Posted on May 18th, 2023 by Elaine Davies
More than 1,000 homes have been completed at our Spirit Quarters regeneration project in northeast Coventry.
We’re working with national housebuilder, Keepmoat, on the regeneration scheme which is currently in its fifth phase.
Our customer Margaret Dodge moved into the 1,000th home with her son, Samuel, and loves her new home.
She said: “When I moved into my new home at Spirit Quarters, it felt like I’d been given a new life and a new start.
“I love everything about my new home, from the parking to the atmosphere and the homeliness of it. It’s warm, clean and beautiful – it’s everything I could wish for in a home.”
Margaret added that her new home has also benefitted her son.
She said: “My son loves that we have a garden, and he is able to go out there whenever he wants.
“The Spirit Quarters estate is going to be really beautiful when it is done, and it is looking great so far.”
Margaret’s son, Samuel, added: “I love having a garden it will be great to have a BBQ in the summer. It’s such an awesome house.”
Phases one to four of the development delivered 979 new homes in the area and 275 of these were allocated as affordable homes for us.
The fifth phase will see a further 94 homes built.
Director of Regeneration Kevin Roach said: “We are so pleased to hear how much Margaret loves her new home and we hope she enjoys her time living at Spirit Quarters.
“It’s also fantastic news that we have reached our 1,000-home milestone at the development and we’re looking forward to seeing more homes completed as part of phase five of the scheme.
“At Citizen we believe successful regeneration is about creating communities which give people a foundation for life. 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.”
Amanda Bishop, Regional Managing Director at Keepmoat, West Midlands, said: “We’re thrilled to announce completion of the 1,000th home at the Spirit Quarters development. Thanks to our ongoing partnership with Citizen, we’ve developed a thriving community that has directly benefited the local community, both through additional, high-quality housing and job creation.
“Our housing is designed to benefit everyone in the community and encourage them to spend time outside with features such as parks and green open spaces. We’re also extremely proud to work in collaboration with housing associations such as Citizen to make a real impact for those who, without support, might not be able to own their own homes”.
Phase five of the development started in summer 2021 and is due to be completed by the end of 2023.
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Posted on May 16th, 2023 by Elaine Davies
Our partnership with Coventry City Council which supports teenagers leaving the care system has been featured in a new Channel 4 documentary series.
Kids, which had its first episode broadcast on 10 May and is also available on All 4, follows the experiences of six young people who have been in care.
Some of those featured are part of the House Project Coventry, which is our partnership with Coventry City Council and registered charity National House Project.
We provide suitable properties so that when the young people are ready to move into their own homes, they’re given an equitable tenancy (for people under 18) or starter tenancy, with a view to convert to a longer-term tenancy at the appropriate time.
Each young person receives support and takes part in workshops and projects provided by Coventry City Council for several months before being put forward for a tenancy.
Episodes two and three of Kids follows some of the young people who are part of the House Project Coventry.
Head of Housing Support Elizabeth Carroll said: “The programme Kids has given a great insight into the lives of people who are part of House Project Coventry and the impact that it has on them.
“Our involvement in the House Project is so important and also shows the significance of working with Coventry City Council on the project. It highlights another example of where we are working in partnership with others to tackle homelessness and support young people.
“Thank you to everyone who has been involved in the House Project Coventry and for all your hard work to help young people.”
Cllr Patricia Seaman, Cabinet member for Children’s Services at Coventry City Council, said: “We are pleased the wider public have the opportunity to see the work we have been doing and the difference it is making for children and young people in Coventry. We are really proud of ‘Kids’ and all of our young people and staff who have taken part.”
Kids is next on Channel 4 on Wednesday 17 May at 9pm.
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Posted on May 3rd, 2023 by Elaine Davies
Colleagues from our Asset Management team showed Government officials round our completed Social Housing Decarbonisation properties in Coventry.
The team from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) were shown around homes which benefitted from funding as part of Wave 1 of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
Works included external wall insulation, energy efficient doors and windows, and improving ventilation. We worked with Coventry City Council as part of the bid for this.
The group were shown an overview of the project including what lessons we have learned and what successes we had, before seeing completed properties at Lawrence Saunders Road, Tomson Avenue and Randle Street.
It was also an opportunity for DESNZ to see that we are delivering on our commitments as part of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Wave 1.
Our Asset Manager Adam Denny said: “This was the final visit of three we had planned with DESNZ to view properties in Coventry which were part of the first wave of Social Housing Decarbonisation Funding.
