The 55,000-home housing association says the hub will help housing managers ‘deal with issues quickly’ and ‘be visible’
Home Group has lodged a planning application with Sunderland City Council to turn one of its properties into a base for local housing managers.
The community hub would be used by four housing managers and around seven supported housing colleagues as a space to work from whilst they are visiting their patch and residents.
The change of use application is for 103 Portland Road in Barnes Ward, to the west of Sunderland city centre.
The housing association has offices in Belmont, a town in County Durham, 15 miles away from Sunderland.
However, it has said “the main justification [for a community hub] at present is to be closer to our communities and provide a space within the city whereby we can manage our general needs customers and properties and also our supported customers”.
>> See also: In search of a magic patch size: How social landlords are rethinking their housing management approaches
>> See also: A labour of love: My work as a housing and employment officer
>> See also: It’s time to make sure Every Person Counts in housing
Home Group stated that ”the proximity of the community hub to their customers and the ability to deal with issues quickly and be visible in the community is the benefit of having the community hub”.
It will also be a base for Home Group’s STEP services, which house and support customers with complex needs, who have often been ‘stepped down’ from a mental health ward and are living independently for the first time.
The planning application specifies that no internal or external changes that impact the building’s structure will be undertaken.
Home Group has over 1,500 rented properties in Sunderland, and runs a specialist mental health service and a newly-created STEP service.
The social landlord owns and manages 55,000 homes across England and Scotland.
Housing Today has kickstarted its Every Person Counts initiative with a feature on how patch sizes and housing management approaches are changing in light of increased regulation of social landlords.
Every Person Counts
Housing Today is launching its Every Person Counts initiative to share insights around workforce issues across the whole of the housing sector.
Every Person Counts aims to provide a place where debates about skills, employment, regulatory compliance, equality diversity and inclusivity and workplace culture can play out and solutions can be shared.
Our coverage will look at what the sector needs to do to ensure it can rise to the challenge of meeting new regulations and improving standards in housing management while also moving closer to delivering the 300,000 homes a year needed to tackle the housing crisis.
We know that housing professionals come up against these issues every day in their working lives, which is why we want to hear from you, our readers, about your experiences as employees and employers.
Email us at newsdesk@housingtoday.co.uk or use the hashtag #HTeverypersoncounts
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