Homes in Sedgemoor, the organisation that looks after Sedgemoor District Council’s social housing, is celebrating its 15th birthday.
Founded on April 1 2007, Homes in Sedgemoor (HiS) manages around 4,000 homes for the authority, from Shipham in the north of the district to North Petherton in the south.
HiS is what is known as an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO). HiS doesn’t own any property but manages the Social Housing that is owned by Sedgemoor District Council for them.
After taking over the management of Sedgemoor’s housing stock in 2007, in 2011 £25 million in funding was released from the Decent Homes Programme to spend on improving the state of the housing stock, a programme that lasted three years.
In 2019 HiS was placed 31st in the Sunday Times list of best not-for-profit companies to work for in the UK. The same year HiS was named 24Housing’s Top Landlord of the Year. In 2021 HiS was awarded Investors in People Gold accreditation.
HiS is now working hard to make the housing stock more environmentally friendly, too. Following a successful bid by South West Energy Hub, some HiS-managed properties will benefit from new heat pumps, double glazing, solar panels and external roof and wall insulation.
The money for this work, £208,813.39, comes through the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) for energy-efficiency home improvements.
Claire, who has worked for HiS since 2007 said:
“As an organisation Homes in Sedgemoor has gone from strength to strength since 2007 when we were first created by the council. From being a relatively small team, accessing funding and delivery of the Decent Homes Programme was a real turning point for us; we delivered the programme on time and on budget and made a real difference to people’s homes and lives.”
Today the work done by HiS has been recognised as some of the best in its field and the organisation works with other organisations across the country to help them improve their customers’ experience and hosted senior politicians seeking customer consultation to inform and develop their policies.
Peter Hatch, CEO of HiS said:
“15 years ago this month Homes in Sedgemoor was created in order to deliver a major investment programme to the homes owned by Sedgemoor District Council. Since 2007 these improvements have been successfully delivered alongside our commitment to both listening to and serving our customers, and making the neighbourhoods and communities better places to live. I hope that customers, colleagues, Board members and partners (both past and present) are proud of what Homes in Sedgemoor has achieved – none of which would have been possible without their support and dedication. I would also like to thank Sedgemoor District Council whose continuous support and trust we have benefitted from since 2007. As we look forward to the future I very much believe that Homes in Sedgemoor is perfectly placed to continue to deliver great homes and services to the our customers and help build even stronger communities. Thank you for your ongoing support and I look forward to continuing to work closely with you to achieve even more.”
HiS will be marking the anniversary with a series of celebratory events across the district during the year, starting with an event from 10am – 1pm, on Wednesday, April 6, at Westfield Church, West Street, Bridgwater TA6 7EU.