Award-winning approach to repairs and maintenance
Birmingham City Council and Wates Living Space are celebrating after winning a prestigious national award.
The partnership won ‘Outstanding Approach to Repairs and Maintenance’ recognising the success of their long-term partnership in its approach to delivering part of the largest social housing maintenance contract in Europe that covers more than 62,000 properties. The 2018 UK Housing Awards were held at a ceremony at The Park Plaza Hotel in London. The awards, run by the Chartered Institute of Housing and Inside Housing, showcase the very best the housing sector has to offer.
Just eighteen months into the four year contract, the team is already recording a 99.9% customer satisfaction score for the services that cover over 31,000 properties across Birmingham and 110,000 repairs annually. The work completed by the partnership also brings approximately 1,800 vacant properties back into use each year.
Robert James, director for housing at Birmingham City Council said, “This award is a testament to all the hard work that has been put in to developing a successful partnership. To achieve these ambitions so early in the life of the contract could not have been realised without Wates Living Space’s proactive approach to effective joint working and commitment to succeed. The outcomes being delivered for our customers and communities speak for themselves and I’m so proud of the whole team that has been involved.”
David Morgan, managing director of Wates Living Space commented, “We are delighted that our partnership with Birmingham City Council has been recognised as best-in-class with this prestigious accolade. This is a fitting reflection of the on-going dedication and hard work that the team has put into delivering a contract of this scale and complexity. We look forward to continuing to work alongside Birmingham City Council to further develop our provision to ensure that the city’s residents receive the excellent service they have come to expect from Wates Living Space.”
Through this partnership, Wates Living Space and Birmingham City Council have also invested over £1m into local social enterprises, hired ten apprentices and run two Building Futures employability training courses.
