Posted on January 14th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
Congratulations to the latest cohort of colleagues who have passed the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Level 3 Housing Practice.
The qualification with the CIH covers eight key areas of essential housing knowledge – this includes Housing system, Occupancy Tenure and Letting, Rental Income Management, Managing Leasehold Housing Services, Managing Empty Properties, Dealing with anti-social behaviour in housing, Legal Framework for Housing, and Professional Practice Skills for Housing.
We are the first housing provider to commit to putting all housing colleagues through a professional course with the CIH.
Neighbourhood Officer Gemma Teale and Neighbourhood Manager Carrie Gilbert recently completed the qualification.
Gemma said it was great to meet other colleagues from Citizen as part of the training and learn from their experiences.
She said: “I feel accomplished completing this course, as it was challenging for me to do it virtually, without that face-to-face interaction. It made me feel proud that I overcame this challenge and succeeded.
“Completing the course gave me confidence that I have the tools and skills needed to complete my role to the best of my ability. I also feel that this qualification benefits our customers and the communities that we serve by developing my knowledge. If anyone is thinking about doing this course, do it, as it will really benefit you!”
Carrie said that the course was really interesting and helped to increase her knowledge of Housing Practice.
She said: “There are some areas or processes within housing that we don’t use every day or understand why some areas of business work in the way that they do, but the qualification helped give me that wider view of the organisation. It increased my knowledge around other areas of our business for example leasehold and allocations. This helped me to better understand the legalities and why we do things the way that we do.
“I hadn’t done any studying since I left school, so I was nervous. I am now relieved that its completed but also proud of what I have achieved. It has given me greater confidence and will help support my decision making knowing that I am a qualified housing practitioner.”
Our Head of Learning and Development Lisa Robertson said: “Congratulations to all colleagues who have recently passed the CIH Level 3 Housing Practice.
“This qualification will be so useful in your housing careers, and it helps ensure you have the knowledge to do your jobs to the best of your ability.
“Well done everyone!”
Colleagues who have passed include Money Advice Team Leader Michael Clarke, Maintenance Planner Jade Farrel, Neighbourhood Services Assistant Tracey Fisher, Neighbourhood Manager Carrie Gilbert, Neighbourhood Officer Sarah Hollingworth, Neighbourhood Officer Manjit Mawee, Neighbourhood Officer Gemma Teale and Neighbourhood Officer Stephen Williams.
The next cohort is expected to run at the end of 2022.
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Posted on January 13th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
Work has started on the fifth phase of our Spirit Quarters development in Coventry.
The latest phase will be made up of 74 homes for outright sale and a further 20 affordable homes. The homes at the site will be two-, three- and four-bedroom homes.
Demolition has already started of houses currently at Milverton Road, Wood End, and the first of the new homes being built at the site are due to be completed this summer.
We are working with national housebuilder Keepmoat Homes as part of the multi-million-pound partnership and the West Midlands Combined Authority have also invested £1m.
Our Director of Regeneration Services Kevin Roach said: “We’re delighted that work has started on the next phase of our Spirit Quarters regeneration project which will see an area that has been blighted with anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping for many years transformed.
“At Citizen we understand the importance of regeneration and creating communities that give people a foundation for life. We’re looking forward to seeing the work on this phase of Spirit Quarters progress over the coming months.
“The change that has taken place in the area and continues to take place would not have been possible without the continued drive, support and commitment of the community and our partner Moat House Community Trust.”
Dianne Williams, Chief Executive of Moat House Community Trust, said: “It is very exciting to see the next phase of the redevelopment starting and that we are entering into the final stages of delivering the vision that the residents had to transform their area through physical and social regeneration and investment.”
Wood End was built by the city council in the late 1950s and early 1960s to rehouse families from the inner city as well as people moving to Coventry to work in its then-booming car industry.
But the area’s fortunes declined and it became one of the city’s most deprived neighbourhoods. It has now been earmarked for major redevelopment together with the nearby Manor Farm, Henley Green and Deedmore neighbourhoods – a project that will eventually see more than 1,300 new homes built.
So far, the completion of phases one to four have delivered 979 new homes, 275 of which were allocated for affordable housing in partnership with us.
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the WMCA, said: “Creating new communities and sustainable neighbourhoods on brownfield land has been one of the region’s real success stories in recent years.