“The aim of the visit was to take a look at completed projects and learn from them to see where we could improve next time. It was also the first opportunity representatives from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Delivery Board had to join us.
“We received very positive feedback from DESNZ about the visit who said they found it really informative and wished us all the best for our next round of Social Housing Decarbonisation works.”
As part of the visit we also had the opportunity for our contractor Westdale Midlands to demonstrate to DESNZ the process insulating homes at their new training centre in Coventry.
We have recently been awarded £23.8m from DESNZ as part of the second round of Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. We have been awarded the grant alongside Coventry City Council and we will work together to improve the EPC rating of more than 2,000 homes across Coventry.
We have also been awarded a share of £12m to improve our homes in Birmingham and Sandwell. This is part of a successful bid with the Matrix Housing Partnership – a consortium of seven social landlords.
You can find out more about our success in the second round of the social housing decarbonisation fund here.
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Posted on April 28th, 2023 by Elaine Davies
After a two-year delay due to Covid we attended an awards ceremony hosted by the Customer Contact Association (CCA) in person where we were presented with two awards.
Mina Dulai, Business Change Team Manager, and Reanne Smith, Senior Diagnostics Software Developer, attended the CCA Connect – VIP Business Lunch yesterday (Thursday 27 April).
The event was held at the Hilton Doubletree in Glasgow where we picked up the annual accreditation award for 2022. We were also presented with the CCA Bronze Award for successfully maintaining CCA accreditation for five consecutive years – part of the CCA Global Standard.
The CCA Global Standard is a recognised accreditation programme, demonstrating customer service excellence. Awards were presented to those making a long-term commitment to continuously improve customer experience by adopting the accreditation framework as a fundamental part of their core operating model.
The CCA assess the customer service of organisations across the globe including companies such as Sky, the BBC, and Barclays Bank.
Our Head of Customer Experience Monika Dombek said: “We’re delighted to receive the Bronze Award and our annual accreditation. We are currently preparing for 2023 assessment against a new redesigned assessment framework that was released in December 2022 as a response to the evolution of customer contact and the need for a more collaborative approach to customer experience.
“The new release puts more emphasis on the customer journey and a new module – customer voice – has been added. Other criteria we are being assessed on include organisational strategy, policies, risk management and colleague engagement.
“Thank you to all colleagues in our directorate who dedicate their time every year to help with preparations for the assessment and to those who have participated over the years in focus groups with the assessor. We would also like to express our appreciation to our business partners – HR, ICT and L&D – who have supported us over the years during the assessment period.”
You can find out more about the CCA here.
Congratulations to our Customer Service team!
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Posted on April 13th, 2023 by Elaine Davies
We recently donated £250 to St Wulstan Church in Worcester to help them provide free hot food at their Saturday Brunch event.
The donation helped contribute to hot meals and drinks that the church provides to around 40 local residents.
The event is held every weekend, and anyone is welcome to attend.
Our money advice services manager Michael Clarke said: “We are always looking at ways we can support our residents and local communities from getting into financial difficulty and with food poverty on the rise in the UK, many more people are turning to food banks and charitable organisations, such as this one. I’m so glad we could provide our support in this way.”
Lesley Milton, Dot Hughes and Ann Smith all attended the Saturday event and said: “One of the amazing results of Saturday Soup is to see our community regaining their confidence after the dreadful lockdown.
“It’s wonderful to see old neighbours and friends rekindling lost friendships and making new ones in this lovely warm atmosphere. The bonus is the lovely homemade soup and the volunteers who make it a great success. Long may it continue.”
Volunteer at the church Craig Cook said the Saturday Brunch and Saturday Soup project have been huge hits.
He said: “Over the time since it has begun more and more people have been turning up. Some weeks up to fifty meals have been warmly handed out.
“The atmosphere is friendly and inviting, with many laughs and helpful information and advice given out. With homemade food and bottomless hot drinks going down a treat, this warm hub is greatly appreciated by all who enter.”
Councillor Jill Desayrah, who helps organise the free food said: “Thanks so much for the generous sponsorship for our Saturday Soup events. We have now moved onto Saturday Sandwich, in hope of warmer weather!
“These events are going really well, offering warmth, food and friendship to many people who otherwise can be quite isolated. It’s a real highlight of my week!”
If you know of anyone who might benefit from the free food in the Warndon area of Worcester, the church is open 11.30am to 1pm with free sandwiches and cake.
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Posted on March 23rd, 2023 by Elaine Davies
We’re working with Coventry City Council to improve the energy efficiency of more than 2,000 homes in Coventry over the next two and half years, following a successful bid with the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
We worked with Coventry City Council to submit the bid to the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (formally known as the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy – BEIS) .
