Making a bid for the future

It may only be a small estate-based RSL, but Walsall’s Beechdale Community Housing is looking at the bigger picture. With one major partnership secured, it’s looking now to team up with a fellow RSL to bring forward its vision for the community

There’s a first time for everything, and Beechdale Community Housing Association (BCHA ) has recently completed its first OJEU tendering process. The appointment of a new contractor to provide an integrated asset management service has consolidated the provision of repairs and maintenance, and it helps to set the ground for the organisation’s next major partnering endeavour.

The organisation was created in 1996 from a tenant-led partial stock transfer of homes from Walsall Borough Council. These were all on the same estate – Beechdale – and today the organisation owns 1,244 homes. That goes some way to explaining why the organisation has never undertaken the OJEU process before; contracts across different sections of service hadn’t previously crossed the necessary threshold.

“We had an existing open book partnering contract that was open-ended, but subject to an annual review, so we’d had that in place for a few years without having to tender for it,” explained June Moriarty, BCHA ’s chief executive. “Then we agreed we should put an end date on it. We were looking for efficiencies and were aware that it had been a while since we had tested the market. It was an area for improvement, though that’s not to say there were any issues. There certainly weren’t any issues about quality.”

Time, simply, for a change, and the appointment of Morrison marks the commencement of significant changes for the organisation and for its tenants. The company was formally appointed in January to deliver the £9.5 million integrated asset management service for the next five years, with the option of extension for a further five years. The service will go live in April, from which time it will be delivering all BCHA ’s responsive repairs, work to empty properties, planned maintenance, gas servicing and cyclical works.

For tenants it means one simple phone number to Morrison’s call centre for any repair matters, including the out-of-hours service, and of course these days the provision of tenant liaison officers is practically a given in modern contracts, and the company will not be an exception in ensuring the presence of such a key link to the tenants. The company will be operating out of BCHA ’s headquarters, which will place them in the heart of the estate. The company is also setting up a tenant resource centre as an added benefit.

“If a tenant is having work carried out that is dusty, noisy or just generally disruptive, then they can come out to the resource centre and sit in comfort, have a cup of tea and watch the telly, or even play on a computer,” Moriarty explained.

Tenants were involved in the tendering process which resulted in Morrison’s recruitment and they expected the provision of community benefits out of the contract. Among these, both partners will be looking at local training and employment initiatives to benefit the community. There’ll be events and one-off projects along the way within the duration of the contract; the first one is already set to get underway after the contract goes live.

Two years ago, the Mary Elliott School moved to new premises on the edge of the Beechdale estate, since which time BCHA has built a strong relationship with the school. It caters for young people aged between 11 to 19 years who have a range of special needs. For some of its older pupils, the school is looking to run some independent living classes, for which BCHA has offered the use of some bedsit
accommodation in one of its blocks.

“We’ve got to do a bit of work to the bedsit to make it ready, but the school is looking to get the pupils to decorate it and to think about the kind of things they would need if they were going to live in it, so they will do the carpet and the curtains and the furnishings,” Moriarty said.

The bedsit will also be used to provide cooking lessons for the youngsters, which will include growing vegetables in the garden space associated with the property. The garden will also provide another avenue to the educational experience, as well as a space the pupils and residents can use.

The partnership with Morrison might have significantly changed the way BCHA is delivering repairs and maintenance services, but it is not the only partnership mission that the RSL is putting together – over the coming months it is looking to enter a partnership that will, perhaps, have far more profound implications for this estate-based housing association.

In short, it is looking to partner up with a larger West Midlands RSL, sharing back office resources for instance, to help deliver the potential for regeneration within the Beechdale estate. This doesn’t just cover aspects such as physical regeneration, but also to help BCHA deliver the kinds of community work it has delivered itself, but on a larger scale, such as financial inclusion efforts, training, youth
diversionary activities, elderly support and more.

There’s a lot that remains to be decided, such as the likely ‘blueprint’ for governance under this proposed partnership.

One thing that is for certain is the desire to retain a degree of independence and the local delivery of service. Neither BCHA , nor its tenants, are looking to wave goodbye to the organisation that
has served their needs for so long, so it may be that the organisation looks to become an entity within a group structure. Be that as it may, whatever the final shape of the proposal, BCHA has already identified what its tenants regard as priorities for the partnership.

Among these are measures to improve Stephenson Square, the heart of the estate, with shops and other local amenities; better parks and play areas; improved community facilities; better car parking and garages; help with training and employment; increasing the number of affordable homes and a wider mix of homes; tenants on board; and good landlord services.

Meeting these criteria will be essential for prospective partners to BCHA. Interest is reportedly strong in moving forward with BCHA ’s ambitious plan. Around 30 housing associations operating in the Midlands were considered and 17 interested organisations attended a Bidders’ Conference at BCHA ’s office to find out more about the proposals. The ball is now in their court to make a formal bid, from which BCHA will work with its tenants to draw up a shortlist of organisations. The winning bid is expected to go for board approval in the summer.

“We’ve set out our stall in terms of the things that we’re looking for. We really want to work with someone who can demonstrate the work they’ve done to improve the life chances of their residents and communities, because that’s what we want to develop,” Moriarty said.

“We’re local and at the centre of a single estate so there’s a very strong community focus with a lot of community work already, but there is a potential for regeneration that we want to work with a partner to deliver so that we can have an active role in regeneration. It’s an interesting time for us and we are very positive about moving forward to deliver the things we know our tenants and residents want us to do.”