Three-day kitchens

When South Staffordshire Housing Association (SSHA) embarked upon a multimillion pound programme to drive up the standards of affordable homes under their control, they turned to Property Care, part of partner association Housing Plus.

Five years and over £3.7 million later, more than 1,000 homes have benefited from the professional kitchen improvement works that Property Care delivers. With an average cost of £3,700 per kitchen  and satisfaction levels currently hovering around the 100% mark, the improvements have won the whole scale support of SSHA tenants.

The challenge

South Staffordshire Housing Association manages and maintains over 5,000 homes and 14 sheltered housing schemes. Back in 2007 they made a commitment to the then South Staffordshire Council tenants to provide a better standard of kitchen to meet modern day expectations. But kitchen improvement work involves more than just removing and replacing units. Significant electrical rewiring, stripping and making good wall and floor finishes, gas supply alterations and major pipework modifications are just some of the works that also need to take place.

Our response

We meet these challenges through careful scheduling and planning to ensure trades and materials are coordinated to complete the work on time and to budget. Close working between Property Care trades people, their Corgi registered plumbers and nominated electrical contractors results in an average kitchen improvement turnaround time of just 3 days. This is verified by SSHA performance reports.

The close co-operation between work crews has not gone unnoticed by SSHA tenants. One satisfied customer comments: “The tradesmen worked as a team and each knew what was expected of them and together they fulfilled that.” Property Care often face additional challenges during improvement works. The ordering of asbestos tests and the repositioning of gas and electricity meters are just a couple of the constraints that influence both start and completion dates within the programme.

Frank O’Rawe, Property Care Operations Manager said “We are passionate about the quality of our work and do all we can to maximise efficiencies and improve service. We are in business to programme and deliver quality home improvement work. That’s why our tenant satisfaction levels are consistently high.”

The Customers

The shared view of customers is that Property Care has brought about a transformation in both quality of workmanship, standards of service and customer care. The professionalism of all trades involved and the management of each individual improvement has earned tenant praise and approval. And with over 1,000 satisfied customers already enjoying their kitchen improvements, endorsement looks set to continue long into the future.