The £ 23.8m grant will see energy efficient works carried out on our properties in the city to improve the Energy Performance to an EPC rating of a C.
Works on the homes will predominately improve the fabric and ventilation of a property including, cavity / external wall insulation, increased loft insulation and improving ventilation to reduce the potential for mould growth.
This funding is part of the second wave of Social Housing Decarbonisation Funding, which was submitted following joint success with Coventry City Council in the first wave of the bid where funding was secured to improve 95 homes across the city last year.
Our Chief Operating Officer at Citizen Mads Nelson said: “It’s fantastic news we’ve been successful with Coventry City Council on our bid to the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. The funding will help us deliver more energy efficient homes, which will support our customers in keeping their homes warm, particularly in these times of high energy bills. By making our homes more energy efficient we’re also reducing the carbon dioxide emissions, lessening the impact on the environment.
“It is a Government requirement that all rented properties must achieve a minimum EPC band C by 2030 and this will help us achieve this. Including the grant from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, we are investing nearly £74m to bring more than 4,000 homes up to EPC C ahead of the Government’s target of 2030.
“At Citizen we are committed to providing good quality homes, and this project and the funding from DESNZ will help with this by providing warmer more energy efficient homes. We have a great working partnership with Coventry City Council and are really pleased that our second bid together has been successful.”
Cllr David Welsh, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities at Coventry City Council, said: “Helping more people to access a good standard of affordable housing is absolutely vital.
“This funding will mean families should be able to see reductions in their energy bills.
“As a Council we are looking at ways to raise standards, from the private rented sector through to temporary accommodation, and we should be doing all we can to protect tenants – especially those on a low income.
“We work very closely with Citizen and I hope we can see the impact of this funding very soon. We’ll continue to push the government to act quickly. Finding solutions to the housing crisis is an absolute priority.”
Cllr Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change, said: “This is good news and will help improve the energy efficiency of a significant number of homes.
“We are consulting on the city’s climate change strategy and achieving more energy efficient homes which are retrofitted with better insulation and ventilation is a key part of this strategy.
“Families on the lowest income in the city must be supported as we strive to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions.
“This also highlights the importance of partnership work. Organisations across the city need to work together to address climate change and this is a really good example of this approach in action.”
Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, said: “This investment will help thousands of households to heat their homes for less, keep them warm for longer and could save hundreds on their annual energy bill.
“The green energy sector is growing, and this funding will support green jobs and provide the training needed to deliver these vital upgrades to homes.”
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Posted on February 15th, 2023 by Elaine Davies
Our Income Team has been awarded HQN’s Managing Income Sustaining Tenancies (MIST) accreditation.
MIST assesses how well we manage rent related income streams and looks at the range of activities we deliver beyond collecting rent. This includes supporting new and existing customers to sustain tenancies with our Money Advice Service.
Our Income Team first started working towards the accreditation more than two years ago.
Head of Income Paula Jenner said: “ At Citizen we want to provide an income service which helps our customers sustain their tenancies. For us it’s about early contact with our customers so we can offer them support, from rent arrears to money advice and employment coaching. If we build the relationship with our customers early, we feel they are more likely to engage with us if they need help.
“We are thrilled our Income Team has been awarded the HQN MIST accreditation. We first started the assessment two years ago and the team has worked hard to ensure we are providing a valuable service to our customers.
“The accreditation is recognition of the hard work of our staff, and every single person adds to our one team approach. The accreditation highlights what we are doing well but also shows what we need to do to improve – we want to make sure we are proactive, constantly improving our service so we help customers in any way we can.”
HQN awarded us the accreditation in December.
Lead Assessor, Tony Newman, noted that our Income Service has “a really strong track record of performance through a particularly turbulent period (with evictions kept to a minimum)”.
The accreditation panel also highlighted our “focus on helping customers with complex energy issues by creating specialist energy advisor roles”, our “regular multi-team meetings that take place to discuss performance and joint working initiatives” and our “clearly evidenced commitment to partnership working and a wide range of partners, providing collective help to customers to establish and sustain tenancies”.
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Posted on February 9th, 2023 by Elaine Davies
This week is National Apprenticeship Week which celebrates the impact apprenticeships make to individuals, organisations and the wider economy.
At Citizen we have an apprenticeship scheme which aims to encourage progression and support talent development. As part of this we have 19 apprentices working across our organisation.
Our Electrician Apprentice Siobhan Myrie started her apprenticeship after completing her Women into Construction placement with us. Women into Construction is a scheme which encourages women to pursue roles in the construction industry.
