Ermius Housing Reveals New Construction Partners

A MAJOR Tees Valley housing association today announced its partners in a deal which will see millions of pounds worth of improvements carried out to homes.

Thousands of tenants are set to benefit from the new venture after Erimus Housing chose ROK Group, Dunelm Property Services and Erimus Building Services to carry out its work.

The move, which will lead to £105m being poured into more than 11,000 properties across Middlesbrough, will also lead to the creation of jobs as well as training opportunities and chances to gain extra skills.

The announcement is the next step in a massive improvement process for tenants after they voted for the transfer of housing stock to Erimus Housing from Middlesbrough Council in November last year.

Today Bob Brady, chair of the Board for Erimus Housing, said: "It is very much about putting tenants at the forefront so we were very keen on selecting the right contractors who would give us the balance of value for money and quality.

"We are also very keen to promote jobs, as well as training and re-skilling opportunities within the area.

"The contractors selected are local companies, as well as our in-house team EBS, and we are looking forward to a long and successful partnership with them all, making sure we deliver our promises to tenants."

A variety of improvements will be carried out to a range of homes across the town, including new kitchens, doors and windows, upgrading heating systems and wiring and installing security lighting and smoke alarms.

The announcement comes at the end of a long procurement and tendering exercise, which was carried out with the full involvement of tenants, who also took part in the interviewing process.

Chris Smith, Director of Regeneration for Erimus Housing, said: "It is a new venture for us but an exciting one.

"It is something we are going to embrace and we will ensure we are working as closely as possible for the benefit of our tenants."

The partnership will see work carried out over the next four to five years and the contractors will soon be writing to introduce themselves to tenants whose homes will be the targets of improvements within the first two years.

They will then hold a series of events for residents, where they can have a look at some of the choices that will be made available to them.

Erimus Housing will now work through the detail with its partners in a bid to discuss the next stages of the project, including which areas will be targeted throughout each year.

And in April, Erimus Housing will co-host a ‘Meet the Buyers’ event with Middlesbrough Council, for local companies who may want to provide construction services for the contractors.

David Halfacre, Managing Director for Dunelm Property Services, said: "We are absolutely delighted. We feel we can really bring something to the customer service side of the programme.

"We hope to make a major contribution to the residents of Erimus Housing."

Paul Franklin, area leader for ROK, added: "We are proud that we are going to be involved with the local community and continuing our relationship with the local community."