Posted on April 26th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
Our Sales team has sold more than 200 Signature homes.
Customer Richard has moved into his two-bed home, the Warner, at our St Mary’s Place development in Kidderminster with his wife and daughter.
St Mary’s Place is an exclusive development which is near to Kidderminster town centre.
Richard said that he moved there with his family so they could be near to the family and friends of his wife, Emma.
He said: “This is our first house that we have owned together as a family and it’s lovely. It’s great and we will enjoy living here. We are very happy and are glad that we chose this particular property.
“The location is very good for us. There is a lot going on in the area and we have shops nearby so there is a lot to do. We also have family in the area too.
“My wife is originally from Birmingham, and we wanted to find somewhere suitable for all of us. This place is perfect as it’s a short distance from her family and friends.”
Our St Mary’s Place development is the largest Citizen and Signature New Homes site of mixed tenure.
Sales Advisor Denise Haddon-Freer said: “Congratulations to Richard for being our 200th sale at Signature New Homes. We hope you enjoy your new home and enjoy living at St Mary’s Place.”
Sales Advisor Yvonne Pearce added: “It’s lovely to hear that Richard and his family are settling into their home well. We hope they will be happy there for many years.”
Once St Mary’s Place is completed, it will be made up of 49 shared ownership, 100 outright sale and 91 affordable rented homes.
To reflect its connection to the local area and to add history to the site, the development has been named after the local church – St Mary’s – and the house types have been named after vicars in the local parish. These include the Warner, the Tomlin, the Conway, the Sinclair, the Redfern, the Allister, the Ashcroft, the Hollinghurst and the Aspinal.
For more information about Signature New Homes, visit our website here.
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Posted on April 25th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
We are delighted to announce that our Income Team have been shortlisted for the Team of the Year (15000+ homes) award at the Housing Hero Awards this year.
The Housing Heroes Awards celebrate the leaders, innovators and changemakers across the housing sector, shining a light on the incredible work carried out by teams and individuals in the past 12 months.
Our Income Team have been shortlisted following a change in their approach three years ago which has brought impressive results. The team now strongly believe holding proactive conversations at the earliest possible point is essential in securing meaningful engagement with customers, ensuring tailored support is given straight away.
This new approach has enabled the team to reduce arrears by £1.25 million from 2019/20 to 2020/21 with a further reduction of £390,914 in 2021/22.
Our Head of Income Paula Jenner said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be shortlisted for Team of the Year at the Housing Hero Awards this year. The awards received nearly 350 entries, so it feels great to make it to the shortlist.
“To reduce arrears by £1.25million throughout the coronavirus pandemic is a great achievement and I am so proud of the work every single person in my team has done.
“I’m really proud of the impact our advice services have on our customers lives. We deliver a proactive approach to providing help and support to our customers and this is clearly demonstrated in our performance.”
Our Director of Housing Peter Gill added: “I’m thrilled for Paula and her team. Being shortlisted for this award is very much deserved and everyone in the Income Team should feel proud of what they achieved over the last few years.
“Sometimes the simplest of solutions can have the greatest impact. Proactive communication with both customers and colleagues has transformed the team’s performance. I’ve got everything crossed for the final ceremony!”
The Housing Heroes Awards will take place side by side with the Women in Housing Awards on Monday 27 June at Manchester Central as part of Housing 2022.
Find out more about the Housing Heroes Awards and who has made the shortlist here.
Well done to our Income Team and good luck!
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Posted on April 21st, 2022 by Elaine Davies
Our development at York Road in Birmingham has been completed ahead of schedule and customer Paige Wade has moved into one of the homes.
York Road is one of the developments we have been working on with Vistry Partnerships. It is made up of 87 homes – 21 are shared ownership and 66 are affordable rent. It was built on the former UTC Aerospace System facility, which was the Birmingham base of the US aerospace and defence company.
As the homes were built using a modern method of construction, we have been able to build the site three times quicker than a traditional build.
Paige, who was previously living in private rented accommodation in Rubery, Bromsgrove, said she couldn’t believe it when she was offered the house.
She said: “I was so happy to be offered this property, I was ecstatic and couldn’t believe it!
“My new house means everything to me. I absolutely adore it and I don’t think I have been this happy since I was a child. It has given me a new lease of life moving in here.
“Living here has changed my whole outlook on life. I have previously lived in hostels as well as private rented homes and now it is so nice to have a place I can call home.”
Paige has moved into her home at York Road with her two children aged five and three.
She added: “I love the whole aesthetic of the home. I love having my own garden as I have never had one before and I have a massive kitchen too. I love baking and cooking, and I have the space to have a dining room table, I couldn’t have this in my previous home as it was a lot smaller.
