housing

Broadland secures £15 million for new affordable homes through sustainable bonds

January 19, 2022

Working with MORhomes, Broadland has raised funding for new development through the issuance of £15 million of sustainable bonds.

A sustainable business

To be eligible for this funding, we had to demonstrate that we are a sustainable business and fulfil certain environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.

We will use the proceeds generated from the bond issuance to fund new affordable homes.

Competitively priced, long-term funding

MORhomes is 100% owned and controlled by housing associations. It is constituted as a PLC and applies the highest standards of corporate governance. MORhomes is a unique and innovative borrowing vehicle for the UK social housing sector, raising finance on the bond markets and lending it on to housing associations, who must be shareholders.

At Broadland we are focused on sustainability across all parts of our organisation. Our involvement with MORhomes and their Sustainability Bond has provided us with an opportunity to demonstrate our ESG credentials and obtain competitively priced, long-term funding that will allow us to develop new affordable homes.
Iain Grieve, Executive Finance Director, Broadland Housing

We are proud to have developed a genuinely unique approach to assessing the sustainability impact of our housing association borrowers. Borrowers like Broadland Housing who meet our standards are going above and beyond current requirements and helping meet the Government’s zero carbon target and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We are pleased to be able to demonstrate to investors the excellent sustainability work which they are doing.
Patrick Symington, Chief Executive, MORhomes

It was a pleasure to work with Broadland and MORhomes to deliver this successful and competitively priced long-term funding. This financing will enable Broadland to continue to deliver its development programme and meet the needs of its customers.
Lawrence Gill, Director Corporate Finance, Centrus – advisors to Broadland

For more details about the sustainable bonds issuance, please see the MORhomes’ announcement.

Webster Court, Norwich

January 17, 2022

Living room, Webster Court, Norwich — Kitchen of Webster Court apartment

We worked in partnership with Norwich City Council to provide 6 new affordable homes at Webster Court for people experiencing homelessness. A modular system was used to deliver high-quality homes, with minimal impact and disruption to the local community.

A former car parking area north of Webster Court now accommodates 6 x 1-bedroom, 2-person flats. The single block of 6 flats over 3 storeys has a communal garden area and vehicle parking accessed off the existing access. The first tenants moved in during December 2021.

Webster Court, Norwich, on Day 3 of construction — Webster Court – modular construction was completed in 3 days in December 2021

Tenants can now get training in independent living skills

January 11, 2022

Independent East / Your Own Place / Broadland Housing logos

Broadland Housing tenants can benefit from tenancy and independent living skills training – thanks to our membership of Independent East.

Your Own Place CIC successfully delivered its Tenancy and Independent Living Skills (TILS+) workshops to Saffron Housing Trust tenants last year. These engaging, practical workshops are now being offered to tenants of Broadland, Freebridge and Orwell housing associations, through their membership of Independent East.

From January 2022, Your Own Place, a social enterprise based in East Anglia, will deliver the workshops to tenants at locations across Norfolk and Suffolk. The workshops, a mix of digital and face-to-face sessions, provide opportunities for people of all ages to develop and build on existing skills. A wide range of topics is covered, including saving and budgeting, self-care and wellbeing, and digital skills. The aim is to make a positive difference to tenants’ lives through developing their confidence and resilience.

Helping more people into employment

The partnership with Your Own Place is an exciting collaboration for Independent East. The new initiative aims to help more people into employment, reducing rent arrears and potential future evictions.

Helping people to sustain their tenancies is a central part of what Broadland do. We are thrilled to be part of this partnership with Independent East and Your Own Place to invest in more support and training for many more people.
Catherine Little, Executive Housing Director, Broadland Housing Association

We’re absolutely delighted to be working not just with the residents of 4 regional housing associations, but with 4 housing associations that want to collaborate, support residents from across East Anglia and recognise that our Tenancy & Independent Living Skills Plus (TILS+) are beneficial for any person in any situation. Their compassion and understanding that having an impact on lives goes way beyond just being their landlord is why we want to work with them and be a part of building on the skills that tenants already have. We know that the residents we work with are experts in their own lives, we respect their experiences and contributions and love the two-way learning. Fun, participative and engaging workshops will be delivered with 400 tenants during 2022 across 8 different locations – with the aim of building the skills to be happy in their homes and ultimately prevent homelessness.
Rebecca White, CEO, Your Own Place

