Group news and events

People are being given an opportunity to share their views on plans for a new housing development in Cornwall – which includes affordable homes for locals.

Organisations from across Devon and Cornwall came together to focus on anti-social behaviour within the social housing sector last week. The forum, hosted by Penwith Housing Association (PHA), part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group, featured high profile professionals covering a range of issues with the aim of sharing good practice and driving improvements in the delivery of anti-social behaviour (ASB) services.

The vast changes to the benefits system are going to have a big impact upon many people including social housing residents. Penwith Housing Association, part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group, has already expanded its in-house money management team to help minimise the effects and to help make sure residents are getting all of the help and benefits they are entitled to.

Businesses and residents in a North Devon town are being encouraged to get their unused electrical goods recycled free of charge to help reduce landfill waste and
fly-tipping.

With the aim of building confidence and improving relationships with its thousands of residents throughout Cornwall, Penwith Housing Association (PHA), part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group, is celebrating the success of its new learning programme.

A much needed affordable housing scheme has been completed in time for residents to move in before Christmas at St Keverne, on the Lizard peninsula. The 13 homes at Trevallack Close will be managed by Penwith Housing Association (PHA), part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group (DCH).

Penwith Housing Association (PHA), part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group, are to host an event which is the third one of its kind in the South West.

Local people are being given an opportunity to help shape plans for a new development of housing, employment space and community facilities at Redruth – which is proposed as part of an enhanced town entrance.

The South West is set to benefit from an influx of new affordable homes to help meet local demand, thanks to a four-year agreement between a group of housing providers and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

First-time buyers can gain a firm foothold on the property ladder thanks to a new affordable housing scheme in a Cornwall.

A handyperson service for elderly and disabled people in Cornwall is celebrating completing its 15,000 job.

A multimillion pound housing development that has been described as a ‘fantastic flagship’ for St Ives was celebrated on site next to Tate St Ives

The National Housing Federation publish 'Home Truths' report on the state of Devon's housing market, including a quote from Paul Crawford, Group Chief Executive.

Penzance now has its own food bank which distributes food to people in need. It is the initiative of Churches Together in the Penzance Area (CTIPA) and has food donation bins prominently sited in the area.

The start of work on purpose built flats for older people at Meadow Flats, St Ives will be celebrated at an event in early November.

A multi-million pound project which began in 2005, has improved thousands of homes, mainly in West Cornwall; it has been completed on time and on budget by the hard-working staff at Penwith Housing Association (PHA), part of the Devon and Cornwall Housing group.

Penwith Housing Association (PHA) has produced a timely reminder about using fireworks.

The latest Devon and Cornwall editions of Open Door, with all the news stories and features you need - including some popular requests from survey feedback so far...

Kind-hearted community groups have donated over 1,000 essential items for people using a new homeless service in East Devon.

A supported housing scheme for young people in Axminster is set to throw its doors open for wider use by the local community.

Devon & Cornwall Housing (DCH) is taking part in the New Homes Show at Plymouth Guildhall on Saturday 22 October from 2pm - 5:30pm to promote affordable shared ownership homes in the South West region.

There was mud, sweat and tears of joy for an intrepid team of housing association workers and their press-ganged family members who made it to the finish line.

The Government's welfare changes will push thousands of people living in social housing into hardship or out of their homes. Ask the Minister for Welfare Reform to rethink these unfair proposals.

Tor Homes, part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group, is backing Welfare Action Week by calling on ministers to rethink changes to housing benefit rules that could push many local people into hardship.

Penwith Housing Association (PHA) is backing Welfare Action Week by calling on ministers to rethink changes to housing benefit rules that could push many local people into hardship. Hundreds of housing associations across the country will be participating in this week of action.

A wisteria tree was planted at St Keverne on Wednesday (5 Oct) to mark the near-completion of 13 homes for rent to meet local social housing need. The ceremony was planned to coincide with Rural Housing Week which aims to raise awareness of the value of affordable housing in keeping local communities and villages alive and to highlight the need for affordable homes for local people.

The final phase of Tor Homes’ part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group, latest development at Holsworthy in Torridge is complete and ready for residents to move in. There are 46 much-needed new affordable homes on the 2.67 acre site, which is part of the former Holsworthy Showground, 32 of the homes are available for rent and 14 are for shared ownership.

A free and fun day was had by all on Saturday 24 September when around 100 residents and their families from all over Cornwall arrived at Cornwall’s Crealy Great Adventure Park. The aim of the day, hosted by Penwith Housing Association (PHA), part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group, was to help PHA learn more about the opinions and priorities of residents and encourage them to become involved.

High customer satisfaction and awards to hard-working residents featured high on the agenda of the annual general meeting of affordable housing provider, Tor Homes. Part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group, Tor Homes, based in Totnes, is a major social landlord in the county with over 180 staff delivering services to 9,300 homes.

