Broadland Housing Group

Homes, community & support since 1963

tenant

New alliance aims to improve services for tenants

CEOs of Norfolk and Suffolk social housing providers in Independent East
Top row: Michael Newey (Broadland), Andrew Smith (Havebury)
Front row: Anita Jones (Freebridge), James Francis (Saffron), Wendy Evans-Hendrick (Orwell)
Logos of 5 local housing associations in Independent East

Broadland Housing has joined 4 other social housing providers in Norfolk and Suffolk to form a new informal alliance, Independent East.

Broadland has agreed to share knowledge, experience and good practice with partners Freebridge Community Housing, Havebury Housing Partnership, Orwell Housing and Saffron Housing Trust.

The aim is to support each other in delivering better services to our tenants and local communities. The new alliance will also create a collective lobbying voice for social housing in the region.

Independent East describes itself as:

…made up of independently minded, and individually sustainable, housing associations with similar and complementary values and business objectives based in Norfolk and Suffolk, which are willing to share knowledge and experience; to support each other in the delivery of our individual corporate strategies; and to explore opportunities to work better together.

Independent East manifesto

The 5 organisations will create senior management forums to explore the potential for common approaches. However, each housing association will continue to operate independently of the others.

We are very much looking forward to collaborating with our Independent East Partners over the coming months and years.

We will be working together on new projects, sharing ideas and best practices, and supporting each other to have the biggest possible impact on the communities we serve while driving innovation and change within the housing industry.

This ambitious partnership fits well with our long-term customer-focused objectives, and we are proud to be a part of it.”

Wendy Evans-Hendrick, CEO, Orwell Housing Association

Celebration at Canary Quay honours social housing champions

Broadland Housing has celebrated naming apartment blocks at Canary Quay, Norwich, after Baroness Patricia Hollis and Richard Hawthorn, both passionate supporters of social housing.

  • Naming ceremony, Patricia Hollis House and Richard Hawthorn House, Canary Quay, Norwich
  • Naming ceremony for Patricia Hollis House and Richard Hawthorne House, Canary Quay, Norwich
  • Tenants at Canary Quay, naming ceremony for Patricia Hollis House and Richard Hawthorn House, Norwich
  • Naming ceremony for Patricia Hollis House and Richard Hawthorne House, Canary Quay, Norwich
  • Naming ceremony for Patricia Hollis House and Richard Hawthorne House, Canary Quay, Norwich

Speakers Lord Alan Howarth and MP Clive Lewis joined Canary Quay tenants at the naming ceremony, which was held on the site at Geoffrey Watling Way, Norwich. The development of over 300 new homes on the riverside is a partnership between Broadland Housing and R G Carter.

‘Somewhere to call home’

Baroness Hollis, who died in 2018, was chair of Broadland Housing Association from 2009 until 2015, at the time when the vision for Canary Quay was created.  Richard Hawthorn was a tenant Board member of the housing association from 2010 until his death in 2017.

Welcoming guests to the celebration, Broadland Housing Association Chief Executive Michael Newey said the occasion was bittersweet. 

Patricia and Richard were amazing as Board members. They both played a significant part in making this development reality.  It’s fitting that their names adorn the first two blocks which have been completed here, because above all both of them felt it was very important that people have somewhere to call home.

Michael Newey, Chief Executive, Broadland Housing Associatoin

Lord Howarth (pictured above, centre), who was Baroness Hollis’ partner, said:

Patricia was not about public recognition, but she would have been very proud to have her name associated with a social housing project in Norwich.  She would have been thrilled at the fulfilment of this project.

She was very happy to be invited to chair Broadland Housing Association. She loved working with them, and was very proud of what they achieved.

Patricia was also very fond of Richard Hawthorn, a fellow trustee and a great advocate for the interests of Broadland’s tenants.

Lord Alan Howarth

‘Community is all about people’

Norwich South MP Clive Lewis said that the new development was a community space which would enable the community to flourish.

Ultimately community is about people. It’s about buildings, it’s about infrastructure, it’s about talking, and Patricia was very good at all of those things. She was a community builder.

When people look at the name Patricia Hollis on this building in years to come, all they need to know is that she helped to build that building, and that she helped to build a community not just here, but across the city, and in many people’s hearts.

Clive Lewis MP (Norwich South)

Richard Hawthorn’s son Marcus sent a message from Canada which was read out at the ceremony. 

My father could not have wished for a greater accolade than to have his name associated with a cause that is supporting people, and that it should be so close to Carrow Road and his beloved Canaries.

Marcus Hawthorn
Read biographies of Baroness Patricia Hollis and Richard HawthornDownload

Canary Quay has been built on land formerly owned by Norwich City Football Club.  The development is a mixture of social housing, affordable homes and open market properties.

