Watford Community Housing Trust has appointed Keepmoat Regeneration as its planned maintenance partner for the next five years. The contract is worth approximately £15m and will see improvements being made to more than 3,000 of the Trust’s homes.
It will deliver approximately 900 kitchens, 900 bathrooms and new windows for 300 homes over the next five years. More than 250 properties will benefit from new roofing, over 330 from new doors and in excess of 600 homes will be fitted with new electrics.
The five-year partnership with Keepmoat represents a saving of around £2m in comparison to the housing association’s previous delivery model for improvements, which were procured through framework arrangements. This saving will allow the Trust to maximise its investment in residents’ homes.
The contract was procured by a joint staff and resident team, and includes specific incentives to ensure that the contractor delivers excellent customer service, putting residents’ needs at the heart of the agreement.
Ben Johnson, assistant director of property at Watford Community Housing Trust, commented: “We were very impressed with Keepmoat and the proposals they put forward throughout the selection process. They have a strong track record of working effectively with local communities to deliver major works programmes, so we expect this new partnership to bring about a step change in the service we deliver to our tenants.
“The savings that we have secured through this contract will also allow us to deliver improvements to many more of our residents’ homes, helping to make them more modern, secure and energy-efficient.”
Simon Lacey, regional managing director of Keepmoat’s London and South Regeneration division, added: “As a community regeneration specialist, we take a lot of pride in working in partnership with local authorities and housing associations to help them to save money and provide high-quality regeneration works to existing housing. We are delighted to be working with Watford Community Housing Trust to regenerate and renew its housing stock.”
