Broadland Housing Group

Homes, community & support since 1963

News

Worlingham Residents Enjoy Unforgettable Day with Alpacas

We recently had a special visit from some furry friends at our sheltered accommodation scheme in Worlingham. This included the adorable Bear the skunk, Fergus and Gino the alpacas, a rabbit and pair of guinea pigs.

As part of an Out & About event, residents and Broadland team members gathered for a delicious brunch with pastries and cakes, met some friendly animals and enjoyed a great game of bingo! It was a fantastic occasion to come together, have some fun and residents to speak with their scheme team members.

The animals were provided by Unicorn Alpaca Walks, a local animal experience.

Owner, Kerry Nichols shared,

It’s magical how meeting the animals really brings people out of themselves. We take them into places such as care homes and schools, and it is very moving to see how everybody smiles when they come into contact with the animals.
Kelly Nichols, Owner of Unicorn Alpaca Walks

Pat and Neil, Residents at Worlingham Scheme

Our residents, Neil and Pat, got to experience this unique occasion.

Neil, a retired coach driver, shared,

We’ve never seen alpacas before, and holding a skunk was a real experience. There’s a great sense of community here at Samford Court, and events like this bring people together.
Neil, Resident

Simon, Scheme Manager

Scheme Manager, Simon, said,

It was lovely to see residents interacting with the animals. I don’t think any of them thought they would end up cuddling a skunk. We are really grateful to Unicorn Alpaca Walks for bringing the animals to visit our residents. They will be talking about this for a long time to come.
Simon Fletcher, Scheme Manager

A huge thank you to Unicorn Alpaca Walks for making the day a real talking point and the Broadland team members who helped out. We look forward to more events as we continue to engage with our tenants!

Broadland Housing AGM 2023: Maintaining Our Focus

Celebrating 60 years of service, Broadland Housing Association continues its unwavering commitment to addressing housing needs and homelessness. In the face of significant financial challenges, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) emphasised the dedication to Broadland’s mission.

AGM - Broadland Housing

Michael Newey, Chief Executive of Broadland Housing Association, pledged that the organisation would maintain its focus, despite the cost-of-living crisis and interest rates resulting in an unprecedented financial squeeze.

More people are unable to find affordable homes in the private sector than when we started, while our tenants are facing unparalleled economic pressures, with food inflation at a 42 year high, and energy costs still at very high levels.
Michael Newey, Chief Executive

Meeting Housing Demand

Michael Newey - AGM 2023

During the past financial year, Broadland Housing successfully delivered 131 new homes, compromising 55 for affordable rent and 76 for shared ownership.

Mr. Newey pointed out that the organisation’s ongoing struggle to balance managing existing homes, delivering quality services, and building new homes to meet growing housing demand, while ensuring sustainability.

He also emphasised the pressing housing need, revealing that 18,710 households in Norfolk and East Suffolk are on the waiting list for housing. Nationally, the availability of homes for rent has decreased by 1.1 million since 1979, with affordable homes in the overall housing stock declining from 31% to just 17% during the same period.

Optimism Amidst Challenges

Despite these challenges, Mr. Newey remains optimistic about the future.

We are proud of holding true to our purpose across our first 60 years, and the need for Broadland Housing is just as massive today as it ever was. Despite the frustration of facing our toughest financial year yet, we are optimistic for the future, and we will remain resolutely focussed on our purpose of tackling housing need and homelessness.
Michael Newey, Chief Executive

Selected Statistics from the 2022/23 Annual Report

  • 5,561 homes provided
  • 602 homes allocated, including 108 to homeless households
  • 15,557 responsive repairs completed
  • 439 tenants supported in sustaining their tenancies
  • 131 new homes delivered, compromising 55 for affordable rent and 76 for shared ownership

For more information, you can download the 2022/23 Annual Report from: www.broadlandgroup.org/about-us/governance-documents/annual-reviews.

Welcoming Jenny Watson as New Chair

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Jenny Watson CBE as our new Chair at Broadland Housing Association.

Michael Newey and Jenny Watson

With an impressive track record, Jenny Watson has held key leadership roles, serving as Chair of The Electoral Commission and The Equal Opportunities Commission, and as a non-executive director of the The Financial Ombudsman Service. She also currently chairs the homeless Charity, The House of St. Barnabas, and serves as a trustee of the Norfolk Community Foundation. In recognition of her outstanding contributions, she was appointed a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2017.

Michael Newey, Chief Executive of Broadland Housing, warmly welcomed Jenny,

We are very fortunate indeed to announce Jenny as our new chair. She has huge experience in a wide range of roles relating to social value and public policy, as well as building complex stakeholder relationships and leading organisations through significant change. 
Michael Newey, Chief Executive

Jenny’s work in the public, private, and charitable sectors has encompassed strategic leadership, cultural transformation, governance and risk management, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and commitment to meeting the needs of vulnerable people.

At a time when all housing associations are facing unprecedented challenges in meeting housing need, Jenny brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role, and we are delighted to welcome her to the Board and to the role of Chair.
Michael Newey, Chief Executive

Jenny Watson steps into the role previously held by Chris Ewbank, who served as Chair of Broadland for six years and has now retired.

Commenting on her appointment, Jenny said,

I am really pleased to be joining Broadland’s board at such a critical time for the housing sector. I look forward to meeting and learning from our existing tenants to provide the best service that we can to those in our homes, and to working with our partners across Norfolk and North Suffolk, to tackle homelessness and meet the demand for new housing – particularly affordable housing- that we know exists.
Jenny Watson, Chair of Broadland

We are confident that Jenny’s leadership will further strengthen our commitment to providing high-quality housing solutions and the evolving challenges in the housing sector.

