Whitefriars Housing Group

Whitefriars Housing Group

Whitefriars Housing Group Ltd. is a charitable industrial and provident organisation based on Little Park Street in Coventry, England. The housing group is one of the four members of the North Solihull Partnership which also includes Solihull MBC, Bellway Homes, and In-Partnership.cite web |url=http://www.whitefriarshousing.co.uk/corporate/neighbourhoods.html |title=Investing in neighbourhoods |publisher=Whitefriars Housing Group |accessdate=2008-06-03] [cite web |url=http://northsolihull.com/glossary |title=Glossary |publisher=North Solihull |accessdate=2008-06-03]

Established in September 2000, the organisation is a large social landlord, managing over 17,000 properties in Coventry. [cite web |url=http://www.whitefriarshousing.co.uk/corporate/index.html |title=Whitefriars Housing Group Limited |publisher=Whitefriars Housing Group |accessdate=2008-06-03] When the housing group was formed, it received 20,200 properties from Coventry City Council's housing department in 2000, [cite web |url=http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/neighbourhoodcrime/downloads/casestudies2.pdf |title=Coventry Housing Association Consortium |publisher=Audit Commission |format=pdf |accessdate=2008-06-03] 481 of which were hostel units.cite web |url=http://www.housingcorp.gov.uk/upload/pdf/HCA_Whitefriars_Housing_Group_20060808093326.pdf |title=Whitefriars Housing Group Ltd. |publisher=Housing Corporation |month=August |year=2006 |accessdate=2008-06-03 |format=pdf] When first created, it consisted of three companies; Whitefriars Services Ltd., Whitefriars Homes North Ltd., and Whitefriars Homes South Ltd.. These were amalgamated into Whitefriars Housing Group Ltd. in May 2006.

The name 'Whitefriars' (and also Greyfriars) comes from a Coventry monastery founded in around 1342, and gradually expanded as charitable donations and funding became available. The 'friars' survived by providing shelter to the needy and passing travellers.

The housing group has demolished over 4,000 former council properties that were mostly vacant and beyond economical repair. This demolition included several blocks of Wimpey no-fines constructed flats built in the 1950s in the Wood End area, including rows of garages damaged or vandalised beyond repair. Some 8 storey flats constructed in the 1950s in the Hillfields area and traditional but poorly maintained brick built houses in the Stoke Heath area of Valley Road, Meadway and Hillside have also been demolished.

In 2003, the first newly-built properties by the group were completed and opened in Tile Hill. This was continued with the granting of planning permission for a further 31 units of bungalow housing for elderly people in the city. The group is now working with their partners Wates to provide 269 properties for rent and open market sale in Valley Road, Meadway and Hillside area.

Whitefriars is also involved in the New Deal for Communities area (Wood End, Henley Green, Manor Farm and Deedmore Estates) where masterplan has been developed in conjunction with the residents. The development programme commenced in 2008 and will last 12-15 years with the construction of 2,500 houses for sale, 1,000 new homes for rent by Whitefriars and 150 homes for residents who will initially move out due to the regeneration. Whitefriars is working with Bovis Homes who were appointed as preferred developer in September 2005. [cite web |url=http://www.bovishomes.co.uk/plc/index.cfm?page_ID=43 |title=Partnership development |publisher=Bovis Homes Group plc |accessdate=2008-06-03]

As well as providing residential properties to the residents of Coventry, the Whitefriars Housing Group also has a training and development department which works with local unemployed people to teach them basic construction trade skills. [cite web |url=http://www.whitefriarshousing.co.uk/services/more-than/index.html |title=More than housing |publisher=Whitefriars Housing Group |accessdate=2008-06-03] Experienced self-employed people who are already working in the construction industry but want to become better qualified in their job can gain an NVQ in brickwork, plastering or carpentry through a scheme run by Whitefriars Training and Development. Whitefriars also operates a construction maintenance department named HomeWorks which is based in the Willenhall area of the city, which directly employs tradespeople including carpenters, plumbers, painters and electricians who repair properties managed by Whitefriars. [cite web |url=http://www.whitefriarshousing.co.uk/services/customer-services/homeworks.html |title=Delivering repairs - HomeWorks |publisher=Whitefriars Housing Group |accessdate=2008-06-03]

Whitefriars has put in place a 'Stardust' strategy, which aims to reward its employees with the use of a system based on voting for a winner in a stated category such as 'employee of the year', 'colleague of the year' or for 'changing peoples lives'. A Stardust conference is held during which the winners are called up onto a stage and recognised for their valued contribution and efforts. This scheme encourages staff performance. [cite web |url=http://www.1001careers.com/recruit_white.html |title=Hello and Welcome to Whitefriars Housing Group. |publisher=1001 Careers |accessdate=2008-06-03]

References

External links

* [http://www.whitefriarshousing.co.uk/index.html Whitefriars Housing Group Ltd website]
* [http://northsolihull.co.uk/ North Solihull Regeneration website]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hillfields — is a suburb of Coventry in the West Midlands of England. It is situated north of Coventry city centre, and has undergone a series of name changes throughout its history which has seen it change from a village, to a remote suburb, to a large… …   Wikipedia

  • Radford, Coventry — infobox UK place country = England official name= Radford latitude= 52.41659 longitude= 1.51429 map type= West Midlands population = 16,901 (2001 Population Census) population density = 55.6 per ha metropolitan borough= Coventry metropolitan… …   Wikipedia

  • Wood End, Coventry — Wood End in the north of Coventry, is a more deprived area than many other areas in Coventry.Much of the housing stock was built in the 1950s and 60s and is of poor quality. Many of the homes are owned by the Whitefriars Housing Group, a housing… …   Wikipedia

  • Henley Green — is a former council estate in Coventry at gbmapping|SP366815 adjacent to Wood End, bordered by Deedmore Road, and about a mile from the area of Bell Green. Henley Green now consists of a mixture of private and social housing. This housing estate… …   Wikipedia

  • Bell Green — is predominantly a residential area of in the north of Coventry, West Midlands, England. It is a relatively deprived area with high levels of crime and unemployment, and the housing in the area is mostly former council houses and flats now owned… …   Wikipedia

  • Canterbury — For the larger local government district, see City of Canterbury. For other uses, see Canterbury (disambiguation). Coordinates: 51°16′30″N 1°05′13″E / 51.275°N 1.0 …   Wikipedia

  • Norwich — For other places with the same name, see Norwich (disambiguation). City of Norwich Norwich city centre …   Wikipedia

  • theatre, Western — ▪ art Introduction       history of the Western theatre from its origins in pre Classical antiquity to the present.       For a discussion of drama as a literary form, see dramatic literature and the articles on individual national literatures.… …   Universalium

  • Ipswich — For other uses, see Ipswich (disambiguation). Ipswich Borough of Ipswich Common Quay, Ipswich Docks …   Wikipedia

  • History of Newcastle upon Tyne — The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Saxons and the Danes amongst others. Originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius , the name Newcastle has been used since… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”