AGM 2021 – Broadland Housing focused on ‘enduring purpose’ of providing good quality, affordable homes

AGM 2021 – Broadland Housing focused on ‘enduring purpose’ of providing good quality, affordable homes

Broadland Housing held its Annual General Meeting in September. Michael Newey, Chief Executive (pictured), said that the key challenges in 2020-21 had been to keep people safe, keep homes decent and meet tenants’ expectations. He described how Broadland had ‘gone the extra mile’ to meet these challenges.

Michael Newey, Chief Executive of Broadland Housing Association, addresses the 2021 AGM

Providing new homes

Despite the pandemic, during 2020-21 Broadland Housing delivered:

  • a total of 147 new homes (against a target of 72), of which
  • 92 were affordable rent
  • 33 were for shared ownership

During the year Broadland also allocated:

  • a total of 348 homes, of which
  • 117 were to homeless households
  • 111 to older people.

Keeping tenants safe

The pandemic has been the most significant event of my life, and the same is true for most of us. Life has changed, and we have all faced significant challenges.  I am really proud of how we transitioned almost overnight to meet those challenges and continue to meet our objectives.

Our ambitions remain the same, but the world has changed. We have had to adapt the way we do things.  Our number one priority has been keeping people safe, and that has sometimes meant that we haven’t been able to do everything that we wanted to do. 

Supporting people has never been more important, whether through befriending calls with people who have been isolated in their homes, or dealing with urgent issues such as emergency repairs.”

Michael Newey, Chief Executive

Working towards net carbon zero

As Broadland emerges from the pandemic, it faces the continuing challenges of responding to climate change and tackling homelessness, and a renewed focus on local delivery all priorities, along with continuing to provide more new homes.

Climate change will in the long term be a bigger issue than Covid. The issue is how we can deliver the 2050 net carbon zero target without pushing people into fuel poverty? One piece of research has estimated that meeting that target will cost an average of nearly £21,000 per affordable home, so the financial impact is enormous.

Tackling homelessness has been a long-term priority for us.  The pandemic inspired a renewed sense of joined-up thinking and partnership working, and we have played a role in both the Norfolk Strategic Housing Partnership and the Norfolk Homelessness Forum.  We have also worked with King’s Lynn, Norwich and Great Yarmouth to provide ‘housing first’ accommodation, move-on accommodation and homes for prison leavers.

Michael Newey, Chief Executive

First hybrid AGM

Thanking tenants, staff and stakeholders for their support over the year, Michael Newey said:

There is no doubt that the pandemic will continue to have a substantial impact on our operations during the coming year. However, our commitment to delivering our enduring purpose, namely helping people who cannot afford decent places to live in the open market access good quality affordable homes, remains as strong as ever.

The AGM was Broadland’s first hybrid meeting. To observe Covid-19 safety guidance, a limited number of people attended in person, while the remainder joined virtually.

Download a copy of the 2020-21 Annual Report.

Thanks, Good Neighbours!

Congratulations to all our tenants and their neighbours who won a Good Neighbour Award recently. We’d like to say a big thank you for helping those around you through the challenges of the recent months!

The April winners included:

  • Elizabeth and Stephen “for helping their neighbours throughout the lockdown” (from Tamara)
  • Jill “for consistently checking in with her neighbours, leaving little gifts and thoughtful texts. Most importantly, her support is kind and non-intrusive” (from Liz)
  • Janine and Kay “for being so welcoming when I first moved in. Looking after my dog while I was at work. Lending bits and pieces and being there when I needed a chat” (from Andrea)
  • Jean “for helping her neighbour who is on her own after recent knee surgery” (from Mary)
  • Rachel “for always going over and above to provide offers of support. She always thinks of others and asks how we are and is the best neighbour ever. She thoroughly deserves some recognition for being kind, caring and supportive” (from Siobhan)
Broadland Housing tenants - winners of Good Neighbour Awards April 2021

Broadland Housing tenants can nominate a neighbour at any time for an award. All the winners receive a £25 shopping voucher, personal certificate and are featured in our Door to Door tenant magazine.

To find out more, see our Good Neighbour Awards page.

Martin Keats

Martin Keats, board member, Broadland Housing Association

Martin started his career in the Royal Navy as a radio operator. He specialised in tactical communications and coded signals for the manoeuvring of ships in company at sea, via flag hoists and flashing light and voice.

Later when Martin was working in local government, his extensive communications and computer skills and experience led to him becoming a lead IT officer. He also worked closely with local police and social services, project managing and integrating their communications needs and those of the local council. 

Martin’s early career means he takes a keen interest in homelessness, especially for armed forces veterans who can often feel they are a non-priority for housing.  Martin currently volunteers for the Royal British Legion as a committee member. 

Martin is a shared ownership tenant and looks forward to learning more about the social housing sector as a whole. He feels that he can bring a different perspective to the Board as a tenant, and looks forward to shaping the future policy and direction of the Association. 

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