“I am so happy to have moved in here.”
The timber frames used to make up the external and internal stud walls, floor joists and roof trusses at York Road were built offsite and then transported to development for assembly.
Our Executive Director of Development Nick Byrne said: “We are so pleased to hear Paige and her children are happy in their new home at York Road and that it means so much to her.
“At Citizen we are committed to providing homes that are a foundation for life to help people across the West Midlands. We hope Paige and her family will be happy and live at York Road for many years.
“As we have used a Modern Method of Construction at York Road, we have managed to build the homes much quicker than a usual build. This means we have been able to handover more homes to customers each week and in turn this means people waiting for a home on the housing list have been able to move in quicker.”
Our York Road development is one of four sites that we are working on with Vistry Partnerships. The others include the 600-home development at Lea Castle, a 246-home development at Churchfields in Kidderminster and a 103-home scheme at Ridge Hill near Stourbridge.
Managing Director at Vistry Partnerships Darren Beale said: “We’re pleased to be working with Citizen again on another exciting housing development.
“The development will provide a range of new affordable homes, enhance the existing landscaping and boost economic growth in the area.
“It is great to see people like Paige enjoying their new homes so much, this is what makes the job so worthwhile.”
Work first started at York Road in late 2020 and the development is close to local amenities such as schools, shops and public transport including commuter access to Birmingham New Street station.
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Posted on April 20th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
A fire started in one of the flats on the 15th floor at our Nauls Mill House tower block in Coventry around 8.45pm on Saturday 16 April.
West Midlands Fire Service, West Midlands Police and our teams were on site immediately to stop the fire and support customers.
All residents living in the block are safe and we continue to support them. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and the fire was mainly contained to the one flat.
Specialist Fire Investigators found a small number of butane aerosol cans within the flat on the 15th floor which could have played a contributory factor into the fire’s development.
West Midlands Fire Service have determined the most likely cause of the fire at Nauls Mill House was a carelessly discarded cigarette in the living room of the flat on the 15th floor.
The fire service have confirmed that the building performed exactly as it should on Saturday evening – containing the majority of the fire within the flat on the 15th floor and allowing the fire service to tackle the blaze there, keeping all residents safe.
The majority of residents living in flats up to and including floor 12 are now back in their homes following successful electrical tests in their flats.
Residents in flats on floors 13 – 16 remain in temporary accommodation due to more serious electrical damage on these floors.
We are committed to getting the electricity back on in all flats and all our customers back in their homes as soon as possible.
We have been working closely with Coventry City Council to find temporary accommodation for customers who need it and to supply food parcels. We are also providing a daily allowance to assist residents with any additional food costs.
Our customers safety is our priority and we would encourage everyone to ensure that any smoking materials or candles are fully extinguished prior to leaving them unattended. Butane aerosol cans can be extremely dangerous and we would strongly advise customers not to store any within their homes.
If you would like to talk to us, you can do so at any time on 0300 790 6555. Thank you for your patience.
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Posted on April 20th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
We’re delighted to announce that we’ve made the final for four awards at the West Midlands Finance Awards this year.
The West Midlands Finance Awards seek to promote and celebrate the outstanding achievements of businesses and individuals within the West Midlands’ finance community.
We have made the final in the below award categories this year:
• Finance Team of the Year Not-for-Profit
• Transactional Finance Team of the Year
• Finance Director of the Year Not-for-Profit
• Finance Transformation and Change 2
Our Director of Finance and finalist for the Finance Director of the Year Not-for-Profit award, Anna McOwen, said: “The Finance and Transactional Services teams often work quietly in the background, with the services we provide being largely invisible to the majority of colleagues.
“We have really excellent teams that do great work and we thought it was about time we showcased just how good we are!
“We are truly delighted to have been shortlisted for four awards at the West Midlands Finance Awards, following a written submission and gruelling 45-minute panel interview for each award.
“This is a fantastic recognition for our teams, a great profile boost for Citizen, and something that every member of the Finance and Transactional Services teams should be very proud of.”
Our Director of Assurance and Business Services Katie Moore said: “I echo the sentiments shared by Anna.
“I am delighted the teams have been recognised for their hard work during a challenging few years at Citizen and in the region, they should all be very proud. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the final awards ceremony next month!”
Our Chief Financial Officer Gary Booth added: “I’m delighted that we’ve been shortlisted for multiple awards at the West Midlands Finance Awards next month – it’s great to be showcasing some of the great teamwork and collaboration that Anna and Katie’s teams are involved in with the West Midlands Finance Community.
“Congratulations to Anna, Katie and their Finance and Transactional Services teams for being shortlisted!”