She said: “I have been wanting to take part in an apprenticeship for at least five years now, but I was unable to find one. However, through Women into Construction I was able to do a programme with Citizen and I loved it, then I got my apprenticeship offer.
“I love my role and I enjoy learning everything about it. My buddy Neeraj is a very good teacher, he has great knowledge plus he’s a nice guy.”
Siobhan added that she has learnt so much already in her apprenticeship and the skills will stay with her for life as they are very important.
She said: “After I have completed my apprenticeship, I think it would be nice to be able to stay with Citizen.
“I would recommend an apprenticeship to anyone who wants to change their career and is interested in an apprenticeship role, or to school leavers who are interested in apprenticeships. Anyone who is committed would suit an apprenticeship.”
You can find out more about National Apprenticeship week here.
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Posted on February 6th, 2023 by Elaine Davies
This week is National Apprenticeship Week!
The week, which runs from 6 February to 13 February, celebrates the positive impact apprenticeships make to individuals, organisations and the wider economy.
At Citizen there are several people who started their career as an apprentice with us and we’re highlighting their experience as part of the week.
Maintenance Support Administrator Antonia Bailey completed a Business NVQ 1-3 and she also won Apprenticeship of the Year.
She said: “I left school after completing my GCSEs and two weeks later I was sat at a desk asking myself ‘how have I got here, I am so out of my depth’.
“Never would I have imagined then that two years later I’d be leaving with a Level 3 in Business, had just won an Apprenticeship of the Year award and I was about to start a permanent position.
“Going straight from school into working life was an eye opener. I was 16, nervous and didn’t know what I had let myself in for. Fortunately, I was placed with a team who were very welcoming, supportive, and patient and I am so grateful for that. During my apprenticeship I was based in the Property Lettings Unit, and I loved it all, from the application entries to the site visits.”
Antonia said during her apprenticeship she learnt skills that could be used daily from communications skills to problem solving and organisation.
She added: “I believe apprenticeships are very good, particularly for those straight from school. It’s a way to get young people straight onto a career path. Personally, attending college and being sat in a room all week being ‘told’ how to complete a business qualification would not have given me the experience I have now and 21 years employment.
“For anyone thinking about an apprenticeship, do it, find the programme that interests you and earn while you learn.”
Income Officer Salima Motarwala also completed an NVQ Level 3 in Customer Service.
She said: “Being in an apprentice role helped me gain skills and knowledge within Customer Services. At the age of 18 I was earning a full-time wage and continuing with my studies, which was great. More than 20 years later I’m still here!
“I have worked in various roles, and they have all been customer facing. My current role is as an Income Officer. This is a customer focused role, and it is crucial to have the knowledge and people skills to support customers and help them to sustain their tenancy.
“I would definitely recommend an apprenticeship to others. It gives you an opportunity to start building your career at a young age. Not only does it enable you to continue with your studies, but you are gaining valuable skills and experience at the same time.
“If you’re considering an apprenticeship, you will be given the right training, support and encouragement from your colleagues and manager. Apprenticeships give you the opportunity to study and earn but more importantly to gain experience.”
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Posted on February 3rd, 2023 by Elaine Davies
Colleagues from the Citizen Board and Development Board visited the ModPods International factory along with our Development Team to see the progress of our extended modular pilot.
Our scheme will see 24 homes installed on eight former garage sites across Coventry.
Work is progressing well at the ModPods International factory in Stoneleigh and those who visited were able to see our homes in the factory and an example of what they will look like when they’re finished.
The homes already have steel frames in place and some of the interior components, such as kitchen cupboards and workspaces, have been fitted.
Our Executive Director of Development Nick Byrne said: “It’s brilliant to visit the ModPods factory and see how our modular homes are progressing.
“These homes are part of our extended modular pilot which will see 24 homes built on disused garage sites across Coventry – these will help provide more homes for people who need them.
“There are many benefits to modular homes including high energy efficiency and, as they are built in a factory, they can be constructed in all weathers. When they are craned on to the site they are hooked up to the services and the house is ready to use.
“We’re looking forward to seeing the homes completed and craned into place over the coming months.”
The homes that ModPods International are building will be a mix of bungalows and family houses. They will be installed at: Wedon Close, Bradney Green, Coleman Street, Fletchamstead Highway, Attoxhall Road, Capmartin Road, Shepherd Close and Thimbler Road.
Some of the homes have already been craned into these locations including Capmartin Road and Attoxhall Road.
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