From a boggy peatland to stylish family homes…
Our latest development in Mossfield Road in Swinton is made up of 18 detached homes, offered at affordable rent.
Families have started moving in and for many - including a young girl who has spent more than half of her life in temporary accommodation - the difference is life-changing.
The homes are a mixture of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom and are kitted out with green features like photo voltaic panels and air source heat pumps to make them warm, cosy and cheap to run.
Breaking ground at supported housing in Blackley
We recently celebrated the start of work on our new extra care scheme for people living with dementia and other forms of memory loss.
Jurby Avenue in Blackley will offer specialist care and support alongside self-contained apartments which maximise and maintain independence - meeting an urgent need in the city.
It was fantastic to welcome partners from Manchester City Council, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Homes England to mark the start of work.
The 16 new social rent homes will be built to the latest good practice in dementia design and are being delivered as part of Manchester’s Enabling Independence Strategy.
The development is also part of the Project 500 initiative, which sees Manchester City Council work with housing associations to turn smaller, harder to develop pockets of brownfield land back into use as affordable housing.
Our latest progress with the Warm Homes Fund
Along with building more, we’re committed to improving standards in our existing homes. One of the most effective ways we can do this for customers is through works which make homes cosier and cheaper to run.
Last year we secured £305k from the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund and have matched this with £344k of our own investment. Works include cavity wall and loft insulation, ventilation upgrades, solar panel installation, as well as air source heat pumps - all designed to make homes warmer, reduce bills, and cut carbon emissions.
We’re also continuing with similar works under the former Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund across our Haughton Green estate in Tameside, as well as in Stretford and Old Trafford.
Strengthening customer voice at the top of our organisation
We’re thrilled to have started the new year hosting the first meeting of our brand-new Customer Committee of the Board.
Last autumn, we recruited a fantastic panel of customers to this important committee, which will hold our performance to account at the highest level of our organisation.
Chaired by our customer board member Christie Finegan, the Customer Committee will form part of governance structure along with the Development Committee, Governance and Remuneration Committee and Audit and Risk Committee.
It’s all about strengthening the influence that customers have over how we are run and managed and ensuring we are accountable to them.
Supporting people out of temporary accommodation
At the end of last year we were delighted to hand over the keys to a newly refurbished property to our partners at Trafford Council – ready for it to become a much-needed new home for a family moving on from temporary accommodation.
The best bit was that the young mum and her daughter were moved in and settled in time for the festive season.
With funding from the local authority, the home underwent a complete refurbishment with new kitchen and bathroom, as well as fresh carpets, flooring, blinds and painting.
Ensuring the homes are ‘turn-key’ ready is so important for families arriving from homelessness and temporary accommodation, and we were over the moon we made it happen in time for the holidays.
A new home for us too!
This year has also brought a new home for Irwell Valley Homes.
We’ve re-located our head office from Salford to Sale, a move driven by better value for money. Our new premises in Oaklands House offer fantastic collaboration, meeting and training spaces for colleagues and customers and are located a short distance from our Sale West estate, as well as many other homes across Trafford.
We’re looking forward to welcoming you there soon.
We may have moved our base, but our team remains agile and available, working out and about across Greater Manchester. So, if you’d like to meet up to discuss any joint projects or opportunities in your area, please continue to get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.
Celebrating the amazing work at the heart of our communities
This month we’re delighted to celebrate our second Heart of the Community awards – recognising the wonderful work of customers and partners working across our neighbourhoods.
From good neighbours looking out for those living next door, to community groups and green-fingered residents doing wonderful things to make their area a great place to live, the entries were inspiring.
You can find out more about our worthy winners and see some photos on our website here.
We’re extremely grateful to our sponsors for helping to make this happen, and of course to everyone who took the time and trouble to put someone forward.