The West Midlands Finance Awards will be taking place on Thursday 26 May 2022 at the ICC in Birmingham.
You can find out more about the West Midlands Finance Awards here.
Well done everyone and good luck!
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Posted on April 18th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
We are looking for a new Director of People to lead our People team which includes HR, Payroll, Learning and Development and Facilities teams.
The post is part of our Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and will help to implement a vision for a truly modern People function.
Our new director will deliver operational and cultural change to ensure colleagues feel valued, skilled, and motivated to achieve our objectives.
Our Chief Financial Officer Gary Booth said: “We are looking for someone who is an inspirational senior leader with a track record of making a tangible difference to ambitious, genuinely customer-focused organisations.
“The individual will work with considerable pace and energy, and enjoy challenging status quos, they will also bring a passion for talent management and ensuring teams are attracted, retained and developed to deliver outstanding outcomes for our communities.
“We want to work with someone who will be all about people and an authentic leader who cares about doing the right thing.”
The deadline for applications is 9am on Monday 16 May 2022, preliminary interviews will take place on Tuesday 24 and Thursday 26 May, and final interviews will take place on Friday 17 June.
Find out more about the role and Citizen in our recruitment flipbook and visit GatenbySanderson to apply.
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Posted on April 13th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
Minister for Housing and Rough Sleeping Eddie Hughes visited our supported housing accommodation in Coventry yesterday (Tuesday 12 April).
Throughout his visit the Minister was given a tour of the Gateway, Coventry’s primary homeless residence, which provides 79 flats for single homeless people in the city – 16 of these flats were recently built following a successful bid for funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
The Minister was also shown Citizen’s and Coventry City Council’s newest supported housing facility, Frank Walsh House, which provides 44 flats for families with support needs who are homeless in the city. The facility was also used to accommodate 44 rough sleepers throughout the coronavirus pandemic as part of the Government’s Everyone In campaign.
Minister for Housing and Rough Sleeping, Eddie Hughes said: “One person sleeping rough on our streets is one too many, and I’m delighted to be able to visit Gateway in Coventry which provides supported housing for those at risk of homelessness.
“Through our Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme, we have funded 16 of their flats. These are more than just homes, helping people affected by drug and alcohol addiction, mental health problems and family breakdowns by giving them access to training and other support to help rebuild their lives.
“This Government wants to end rough sleeping for good, and through innovative programmes like this we’re on track to ensure no one is forced to spend a night on the streets.”
Our Chief Operating Officer Mads Nelson said: “It’s been fantastic showing the Minister around our two housing schemes in Coventry today.
“We’re committed to working with Coventry City Council to help combat homelessness across the city. Our Gateway scheme has provided new homes for single people who were homeless or threatened with homelessness and has helped reduce the reliance on bed and breakfast accommodation.
“We’ve secured over £2million from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Community to help us develop our homeless offer at Citizen. This includes securing 25 homes across the West Midlands for homeless single people and an extra 16 homes at the Gateway. We are very grateful for their support. I hope the Minister enjoyed meeting customers benefiting from our new accommodation today.”
Coventry City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Commissioning and Partnerships Lead Sophie Hall added: “It’s great to be back at both Gateway and Frank Walsh House today.
“We’re proud to have invested £280,000 to enable the conversion work to happen at Frank Walsh House, working closely with Citizen.
“We also commission the support to help make sure Citizen’s customers maintain their tenancies at both Gateway and Frank Walsh House.
“We believe this support and both schemes are vital to address homelessness throughout the city.”
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Posted on April 12th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
The first of 600 homes being built at our Lea Castle development in Kidderminster have been handed over to customers.
We are working with Vistry Partnerships to develop the 49-hectare site which will take eight years to complete.
Rebecca Evans is one of the first people to move into the £137m development. She said she is over the moon and hopes to live at Lea Castle for years.
She said: “I love this house so much – it’s my dream home!
“I cried when I was offered the property, they were happy tears, and I still can’t believe it’s ours. I feel incredibly lucky because I have been given a new build to live in with my little boy. It’s amazing!”
Rebecca was previously renting privately in Kidderminster but after being registered disabled, and living in a property that couldn’t be adapted, she contacted the council and was offered one of our homes at Lea Castle.
Rebecca, who said she hopes to be able to adapt the property in the future if her needs require it, is living with her six-year-old son Fin.
She said: “My home means everything to me, it’s going to change our lives.
“We feel we will have security here and the main thing for my son is the garden. He loves the outdoors and it’s a quiet place for him to play.
“There is also a park being built next to our new house which he will love when it’s completed and as it’s right outside the door, I will be able to take him to it.”
