In March 2006, Riverside Housing took over the management of over 1200 homes on two estates (Harvills Hawthorn and Millfields) belonging to Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council under the government’s Private Finance Initiative. This project is known as Hawthorn Fields.
Riverside Housing is responsible for managing homes and providing housing services to these two estates for the next 25 years. In partnership with the council and Mansell Construction, Riverside is revitalising these homes through a mixture of ‘traditional’ improvements, demolishing and replacing or rebuilding a number of homes, and building some new social housing. Around 100 new homes for sale are also being built by developers Lovell on the Harvills Hawthorn estate to increase home ownership in the area. Overall more than £200m will be spent on this project between 2006 and 2031.
Location
The Harvills Hawthorn and Millfields estates are in West Bromwich, one of the six towns that make up the borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands.
What is a PFI?
A Housing Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is a means by which the government funds partnerships between the public and private sectors, to improve existing council housing.
The private partner also manages the homes in return for payments linked to its performance against agreed service standards. However, the tenants remain local authority tenants and the homes remain in the ownership of the council.
Improvement and Regeneration
The main initiative for Riverside Housing in the Hawthorn Fields area over the next five years will be the major refurbishment of homes across the whole area to bring them up to a decent standard. Over £60m will spent over the first five years regenerating the estates and improving tenants’ homes including, where needed, fitting new windows and doors, central heating, kitchens and bathrooms. The regeneration will also involve a major demolition programme, with many homes being rebuilt or replaced with new-build properties, and some permanent clearance.
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