Affinity Sutton named as housing association of the year

             

Affinity Sutton scoops Housing Association of the Year at 2011 What House? Awards

Leading national affordable housing provider, Affinity Sutton, is celebrating after winning the Gold Award in the ‘Housing Association of the Year’ category at the What House Awards, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel.

The judges comments included: “Affinity Sutton takes the Gold Award for the way it has responded to a rapidly changing market with skill, thoughtfulness and real commitment to help its customers at a difficult time.

Kerry Kyriacou, group director of development and new business at Affinity Sutton, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be awarded the Gold as the housing association of the year at the What House? Awards.  We have an ongoing commitment to providing good quality homes and to expand the choices for our customers.”

Affinity Sutton owns and manages over 56,000 homes in England and in the past year, has provided 1,200 homes for people ranging from first time buyers to families.  It has also signed a £65 million contract with the Homes and Communities Agency to deliver 3,098 homes over the next four years and brokered a pioneering 95 per cent mortgage deal with Santander, meaning a deposit of just five per cent is needed.  The scheme has enabled even more people to get on the property ladder and was a precursor for the recently announced government-backed 95 per cent mortgage announcement.

Affinity Sutton works hard to do the things that matter most to its residents and boasts sector leading levels of customer satisfaction.  Its Improving the Appearance of our Estates (IAE) project is a £600,000 investment targeted at improving the communal landscaping and external environment of Affinity Sutton estates and helps residents feel proud of where they live.  So far, the IAE project has carried out over 85 landscaping projects across the country, which combined with events and resident engagement has led to improvements of over 10,500 households.

In 2011 Affinity Sutton was recognised as an Example of Excellence for its work in ‘Building Stronger Communities’ in the Business in the Community Awards for Excellence.

Other pioneering schemes include its £1.2 million FutureFit programme – a national retrofit project that explores the practicalities of home energy improvements with the objective of providing a retrofit model for the UK’s social housing stock.  Affinity Sutton has also achieved Investors in People Gold accreditation, an achievement shared with only one per cent of recognised organisations nationally.

The judges summed up: “Affinity Sutton wins for the all-round quality and effectiveness of its approach.  Through real drive and innovation it is showing how a big housing association can step up to the plate, thinking hard, adapting and acting on its customers’ changing needs in a harsh economic climate.”

Affinity Sutton also picked up two awards for Graylingwell Park, its joint development with Linden Homes and the Homes and Communities Agency: Gold for ‘Best Sustainable Development’ and Silver for ‘Best Brownfield Development’.

Affinity Sutton offers homes to rent or buy through a number of various schemes, including shared ownership (part buy/part rent), intermediate rent and equity loans.