Posted on April 23rd, 2024 by Elaine Davies
Affordable homes at Sonnet Park in Stratford-upon-Avon have been handed over to us and are ready for customers to move into.
We have partnered with Persimmon Homes South Midlands on the scheme which is made up of 22 affordable homes and 45 outright sale.
The affordable homes have been handed over to us and this was marked by a visit to the development by our director of development Richard Whittaker and Persimmon Homes South Midlands’ managing director Russell Griffin.
Our development project manager Alex Mackness said: “It’s fantastic news that homes have been handed over to us at Sonnet Park to help with the housing need in the area.
“At Citizen we are committed to working with our partners to make a positive difference to our customers and communities – and our partnership with Persimmon is an example of this.
“We’re looking forward to our customers moving into the homes at Sonnet Park and we hope they will be very happy living there.”
Russell Griffin, Managing Director at Persimmon Homes South Midlands, said: “Handing over a portion of our homes at Sonnet Park is the latest example of our successful partnership with Citizen, which is delivering much-needed new homes for local families.
“We’re continuing to work hard to prioritise quality and affordability for all our customers. As well as the homes which have now been transferred, the average price of a Persimmon home is 25% below the market average in England and Wales – extending the opportunity of home ownership to more local families.
“We’ll continue to work closely with our local partners to ensure our investment makes a positive difference to communities across the region.”
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Posted on April 17th, 2024 by Elaine Davies
The National Housing Federation (NHF) has launched a campaign urging political parties to commit to a long-term national plan to solve the housing crisis which would support thousands of households in the West Midlands.
Many families are in desperate need of a safe, suitable and affordable home and we are backing the campaign, alongside several other housing associations in the West Midlands, ahead of the mayoral elections.
Figures provided by the NHF found that 64,382 households were on the waiting list for social housing in 2022/23 and only 13,579 new social housing lettings were available across the West Midlands.
This is broken down into:
- Coventry – 7,469 households on the waiting list and 1,991 new social lettings were available
- Birmingham – 20,625 households on the waiting list and 4,557 new social lettings were available
- Hereford – 1,520 households on the waiting list and 740 new social lettings were available
- Worcester – 3,238 households on the waiting list and 368 new social lettings were available
This means on average across the West Midlands at the current rate of lettings, and if no other households joined the waiting lists, it could take just under five years before every household currently on the waiting list can move into a suitable home that they can afford.
Our chief executive Kevin Rodgers said: “As rising house prices continue to outpace wages and where the average price of a home is over eight times average wages, the West Midlands desperately needs more affordable homes to serve a thriving economy.
“Clear political direction and support is critical if we are to provide the right homes of the right quality for the people of the West Midlands.”
The shortage of affordable homes in the region means that more and more people have had to turn to living in expensive, insecure private rented homes. This has left many facing impossible choices as they struggle to balance rent with other essential bills, or risk facing homelessness.
The widening gap between the demand for social housing and the availability of it is not an anomaly in our region. It is a result of decades of underfunding and underinvestment in affordable homes by successive governments. This has led to a chronic shortage of social housing and contributed to the housing crisis we’re in today.
Housing associations are ambitious to do more to tackle this crisis, but it will take a long-term commitment from local and national governments to address.
As the mayoral election in the West Midlands grows closer, access to affordable housing has become increasingly important among voters, with over half saying the government should prioritise building social housing, according to the NHF.
We’re joining the NHF’s call for political parties to commit to a long-term national plan to solve the housing crisis to support the thousands of households in the West Midlands in desperate need of a safe, suitable and affordable home.
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Posted on April 9th, 2024 by Tammy Palmer
Citizen adds more features to its self-service portal, My Account, offering customers a more convenient way to manage their tenancy.
The portal, first launched 10 years ago, and rebranded five years ago, offers customers the choice to pay rent, view their rent account, raise queries, and manage their repair bookings, online.
Frances, a Citizen customer, said: “I have recommended My Account to other customers as it is quick and easy to use, for me. I realise not everyone is OK with setting up and using My Account. I helped my friend set up a My Account with Citizen. He has been in his property since the 1990’s. He likes that repairs can be booked on the system, as he was always using up credit on his pay as you go phone.”
As part of its continuous improvement programme, the Customer Experience Team at Citizen carried out a review of how customers were using the portal. Taking customers feedback into consideration, the team has now added a set of new functions, offering customers more choice in how they access and use services.
The new features, include:
- a webchat tool to guide customers through how to use the online portal;
- an option for customers to upload images and documents to support your repair request, or query, so that we can respond more effectively: and
- privacy protected messaging – any anti-social behaviour reports are securely stored in their account.
At the same time, customers can enjoy the legacy features of the portal:
- is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week;
- can be accessed using your mobile phone or computer;
- is a safe and secure environment with your own unique username and password;
- removes call wait times and call costs;
- offers a speedier way to resolve your query compared to sending emails;
- allows you to book, change and cancel you repairs appointment;
- allows you to update your personal details;
- features an accessibility tool, that allows read aloud, enlarge text and different languages; and
- frees up the call centre services to tend to more vulnerable customers and complex enquiries.
Scott Worth, Director of Customer Experience at Citizen, said: “We understand that in today’s fast-paced world, people lead busy lives, and traditional office hours may not always be convenient for our customers to access services – which is why we are enhancing our customer portal. The portal offers customers the flexibility to self-manage their account, anywhere, at a time, that suits them. We strive to improve our services based on customers’ feedback and the positive response to the portal, to date, is encouraging, and we want to build on this success. We encourage customer to continue sharing their thoughts and suggestions to ensure we are providing services that meet their needs.”
Find out more about My Account, here and join the thousands of customers managing their own tenancy.
If you are a customer and already registered with My Account, but have forgotten your password or username, revisit the My Account page to reset your login details.
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