Member Article

New housing group HQ would help transform town centre

A dilapidated building in Telford town centre will be demolished and transformed into a flagship office block if plans are approved.

Housing Plus Group, which provides homes and services in Shropshire and Staffordshire, wants to develop a new, modern-looking head office on the site of Reynolds House in Ironmasters Way.

Plans, which have been submitted to Telford and Wrekin Council, show a three-storey, 30,000 sq ft building with 78 parking spaces prominently located in part of the town centre which has received more than £100m private sector investment in the last ten years.

“Since our merger in October 2016, Housing Plus Group has operated two head offices,” said chief executive Sarah Boden. “A new home for the Group will improve services for customers and reduce our operating costs, enabling us to invest more money into providing more homes and services for local people.

“It will also help make a successful local organisation even more resilient as well as enhancing this prominent part of the town centre.”

Customers of the housing and care services group are already appearing on hoardings around the Reynolds House site as part of the #BuildingOurFutureHPG campaign, promoting its work.

The campaign, which also includes the Group’s annual report and a new film about their work, is helping to celebrate what has already been a successful year for the housing and care services group which merged last October and comprises Severnside Housing, South Staffordshire Housing Association, Care Plus, Property Plus, Severn Homes and AWE Electrical.

The Group, one of the biggest local employers with 600 staff, won national awards for its repairs and maintenance service and its carers have been recognised as some of the best in the country.

Some far-reaching changes have also taken place, aimed at ensuring that customers receive the same quality of service wherever they live. In October, the Fair Landlord framework was launched in Shropshire. Fair Landlord policies have helped Property Plus invest £14m annually improving homes in Staffordshire, installing 400 new kitchens and 500 bathrooms each year and carrying out home MOTs on every property, a neighbourhood at a time.

Care Plus, offering retirement living accommodation and care and support to people in their own homes, is also expanding. Over the coming months it will be rolling out its acclaimed At Home service in Shropshire.

Group services would be delivered from the new HQ as well as from offices being retained in both counties.

“It is important to all of us that we are making a difference to people, families and communities and we look forward to making even more of an impact from our new HQ as well from our other sites in Shropshire and Staffordshire,” said Sarah. For more information about the Group and the #BuildingOurFutureHPG campaign visit www.housingplusgroup.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Chick .