“By using government cash to clean-up derelict industrial land or residential sites like Wood End we’ve helped create thousands of new homes and jobs, whilst also protecting our precious and irreplaceable green belt. Our investments have also helped to create and secure local jobs for local people by guaranteeing work for the construction sector during the pandemic.”
The scheme will generate dozens of employment opportunities, including apprenticeships and work placements, which will be delivered throughout the lifetime of the project.
Charlotte Goode, Regional Managing Director at Keepmoat Homes, said: “We’re thrilled to be working with the WMCA to help rejuvenate Wood End, and provide much needed new homes for residents. This site isn’t your typical new homes development, it is part of a wider regeneration project which represents a tremendous opportunity for the city’s growth.
“We have a strong track record of delivering new homes across the country, particularly on brownfield land such as this, and we have already delivered almost 1,000 homes on previous phases at Wood End with Citizen.
“We’ve brought our experience to this development and, working with the WMCA and Citizen, we’re building quality homes and breathing new life into the area. Our aim is to make a big impact to the local community, delivering real value to not only those who choose to live there but also to the surrounding area.”
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Posted on January 12th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
Our first zero-carbon ready pilot is now complete. The property at 16 Lynton Road, Coventry has been transformed into a highly energy efficient home.
Our Zero Carbon and Development Strategy has recently evolved to include the targets set out by the Government’s Future Homes Standard Strategy.
Building Surveyor Paul Kerby said 16 Lynton Road was selected as a pilot property for achieving the zero carbon ready standard.
He said: “With decarbonisation targets now firmly set by the Government’s Future Homes Standard Strategy, social housing providers are looking at their existing housing stock and considering the challenges that lie ahead in reaching these targets.
“Reaching such a standard can be complex, however, it can be broadly split in to two categories: 1) insulating the external fabric of the building to a very high standard and 2) introducing highly efficient heating and hot water technologies.
“The 16 Lynton Road pilot property primarily focuses on the external fabric of the building.”
Paul said that to transform the property into a highly energy efficient building we took a ‘fabric first’ approach.
This means that we heavily focused on the performance of the external building fabric. The installation of a highly energy efficient heating and hot water system is to follow. Work included:
• 150mm external wall insulation
• New fully insulated ground floor construction
• Improved loft insulation and ventilation
• Enhanced details to remove cold bridging such as insulation below Damp Proof Course (DPC), internal wall insulation and roofline extensions
• New double-glazed windows, sitting within the insulation
• New insulated flat roof to ground floor extension/bathroom
• Whole house ventilation system
Non energy efficiency works included:
• Full rewire
• New kitchen
• New bathroom
• Full internal decorations including floor coverings
• External landscaping
Paul added: “Achieving zero carbon ready requires the external elements of a building to reach standards, including the ground floor construction.
“It can be a costly and disruptive job to renew the entire ground floor of a property as kitchens and other internal fixtures may need to be removed.
“This property already needed a new ground floor construction as the existing was failing. It also required a new kitchen. These considerations, as well as the suitability of the construction in general, were taken into account when selecting the most appropriate property available at the time.
“Net zero is important as it’s the best way we can tackle climate change by reducing global warming. What we do in the next decade to limit emissions will be critical to the future, which is why every country, sector, industry and each one of us must work together to find ways to cut the carbon we produce.”
Paul said the works that were done to 16 Lynton Road has reduced its carbon emissions by 1966 kg/yr. which is a 60% reduction on emissions, with a similar percentage reduction in the energy bills and there will be greater reductions when the energy supply grid is further decarbonized.
He added: “The Future Homes Standard should produce 75-80% less carbon emissions compared with current levels. We are playing our part at Citizen to ensure we meet these new regulation targets through our zero carbon ready project. By building our new homes and refurbishing our properties to a zero carbon ready standard our customers will also benefit from reduced energy bills and their properties will stay warmer for longer.
“We are currently looking at the lessons we have learned throughout this project and how we can incorporate these lessons into the works we are undertaking now and into the future. We have already changed our specification for our ongoing external wall insulation programme to incorporate what we have learned. This includes providing an increase in the level of insulation above the current building regulations standards and improving technical details, making properties more efficient for our customers.
“This project was our first step into understanding the works that are required to meet Citizen’s Zero Carbon Strategy. It has given us invaluable information about the complexities of retro fitting our properties and the amount of work that will be required to meet the government’s decarbonisation targets that will influence projects going forward.
“We are constantly evaluating new products that are being brought to market and looking at how we can incorporate them into our projects.”
Paul added the property is ready to move in and is not occupied.
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