Work first started on site in the summer of 2020. When finished the development will be made up of 240 affordable homes – 59 social rent, 100 affordable rent and 81 shared ownership – and 360 outright sale through a joint venture with Vistry Partnerships.
Our Executive Director of Development Nick Byrne said: “It’s lovely to hear that Rebecca and her son, Fin, are so happy and excited about their new home.
“We love hearing how much a new home means to our customers – at Citizen we are committed to building new homes in communities across the West Midlands so we can give more people a foundation for life.
“Rebecca’s home is one of the first affordable homes ready at the site and we are looking forward to handing over more homes to customers over the coming months and years.”
The site has extensive history including being used as a prisoner of war camp and military camp in World War Two and the site was occupied by the Royal Army Pay Corps until 1960.
From the 1960s to 2008 the site was used as an NHS hospital and a care home for people who suffering with mental illness. Some of the buildings remained in use until 2014.
Once the site is finished, it will provide more affordable housing than is required by the local planning authority.
Managing Director at Vistry Partnerships Darren Beale said: “We’re pleased to be working with Citizen again on another exciting housing development.
“The development will provide a range of new affordable homes, enhance the existing landscaping and boost economic growth in the area.
“It is great to see people like Rebecca enjoying their new homes so much, this is what makes the job so worthwhile.”
Our Lea Castle development is one of four sites we are working on with Vistry Partnerships and in total all the sites will provide 1,000 homes.
The other sites include 103 homes at Ridge Hill near Stourbridge, 246 homes at Churchfields in Kidderminster and 87 homes at York Road.
Last year we also completed 109 affordable homes at our Hall Green development with VistryPartnerships, which was built on the former greyhound track.
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Posted on April 11th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
It’s three years since we launched our Tenant Support and Wellbeing Service, and it is more important than ever that we provide a service which helps our customers.
This April has seen a large cost of living increase which has hit everyone, including our customers.
As a landlord, we need to make sure we are there to support our customers with their mental health and wellbeing, so they are able to sustain their tenancies. Often tenancies can break down when other external pressures are felt by the individual.
The Government’s Social Housing White Paper also makes it clear there is a relationship between housing and physical and mental health.
An article by Inside Housing reported that according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, people on lower incomes are two times more likely to experience anxiety and depression than the wider population, with 63 percent of mental health cases relating to economic and social instability.
At Citizen we feel it’s important that “we are looking out for our citizens”, which is one of the objectives of our business strategy, and one of the reasons why we introduced our Tenant Support and Wellbeing Service three years ago.
The service is available to customers 24/7 and is completely independent provided by Care First.
It is free and confidential for customers to use and offers help with anything, including mental health and wellbeing, family matters, relationships, managing debt, workplace issues and rights as a consumer. We don’t know who has accessed the service or what for.
In the last year the service has also offered our customers Structured Telephone Counselling too, where customers have had access to six telephone sessions compared to a single session in the previous two years.
We want our services to reflect that we are on our customers’ side, to make their lives easier and to support them when they need it.
Every customer has access to the service as a benefit of their tenancy via a freephone number and online portal. It is also a great tool for our frontline teams because they can provide customers with information on the spot if they feel they are struggling and they know that the service will be available then and there.
Since 1 May 2021 to the end of January 2022, 337 new customers used our Tenant Support and Wellbeing Service, which generated 744 contacts. Anonymous usage data tells us that between November and January (the latest figures we have access to), people were mostly accessing the service for personal issues – and 44 per cent of people who accessed the service for personal issues asked for help with their emotional health.
Investing in services to improve our customers’ wellbeing through the tough times has never been more important and we hope that the service will help our customers who are struggling now and over the next year.
Peter Gill
Director of Housing at Citizen
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Posted on April 8th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
Our Director of Care and Support Martyn Hale has recently become a member of the Safeguarding in Housing Good Practice Group.
The Safeguarding in Housing Good Practice Group is a nation-wide group, and the objective is to promote safeguarding good practice amongst housing associations.
The group meet quarterly to discuss the latest in safeguarding and to develop collaborative plans for raising awareness of safeguarding across the social housing sector.
Members of the group include Sovereign, Platform, Stonewater, Plymouth Community Homes, Fortis Living, Vivid Homes, Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Connexus.
Martyn said: “The Safeguarding in Housing Good Practice Group is an important setting to ensure Citizen are at the forefront of safeguarding policies within the social housing sector.
“The group enables us to share ideas and experiences with our peers and to implement up-to-date safeguarding policies.
“Not only is this important to ensure that we’re implementing up-to-date safeguarding policies at Citizen, but it’s also important for us to continue to build our external reputation as a voice of authority in the sector.”
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