Higgins fought off tough competition from eight shortlisted organisations from the across the UK to win Team of the Year at the National Tpas Awards for Colville Estate, phases 2A and 2B in Hackney, London with Hackney Council.
The achievement recognises the successful working partnership with Hackney Council that delivers great tenant engagement on community and development projects. As part of the entries the Tpas judges were keen to see how teams successfully combined their collective strengths, overcame difficulties and celebrated success to fulfil an aim or objective.
Steve Leakey, Managing Director of Higgins commented: “It is fantastic to have won this national Tpas award for our work at Colville Estate and I would like to congratulate every member of the team on their hard work and the commitment they have given on delivering an award-winning project.
“At Higgins we pride ourselves on working closely in partnership with our clients. To win an award that acknowledges our team approach and the work we have carried out to deliver outstanding community development and engagement to enhance the regeneration of Colville is extremely satisfying.
“This is the third Tpas award we have won, receiving Excellence in Contractor Engagement for the Southern region for Myatts Field North in 2016 and Excellence in Employment, Skills and Training for the Southern region for Kings Crescent Estate in 2018. This recognises that we have engagement and training as a core value within the organisation and we will continue to deliver award winning projects in the future.”
The Tpas awards celebrate the very best in tenant engagement in the housing sector and are open to social housing providers, tenants and contractors to give recognition to their excellent work and vitally to share best practice amongst the sector. For the first time, in its 12-year history, one national event was held.
Jenny Osbourne, Tpas Chief Executive said: “The Tpas Award for Team of the Year recognises the work of teams that work positively and effectively in delivering fantastic tenant or community engagement through their projects and services. We are really pleased to have awarded the Colville Estate Phases 2a and 2b and Higgins with this award.
“The project demonstrates a fantastic range of community-led activities that successfully engage and benefit the residents of the estate. We wholeheartedly recognise the team and their need to make a difference in the community, whilst ensuring they deliver on their holistic approach to community regeneration. This is a brilliant example of partnership working that delivers effective tenant and community engagement — engagement that is as important as ‘bricks and mortar’ objectives. Congratulations to everyone involved.”
Higgins has just completed the latest phase in the redevelopment of the Colville Estate — which has delivered more than 100 new homes — including seventy, which are for social rent, offering a high-quality, Council homes to existing residents whose decades-old properties were in disrepair.
The development also includes 11 homes for Shared Ownership and 35 properties for Outright Sale to help pay for the new social housing in the absence of any government funding.
In total, the regeneration of the Colville Estate, which started in 2010, will see 935 new homes and community facilities built to replace ageing buildings uneconomical to repair — with around half for social rent and Shared Ownership.
The development is part of Hackney Council’s in-house direct delivery programme, which is building nearly 2,000 homes, three schools and a leisure centre by 2022 — with more than half of homes for genuinely affordable social rent and shared ownership.
Pictured above are Jeff Joseph, Community Investment Manager for Higgins, Penni Pennington, Tpas and Sarah Clark Quality and Environmental Co‑ordinator at Higgins.
