditures were down by £100k, and factors such as carefully planned maintenance programmes and strong cost controls as key factors in this achievement were noted, which Azets said was particularly noteworthy given the current economic climate.

Furthermore, the Association reports an overall surplus of £198k, which Azets highlighted the importance of to ensure that funds are available to continue investing in maintaining and improving the housing stock.

Moving onto the Statement of Financial Position, Azets highlighted that, overall, £2.3m had been invested into the housing stock over the past year, inclusive of money spent acquiring a small number of additional properties. A significant amount of investment in components and other upgrades to the stock was grant-funded, meaning that it did not come out of the Association’s existing reserves which sit at a healthy £3.1m.

The report showed the Association maintained an overall clean audit opinion with no concerns about its viability going forward. Azets also confirmed that no actual or attempted fraud, illegal acts or regulatory breaches had been detected during the audit work.

Azets were re-appointed as auditors for the coming year. 

Election of Management Committee

Tony Mallaghan, Chief Executive of Yorkhill HA, reminded those in attendance that one-third of the Management Committee must retire annually, but can be re-elected. Those who were casual or co-opted members must also step down.

Following this process there were 10 vacancies on the Management Committee, with 9 members seeking election. As such there wa sno need for a vote and those 9 members were duely elected.

Prize Draw

The prize draw took place, and the winners were C Armstrong and C Watson. They each win a £30 voucher for the store of their choice.