Housing 21 is celebrating being shortlisted for the ‘Best older people’s landlord’ at the UK Housing Awards 2021 described as 'the biggest and best awards' in the housing sector.

Since achieving Investors in People Platinum in July, we are hoping to retain the title of ‘Best older people’s landlord’ for the second year running and look forward to the awards ceremony on 25 November 2021.

Our residents are at the heart of everything we do. We ensure they have choice and control to live the lives they want, and power to influence how their scheme is managed and are delighted this has been reflected in the shortlisting.

Despite the Covid crisis, our performance has been outstanding, as evidenced by our resident satisfaction, glowing testimonials and Care Quality Commission ratings.

We adapted our approach throughout the pandemic to ensure residents could remain involved by organising seven well-received virtual conferences, attended by 122 residents, and replacing in-person consultations with video and telephone meetings, as well as producing information packs and feedback forms.

We also launched our Helping Hands campaign to remove the stigma of talking about finances. This led to the creation of quarterly Make a Difference (MAD) Days with residents clearing arrears, receiving thousands of pounds in back paid Housing Benefit, and being awarded other benefits they didn’t know they were entitled to.

We are pioneering innovative cohousing schemes, giving potential residents the opportunity to join a project group and play a critical role in the design of our new-build schemes. Currently, we’re working with Birmingham City Council and the local community on two such schemes, which we are aiming to complete in 2023.

In the last year we invested £18.6M into bringing homes up to modern, energy-efficient standards. 92% are EPC C or above, with this rating to be achieved across all properties by April 2022. Work has already saved energy at 3,770 properties, cutting residents’ fuel bills by 25% (around £140 per home).

We have been working extremely hard to ensure our quality of care is constantly improving and this includes changes to our employment offer for Care Workers, who now receive at least 10% above the National Living Wage and guaranteed hour contracts for all of their normal working hours.

View the full shortlist here: https://ukhousingawards.co.uk/shortlist