We have been really pleased with how well the workshops have been received by Saffron’s tenants and it’s fantastic that it’s now going to be delivered by Independent East to help even more tenants across the region. Not only is it a great opportunity for them to learn new skills, but it provides scope for tenants to meet those from other housing associations, share their experiences, support one another and help create cohesive communities.
Paula Tuck, Assistant Director of Customer Services at Saffron and member of the Independent East Residents Group

Watch a video of Chantay, one of Saffron’s tenants, talking about her experience of the TILS+ workshops (credit: Your Own Place).

4 new affordable homes at Clenchwarton, near King’s Lynn

December 24, 2021

We are pleased to announce 4 new affordable homes at Clenchwarton, near King’s Lynn in west Norfolk, acquired from Trundley Properties.

The 2 x 2-bedroom and 2 x 3-bedroom semi-detached houses are a mix of shared ownership and affordable rent. They are part of a new development of 18 homes at Laurel Farm Meadow by Trundley Properties and Buildwise.

Andrew Savage (Executive Development Director, Broadland Housing Association) with Ben Trundley (Construction Manager, Trundley Properties Ltd) at Clenchwarton, west Norfolk — Andrew Savage with Ben Trundley (right)

We are delighted with the progress made on this development, despite the challenges of the restrictions we have been subject to over the past 2 years. The development includes a social housing element and we are pleased to have identified Broadland Housing as the social housing provider on this scheme. We very much hope we can work with them again in the future.
Ben Trundley, Construction Manager, Trundley Properties Ltd

This is the first time we have worked with Trundley Properties and we are very pleased with the outcome. We have been able to acquire some very well built, energy-efficient homes to increase the choice of affordable housing in this area of the county.
Andrew Savage, Executive Development Director, Broadland Housing Association

Webster Court flats ‘built’ in 3 days!

December 2, 2021

Webster Court apartment being craned into position in Norwich

New apartments for people experiencing homelessness in Norwich have been ‘built’ in 3 days at Webster Court.

The modular apartments were craned into place on site in November, with each storey being ‘built’ in just one day! Watch the timelapse video. The flats were lowered into position with windows, heating systems, kitchens and bathrooms already fitted.

The new apartment block, on a disused car park next to a housing with care scheme run by St Martin’s Housing Trust, will provide desperately-needed homes for people who are homeless in Norwich.

Tenancies of 6-24 months will be available, and tenants will be supported to find a long-term solution to their homelessness. The first residents are due to move in before Christmas.

It’s identified in our Rough Sleeping Strategy that we are in desperate need of homes for people who might be homeless, or who are on the verge of being homeless. It’s so wonderful to see these homes that have grown almost overnight. What a start for someone who could have their lives changed, and with the proper support, will be able to progress through life in a far better place.
Councillor Gail Harris, Cabinet Member for Social Housing, Norwich City Council

We chose a modular construction route because of speed. We are looking at a very tight site here, so we needed a solution that would minimise disruption and have just three days of actual construction. The fundamental issue we have in the UK, and in Norwich, is that we do not have enough housing. That is why we have a problem, that is why we have street homelessness, that is why so many vulnerable groups are struggling to find the right accommodation. That is why it’s so important to be delivering housing.
Andrew Savage, Executive Development Director, Broadland Housing Association

The new block has been delivered in partnership with Norwich City Coun cil, who gifted the land. The Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities and Homes England supported the construction with funding. Other partners in the project include tenancy support providers St Martin’s Housing Trust and The Magdalene Group; modular supplier modular supplier Modpods International; technical consultants Ingleton Wood, Aecom and Rossi Long; and Munnings Construction.

We are also grateful to Moving Forward-Norfolk (MF-N). Rob Begley, Founder Member, cleaned the 6 flats ready for the tenants to move in, free of charge. MF-N is a not-for-profit organisation set up in April 2021 to tackle the problems caused by hoarding and self-neglect.

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