We had a busy week at this year’s National Eisteddfod in Llanrwst this year.
Thank you to those of you who came along to our stand and took part in our many activities! We achieved our goal of cycling the 186 miles from Llangollen to Abersoch then Holyhead. We had over 200 entries for the children’s drawing competition too, which made judging very hard!
We held a tenant competition to win tickets; congratulations to those who won, and thank you Ace for popping to say hello!
North Wales Housing colleagues and partners came together on Wednesday 3rd April to celebrate the start of a new development in Holyhead, Canada Gardens.
Canada Gardens, a partnership with Anglesey Council, will create 25 new homes in the area: ten one bedroom flats and fifteen two bedroom houses. The site is close to retail shops, supermarkets, playground, schools, local transport and other amenities.
Helena Kirk, North Wales Housing at Chief Executive said:
“We are pleased to be working with Anglesey Council to satisfy local housing need for the county. Canada Gardens will provide 25 quality new homes in Holyhead, a good mix of properties that will create community spirit.”
North Wales Housing’s in-house Development team will be project managing the scheme, aiming to hand the keys over to the houses in October 2020, fully completing in December 2020.
We are looking for new Board members who have the skills and experience to strengthen our Board. These include transformation customer service in a housing sector environment; Property development/asset management and an understanding of strategic partnerships with other organisations and community engagement or knowledge of systemic challenges for local communities. We are seeking someone living in Wales and preferably a Welsh speaker.
If that strikes a chord with you and you share our ambition then we’d like to hear from you. You can find out more about becoming a Board Member here.
You are invited to complete and return an Application Form and Equal Opportunities monitoring form to [email protected] by 12 noon on Friday 29th March 2019.
A group of six local housing associations have come together in an exciting joint venture to accelerate development of new affordable homes in support of delivery of the North Wales Growth Deal.
The Growth Deal is the North Wales region’s commitment to working collaboratively to facilitate and accelerate economic growth. £120 million funding was approved for the Deal in the 2018 Budget announced in October. The Deal aims to use government funding to channel nearly £700m worth of public and private money into a series of projects aimed at boosting the North’s economy and creating thousands of jobs.
Chief Executives from the 6 Housing Associations operating across North Wales, including Pennaf, Cartrefi Conwy, Cartrefi Cymuneddol Gwynedd, Grwp Cynefin, Wales and West Housing and North Wales Housing are voluntarily collaborating with colleagues from the six Local Authorities. The group is considering how they can proactively work together to develop more homes by unlocking stalled strategic sites across North Wales, which have previously been allocated in a Development Plan or where planning permission has been granted. Such developments will reflect local opinion and respond to known community desires to see more affordable housing so that local young people and families can live locally.
Helena Kirk, Chief Executive at North Wales Housing explains:
“This ground breaking level of collaboration between all of the regional associations has not been developed or delivered in Wales to date.
It is an exciting opportunity for the group of six local associations to make a strategic contribution to the economy and the plans to accelerate housing growth and meet a range of housing needs across the region.
The collaboration will support the Growth Deal to accelerate housing growth, creating more affordable homes needed across North Wales. By working together, the combined capacity of our organisations can be utilised to break down barriers to achieving housing delivery on challenging sites.”
Housing and Regeneration Minister Rebecca Evans said:
“This is an exciting opportunity to create more affordable housing for people in North Wales. By collaborating, this venture has the potential to be greater than the sum of its parts, and we will be looking to offer to assist its development.”
The group’s plans for the future are currently being developed to fit in with Welsh Government and Local Authority priorities.
Having a good neighbour can make all the difference in a community and this is something we would like to reward. Our awards pay tribute to North Wales Housing tenants who have made a significant difference to the lives of their neighbours or the local community.
As our tenant you can nominate another North Wales Housing tenant for a prize, giving them the chance to be presented with £50, and as a thank you for nominating an award winner you will also be given a £10 shopping voucher.
Do you know someone who really makes a difference where you live? Are they always keeping an eye out for their neighbours and ready to lend a helping hand when needed?
If you know of a tenant that goes that ‘extra mile’ to help others we would like to hear from you!
For more information contact Iwan Evans on 01492 563232 or [email protected]
North Wales Housing has developed a new Corporate Plan that will cover 2018 – 2021.
Thank you to everyone who took part in the consultation that led to the development of this plan.
The Corporate Plan sets out our priorities and objectives for the next three years. This will cover our tenants, homes, financial resilience and staff development.
You can read a copy of the Corporate Plan here.
As part of our ongoing mission to improve our customer service we are making changes that we think will improve the service we provide.
The main change is that we are bringing together Repairs and Customer service under one team. This means that from Tuesday 17th October 2017, when you ring 01492 572727 you will no longer hear various options; instead you will be put through to a Customer Service Advisor.
Customer Service Advisors will be able to help you with most of your enquiries. These include logging a repair or enquiries about existing jobs, help you with your rent balance, put you through to Allpay to make a rent payment as well as any other general enquiries.
Did you know you can do many of these things online 24/7 using MyNWH? Find out more about MyNWH here.
The Rents Team will still be on hand to help you if you have any concerns about arrears on your rent account or would like advice.
This is quite a big change for the organisation, and for the Customer Service Team. We really would appreciate your patience as the Team get used to the new way of working and learn.
If you have any questions or feedback on the new service please get in touch on 01492 572727 or [email protected].
North Wales Housing mental health scheme Monte Bre celebrated their 30th birthday this September.
Located in Llandudno, Monte Bre provides supported accommodation for residents recovering from, or have, a long term mental health issue.
The scheme celebrated the milestone by inviting key stakeholders and partners they work with to find out more about the scheme and the work that they do. Over buffet and cake they spoke to residents, Project Workers Judith Lewis and Joe Lambe and Manager Kerry Jones, highlighting some of the great work that they do.
Happy 30th birthday Monte Bre – here’s to many more years to come!!
North Wales Housing announced the appointment of Tom Murtha as their new Group Board Chair at their Annual General Meeting (AGM) this September.
Tom succeeds Peter Gibson as Chair, who stood down this year after 9 years on the Board, the maximum term allowed as a Board member.
Helena Kirk, Chief Executive at North Wales Housing:
“We would like to thank Peter for his many years of service as a voluntary Board member for North Wales Housing. Peter has seen many changes over the years and been part of some fantastic work we have done in the local communities.”
Tom Murtha brings with him a wealth of experience, having has spent over 40 years in the housing and care sector. He began his career as a community worker in the inner city of Leicester and retired as Chief Executive of Midland Heart, one of the largest housing and care organisations in the UK, in 2012.
Tom Murtha, new Group Chair at North Wales Housing:
“I am delighted to be joining Helena and her colleagues at North Wales Housing at this important time. I have always admired their work and that of the Welsh housing sector who still recognise the true values and purpose of social housing.”
Helena Kirk, Chief Executive at North Wales Housing:
“We are very pleased to welcome Tom as our new Chair. We feel that he is a great asset to the organisation and will be key in overseeing the implementation of our new Corporate Plan and the future direction for North Wales Housing.”
You can find out more about Tom and other North Wales Housing Board members here.
North Wales Housing’s Annual Review looks back at the year that’s passed, reminding us of what we have achieved.
You can read the Annual Review for 2016 – 2017 here.
What do you think? Let us know what you think about this year’s Annual Review by emailing [email protected].