Celebrating our 60th Birthday at Shipfield

We recently celebrated Broadland’s 60th birthday at Shipfield, our housing development scheme in Sprowston, founded in 1963. Tenants joined us in celebration with a barbeque, cake and a speech from our Chief Executive, Michael Newey.

The event took place on Shipfield’s green, situated in the heart of the scheme, bringing together the community, board members both past and present and our members to celebrate together!  

It’s completely sensible and right to be here at Shipfield today, because this was our very first scheme. I think it was a statement of intent and ambition building the scheme. It was very much about saying – We’re here. We’re going to provide decent homes at low rents to people in this community.
Michael Newey, Chief Executive

60 Years of Broadland

Broadland was founded in 1963 with a clear goal: to offer affordable housing to those who couldn’t afford homes in the open market, whether renting or owning. Despite challenges, including a shortage of social housing, we’ve continued to grow. 

We continually rise to the challenge of the development of new homes and tackling the needs for permanent accommodation. 

The need is still acute; there will be 271,000 people staying in temporary accommodation tonight; 130,000 of those are children. Despite our best efforts, today the social housing sector is 1.1 million homes smaller than it was in 1979.” 
 
When I joined 20 years ago, we had 3,464 homes. Today we have 5,634 – so we have grown on average by 110 homes a year over the last two decades.

Michael addressed the current financial climate with an optimistic outlook. 

It would be wrong not to acknowledge that we are in tough times right now; our 60th birthday is marked by financial pressure. But I am really optimistic for the future. We have a track record of making tough but right decisions so we can safeguard our tenants’ homes and also tackle the housing need in the county.
Michael Newey, Chief Executive

Employee Recognition

Over the last 60 years, we wouldn’t be where we are without our employees.

Broadland – I see as very much a people business. People are how we got here. Yes, we have delivered bricks and mortar, but it is actually people that delivered that. 
 
The commitment of board members, of residents, of staff over the last 60 years is the reason we are here today – I very much see it as a relay race, passing the baton on from one generation to another. None of us are owners of Broadland, we are custodians of Broadland.

As a result, Broadland is home to many longstanding employees dedicated to helping our tenants and housing schemes. 

We are very fortunate to have a very dedicated team – We’ve still got remarkably low turnover in staff. I think what holds people here is the commitment to our tenants and commitment to each other.
Michael Newey, Chief Executive

Shipfield
Shipfield

Anniversary Milestone

Our 60th anniversary is a milestone, not a destination. We’re excited about the future and will stay committed to our mission of addressing housing needs. 

We are looking forward to the future. Our priorities will stay completely true to our original purpose of tackling housing need and inequality, getting closer to our tenants, staying independent, and maintaining our geographical focus.
Michael Newey, Chief Executive

Events like this celebration allow our tenants to meet and speak with the people of Broadland. Connecting with our communities and celebrating our achievements is incredibly important as we continue to deliver Broadland’s mission. 

Shipfield

Good progress on net zero homes at Northrepps

Inspecting progress on net zero operational carbon homes at Northrepps, Norfolk

Good progress on net zero homes at Northrepps

Building work on our 19 new net zero-operational carbon homes at Northrepps is progressing well. Construction started earlier this year.

Inspecting progress on net zero operational carbon homes at Northrepps, Norfolk
From left to right: Jenny Watson (new board member); Councillor Angie Fitch-Tillett (NNDC), Gavin Smith (Northrepps Parish Council); Councillor Wendy Fredricks, Deputy Leader, NNDC; Chief Executive Michael Newey; Executive Development Director Andrew Savage

The new homes, off Broadgate Close in Northrepps village, have a range of features designed to maximise energy-efficiency and minimise the demand for energy.  They are the first net zero-operational carbon homes that Broadland has built.

Eight of the homes are for affordable rent and two for shared ownership. The remaining nine homes are being developed by Broadland St Benedicts for open market sale, and the proceeds will help to subsidise the affordable homes.

Michael Newey, Chief Executive (second from right in large picture), and Councillor Wendy Fredericks (third from right), portfolio holder for Housing and Peoples’ Services at North Norfolk District Council, toured the site with other housing officials to see how construction was progressing.

Energy-saving features

The new homes will feature an enhanced insulated timber frame, triple-glazed windows, air source heat pumps, air tightness with mechanical ventilation, and heat recovery to minimise energy demand.

Photovoltaic solar panels on the homes’ roofs are predicted to generate sufficient electricity over the course of the year to off-set the estimated electricity usage for the average occupancy of each property.

The project has brought together a range of local experts to deliver on Broadland Housing’s commitment to low carbon impact construction. 

We are delighted to see how these new homes are progressing and to be able to demonstrate the first outlines of this new scheme with its eco technology.

The technology we are installing here will make these homes fuel efficient and reduce the energy bills for the new tenants as well as fulfilling our ambitions set out in our corporate strategy to reduce the environmental impact of the new homes we build.”

Michael Newey, Chief Executive

North Norfolk District Council welcomes the Broadland Housing Association scheme in Broadgate Close, Northrepps.  We have been supporting the scheme through the whole process working with Broadland Housing Association to build these badly needed homes in our District.

These new eco homes are incredibly important and will help residents reduce costs in the current climate.

Councillor Wendy Fredericks, North Norfolk District Council

The homes were designed by architects Ingleton Wood and are being built by Norwich-based contractor Smith of Honingham.

The scheme is due for completion in spring 2024.

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