24th October 2011 - Collaborating for local communities - First group office opened in North Wales

The Community Housing Cymru Group has opened its first group office in North Wales. The presence in Parc Menai, Bangor, will ensure all three organisations in the group structure promote sustainable and integrated housing, care and regeneration activities that will enable them to deliver their objectives more effectively, bringing the potential for reinvesting efficiency savings into services that will benefit the people of North Wales.

The CHC group was formed in July 2010 and is made up of parent organisation Community Housing Cymru, the membership body for housing associations in Wales, and subsidiaries Care & Repair Cymru, the national body to help older people remain living independently in their own home and CREW – the Centre for Regeneration Excellence Wales.

Speaking at the office opening, Nick Bennett, Group Chief Executive said: “We have huge challenges ahead including an ageing society and cuts to the Housing and Regeneration budget. The collaboration and presence in North Wales will see our three organisations share central services such as Finance, HR, IT and Communications and reinvest efficiency savings into delivering outcomes.”

“As well as efficiency savings, the group structure will also strengthen our voice at a national and local level with real potential for the group to achieve over the coming years in terms of joint lobbying activities, demonstrating to Government a real commitment to providing better value for money for public expenditure.”

So what services does the group deliver across North Wales?

The three organisations play a major role across North Wales – both by the services they provide and the multiplier economic impact in the local economy as a result of their activities.

Care

Six Care & Repair agencies operate in North Wales including Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Wrexham & Ynys Mon. In 2010/11 they helped a total of 10,500 older people remain living independently and safely in their own home at a cost of £152.80 per client.

The six agencies received a total of £1,604,838 in grants from the Welsh Government – but for every £1 spent delivering Care & Repair services, £7.50 was saved from health and social care services – a total of £12,036,285 in North Wales alone.

Chris Jones, Managing Director of Care & Repair Cymru said: “If adapting an older person’s home means they can live there safely and independently for longer and saves money and reduces pressure on NHS and social service budgets – then building stronger partnerships between health and housing needs to be given greater priority. Our group presence in North Wales will mean older people currently living in accommodation unsuitable for their needs can be assured that this partnership will help deliver their message, and help strengthen housing services for all older people across the region.”

Housing

Housing Associations operate all over Wales and in 2010/2011 they spent an estimated £802million in the Welsh economy with nearly 80% of this spend retained in Wales. As well as investing in high quality affordable housing, they provide many more services to local people including building sustainable communities, providing extra care housing, sheltered housing while working towards eradicating fuel poverty, financial exclusion and digital exclusion among some of the most deprived communities in North Wales.

Last year, housing associations that operate across North Wales employed 1,200 people on a full time basis and, according to research carried out by the Welsh Economic Research Unit at Cardiff University on behalf of the CHC group, for every one job created in the housing sector, a further 2 jobs are supported in the wider economy.

Housing Associations in North Wales are part of two developing consortia – Syniad and Undod. Consortia have been set up to achieve economies of scale and during 2010/2011, both consortia were responsible for building 550 affordable homes in North Wales.

As well as building new homes, associations are also investing in existing properties. Cartrefi Conwy and Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd, two associations that operate in Gwynedd and Conwy have been born as a result of stock transfer, where tenants voted to move from council owned homes to these new not-for profit organisations.

Cartrefi Conwy was the first stock transfer in North Wales in 2008 and by 2012 they will have spent £58m bringing homes up to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) as set by the Welsh Government. Home improvements include installing new doors, windows, bathrooms, kitchens and making properties more energy efficient. Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd was born in 2010 and by 2015, will have invested £136m bringing their properties up to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard. Both organisations have created employment and training opportunities for local people.

Regeneration

20 million people will be living in poverty by 2020 and Wales’s share of this will be disproportionate. CREW’s Chief Executive Dave Adamson said: “This office in North Wales gives us a better chance to promote sustainable and integrated regeneration across the boundaries of health and care, housing, education and transport. North Wales faces many regeneration challenges in common with the rest of Wales and has examples of both urban and rural communities where poverty and deprivation required focused actions.”

“The Welsh Government supports the region with designated Regeneration areas of the North Wales Coast which extends from Prestatyn to Mochdre and the Mon a Menai area covering the North West. Both areas have significant economic and social challenges which require a range of interventions to promote social cultural and economic regeneration. The more rural areas of North Wales also present major challenges especially in the context of difficulties currently facing small towns in Wales. The group’s office base in North Wales will allow more effective engagement with these challenges and ensure that the best practice which is evident in North Wales can be shared with a wider audience. Partnership is critical to successful delivery and our presence here will assist CREW develop more effective networks in North Wales.”

Mary Burrows, Chief Executive of the Betsi Cadwaladre University Health Board, also spoke at the event and said the opening of the group office was very timely. She added: “Our common goal is to provide services for communities and by building these partnerships we are improving the life chances of people living in North Wales. Health provision isn’t the answer to everything and we need to build a community of cohesion to deliver against the agenda we are all working towards – creating better life chances for local people.”

Nick Bennett will be supported by Chris Jones, Managing Director of Care & Repair Cymru; Dave Adamson, Chief Executive of CREW; Phillipa Knowles, Director of Central services and Sioned Hughes, Director of Policy and Social Enterprise.

The south Wales group office is expected to open in May 2012.

ENDS