Brockley PFI
In June 2007, Regenter secured the PFI scheme to refurbish, maintain and manage local authority housing in Brockley, south London.
The London Borough of Lewisham contracted Regenter to renovate its 1,400 rented properties and 600 leasehold properties in the Brockley area to the Government’s Decent Homes standard by the end of 2010. The contract also includes maintenance and management of the housing stock for the next 20 years, as well as a commitment to improving socio-economic conditions in the locality over that period.
We began refurbishment work in September 2007, initially focusing on completing a small number of show properties so residents could see the changes that would be made to their homes. Primarily the work involves new kitchens, bathrooms, windows and doors, and repairs to roofs. The windows, in particular, are an interesting challenge because many of the properties are located within a conservation area which means replacements must meet specific requirements.
In addition, we immediately started a timetable of on-going maintenance work to clear a backlog of repairs that had built up over the years prior to June 2007.
Regenter appreciates that good communication with residents and tenants, and the wider community, is critical to the success of a PFI housing scheme. Therefore we undertook a range of initiatives to involve local people in the regeneration work:
- Our partnership vehicle for the scheme, Regenter B3, set up offices within the Brockley project area to facilitate communication between residents and the various delivery partners.
- From the start, resident steering groups and tenant associations were set up in each part of the community to give us their ideas and feedback.
- Resident liaison officers are continually out on the ground discussing with tenants proposed scheduling, what refurbishment and repairs will be carried out and showing them design layouts.
- We have launched a communal clean-up campaign for the area.
- Prior to work commencing on the PFI scheme, we supported a local children’s charity that ran a programme to take youths from the Brockley area canoeing and sailing for three weeks in the summer.
Finally, we are pleased that Lewisham council employees who previously looked after local authority housing in Brockley were successfully transferred to Pinnacle, our service delivery partner for this scheme. Not only did this help to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities, it also fits with Regenter’s aim to employ people from the local community wherever possible.