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Achievements and Accreditations
Below is a list of our achievements in the last few years:
In 2010/2011 we:
- Built 219 new homes and provided housing for 1157 people (450 children and 139 households who were homeless)
- Reviewed our repairs service and used resident feedback to develop a new ‘Repairs Charter’
- Published a three year home improvement work programme
- Ensured all our homes met the National ‘Decent Homes Standard’.
- Invested £14million to improve homes – we have fitted 279 new kitchens, 230 new bathrooms and upgraded 721 heating systems.
- Launched our Room to Move scheme – an incentive scheme that helps and rewards people who wish to move to a smaller home
- Held two estate based events that provided 85 residents with help and advice to cut their energy bills
- Carried out assessments against our key services to ensure we are not indirectly discriminating or having any negative impacts against particular groups or members of our communities. As a result we have provided additional training to our staff to increase their understanding and the support they can provide in a range of different circumstances
- Launched our new ‘Family Intervention’ project, a scheme that helps families facing difficulties. The first of its kind in the country.
- Helped residents claim over £50,000 worth of benefits that they didn’t know they were entitled to
- Held 13 ‘Fun days’ on estates where we gathered resident feedback on our services
- Recognised by the Tenant Services Authority as a ‘co-regulatory champion’ one of only ten associations nationally leading the way in best practice for resident scrutiny
- Reviewed our resident involvement strategy
- Made savings of over £100,000 per year through the re-tendering of our grounds maintenance, tree and cleaning contracts.
- Trained nineteen residents to be estate inspectors
- Provided financial help and guidance to more than 28% of our residents over the last two years.
- Made over £900,000 of efficiency savings by renegotiating contracts, seeking funding from elsewhere and improving our business practises.
- Reduced the time it takes to re-let any empty homes to an average of 15 days.
In 2010/2011 we achieved the following accreditations:
- Customer Excellence Standard
- Co-Regulatory Champion status by the Tenant Services Authority. We were one of ten organisations nationally to achieve champion status
- Warden Charter Standard
- Warden Quality Standard with distinction
- Tenant Participation Advisory Services accreditation
- Recognised For Excellence 5 Stars
In 2008/2009 we:
- Published “Forward Thinking” as founding member of the Norfolk Housing Alliance, the first county wide Homelessness prevention strategy in the UK. Cited as national best practice by the Housing Corporation
- Launched a digital TV service – we were the only housing association in Norfolk to offer residents access to services through digital TV.
- The Institute of Housing commended our Financial Inclusion Service as “being a leading example of best practice in the affordable housing sector”.
- Achieved accredited status as Norfolk Constabulary’s Community Safety Accreditation scheme – we were the only housing association in Norfolk to achieve accreditation.
- Were recognised by the Energy Saving Trust, Building Research Establishment, Ecologist, the Times and Inside Housing for our Green exemplar scheme, “Greening the box”, as a sector leading, energy efficiency project
- Were invited to join Retrofit Pioneers – Established by the Existing Homes Alliance, a national group of housing associations that have completed exemplar low carbon projects to inform the sector.
- Were selected by the Tenant Services Authority to deliver a national local standard pilot project
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Philosophy
People are the heart of Circle Anglia. We aim to deliver great homes, reliable services and local solutions. Our four objectives are:
- High levels of customer satisfaction
- Improving performance
- Achieving growth
- Building financial strength
Awards
Old Ford Housing Association has won a prestigious national Gold Award for Excellence. Old Ford won the Building Cohesive Communities category of the awards which recognise achievements and excellence in the social housing sector.
Ensuring our financial stability
In conjunction with G15 (London’s 15 largest associations) and East 7 (East of England’s seven largest associations) Circle Anglia has been talking to Ministers about what can be done to ensure the continued development of social housing in the current economic situation.
In November, Circle Anglia announced the issue of £275 million Secured Bonds due in 2038. The bonds are secured by assets and guarantees provided by six RSLs within the group. The launch of the deal means that Circle Anglia’s 30-year business plan is now fully-funded through committed long term facilities