Date published: 15 January 2024
Following discussions that began last year, 15 homes and their customers in the villages of Puttenham and Wanborough in Surrey have been welcomed by Stonewater.
Stonewater subsidiary housing association Greenoak, which joined Stonewater Group at the end of 2022, was already working with PWHS to provide the repairs service for the 15 homes. Following confirmation of the transfer of homes, Greenoak will now take on their full management, with a local service provided from their nearby headquarters in Woking.
The transfer from PWHS, a volunteer-run organisation, includes funding to invest in the homes, which will be used to improve and maintain them for customers, as well as improving their energy-efficiency.
The project team now looking after the new homes will also receive the services of an advisory panel consisting of PWHS trustees who will provide ongoing advice and support to Stonewater and Greenoak, on behalf of the customers living in the homes.
Jonathan Layzell, Chief Growth and Development Officer at Stonewater, said: “With rising prices and interest rates putting pressure on our sector’s finances, smaller organisations are facing real challenges, resulting in a number of homes being transferred to larger housing providers with the resources to continually maintain and improve them for customers, such as Stonewater Group.
“The homes transferred from Puttenham & Wanborough Housing Society provide much-needed affordable homes in rural village locations, and we’re pleased to be able to welcome the new customers whose homes they are into the Stonewater portfolio, and to continue to provide them with a quality local repairs and management service.”