Nottingham City Homes (NCH), the arms’ length management organisation (ALMO) of Nottingham City Council, swept the board at the UK Housing Awards in London last night, taking home three awards including the prestigious Landlord of the Year.
The UK Housing Awards, run by the Chartered Institute of Housing and Inside Housing, are known as ‘the Oscars of the housing world’ and showcase the very best the sector has to offer.
The Landlord of the Year Award is the Housing equivalent of Best Film, and as well as submitting a nomination, NCH representatives had to go through a gruelling interview process in which they were quizzed on every aspect of the work they do in some of the UK’s most disadvantaged communities, delivering on the vision of creating homes and places where people want to live and achieving record satisfaction by putting residents at the heart of everything the organisation does.
NCH also took home the awards for Innovation of the Year, in recognition of its pioneering approach to tackling energy inefficiency in older housing stock using Energiesprong techniques, and Outstanding Approach to Tenant Involvement , for the way in which it includes tenants in decision making from Board level down.
NCH is the first housing organisation in the country to adopt the ground-breaking Energiesprong approach, pioneered in the Netherlands, that upgrades a home with new outside walls and windows, a solar roof, and a state of the art heating system, dramatically reducing household energy bills and making homes warmer and healthier for residents. Construction partners for the Energiesprong project, delivered in the Sneinton area, were Melius Homes, and the project has been supported and part financed by the REMOURBAN initiative that works to show how sustainability can be integrated into the regeneration of towns and cities across the UK.
The City Council’s Portfolio for Planning and Housing, Councillor Jane Urquhart, said: “I’m really proud of everything that NCH have achieved, and these awards are really excellent recognition of all the fantastic work they have done to make the housing offer for people in Nottingham so good. Our overall expectation is of high quality housing across all tenures and winning Landlord of the Year shows that Nottingham’s biggest social landlord is achieving that – with the Innovation award demonstrating they are going beyond that to improve energy efficiency for their tenants. It’s really good to see them win the Outstanding Approach to Tenant Involvement Award , showing how they work closely with the local community, listening and responding to tenants brilliantly to create homes and communities where people want to live and choose to live.”
NCH won the Outstanding Approach to Tenant Involvement Award because it puts residents at the forefront of everything it does, empowering them to influence decisions and shape the direction of the organisation. It also supports residents to develop their skills and contribute to their community by volunteering in a range of different ways.
In the last year, NCH has helped over 5,000 people live more healthily, injected over £100,000 into community projects, and has worked alongside older residents to shape a £4m modernisation project. NCH residents themselves have delivered 1,100 community fitness sessions, successfully resolved 18 community conflicts, and have come forward in their hundreds to lobby the government about changes to social housing.
Resident Sarita-Marie Rehman-Wall, who attended last night’s awards, said, “ I‘m proud to be a part of NCH, and to be involved in all the great work that we do in communities across Nottingham. These awards are richly deserved.”
Nick Murphy, NCH Chief Executive, said:“ Our vision of creating homes and places where people want to live goes beyond traditional housing services. We offer our residents a whole range of initiatives to help them create better lives and better futures for themselves, their families and their communities.
“It’s about so much more that having a home that‘s secure, warm and modern – it’s about realising the potential of individuals and communities. Our residents know that if they have a goal that they want to achieve, we’ll be right beside them, supporting them to reach it. I’m delighted that we’re Landlord of the Year - it’s a testament to the great work that our staff and residents do every day across the city. I am fortunate to lead a magnificent team of committed and dedicated staff at NCH, and it was an honour to accept this award last night on their behalf. ”