Boslowen is a brand new mixed tenure development of one, two, three and four bedroom homes in Camborne. A number of these high quality new homes, managed by Penwith Housing Association part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group, will be affordable and allocated to people from the local community who have a strong local connection.

Three men and two women, each with a remarkable record of community service in West Cornwall have retired from the main board of Penwith Housing Association (PHA), part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group. Several were founder members, some 19 years ago.

Investment in Cornwall and the cuts threatening the affordable housing programme were the challenging themes detailed at the Annual General Meeting of Penwith Housing Association (PHA), part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group (DCH) at St Ives on Tuesday 20 September by guest speaker Richard Connolly.

Affordable housing workers braved downpours, gale force winds, punctures and topples to complete a 134-mile charity cycle challenge over the weekend, raising one thousand pounds.

Launceston residents, Mr and Mrs Bob and Joyce Sleeman, are retiring from duties having been dependable resident representatives for Penwith Housing Association and Devon & Cornwall Housing group for many years. They first started attending meetings back in 1991 so have been representing the views of other residents for 20 years.

Social housing residents in North Devon have been given something to chew over after receiving expert advice on food safety as part of an i-Futures scheme to help them live independently.

St Giles in the Wood, a Tor Homes’ scheme based in North Devon, has won a Rural Housing Award for the ‘Most Effective Community Group’ as part of the National Housing Federation’s Rural Housing Week.

i-Futures launch a new service in East Devon to support homeless people with local links. Up to 20 homeless people can be accommodated at the facility in Honiton, which has just opened.

Using the financial strength of the new two-counties housing group, Penwith Housing Association (PHA), has brought 161 new homes into its management across Cornwall during the past year as part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group.

Homeless young people in Torbay could be fast-tracked from the street to the boardroom in a groundbreaking new initiative designed to give local talent a chance to break into business, as part of an Independent Futures project.

Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Putt, from Penalverne, Penzance, who recently received Penwith Housing Association’s award for Best Overall Garden. PHA, part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group, holds the popular and competitive residents’ gardening competition each year.

Hanging baskets, floral boxes and tubs have brought colour and beauty to the entrance area of a group of 12 flats at Launceston. So much so that Station Court has won the ‘best communal garden’ category in the annual competition held by Penwith Housing Association (PHA), part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group.

A stylish and contemporary development of new 2 and 3 bedroom homes from Westco, with prices from just £107,600 with FirstBuy (eligibility criteria and terms and conditions apply).

First new-look Open Door, Devon and Cornwall editions. Thanks to all those residents who were involved in the process, we hope you're as pleased as we are with the results!

The Sales team from Devon & Cornwall Housing are delighted to be attending the Holsworthy and Stratton Agricultural Show on Thursday 25 August 2011. You'll find us on Pitch 81, near the Childrens’ tent and Vintage Display area.

A doggy day out is on offer when affordable housing provider Tor Homes, part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group, organises its first ever series of Summer Pet Shows at Filham Park, Ivybridge, on Tuesday 16 August.

Work has re-started on Devon & Cornwall Housing’s new housing scheme in St Austell, Cedar Woods, following the appointment of the new building contractor Kier Living.

A fun-day organised by Penwith Housing Association (PHA) part of the Devon & Cornwall Housing group, was a tremendous success in bringing together the community and reaching younger families.

St Ives’ largest affordable homebuilding project for more than 30 years has been completed. The 54 homes were built by contractors Mansells for Devon & Cornwall Housing (DCH) and will be managed by Penwith Housing Association (PHA), part of the DCH group. The development has been named “Mike Peters Estate” after a former St Ives town councillor.

We’re very happy to let you know we now have six new information leaflets available covering a whole range of topics, and relevant across Devon and Cornwall.

A new chapter in the history of the St Ives seascape began recently as work commenced on the redevelopment of the Meadow Flats site. Twenty former 1950’s flats on the site have already been demolished and are being rebuilt by contractors ‘Leadbitter’ for Penwith Housing Association (PHA), part of the Devon and Cornwall Housing group.

One of Britain’s leading comedy actresses sent a special birthday card to the residents of a Salcombe sheltered housing scheme to mark its 20th anniversary. Providing support to older people, Chandlers Heights at Salcombe is owned by affordable housing provider Tor Homes, part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group.

A doggy day out is on offer when affordable housing provider Tor Homes, part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group, organises its first ever Summer Pet Show at the Borough Park, Totnes, on Tuesday 9 August.

Affordable housing provider Tor Homes, part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group, has teamed up with Townstal Community Partnership, Townstal Youth Club, Guinness Hermitage, Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service and police community support officers to put on the Dreamscheme day on Wednesday 10 August at Townstal Community Hall at 10.00 am.

Affordable housing provider, Tor Homes, part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group, is teaming up with representatives from the Police and South Hams Council to invite youngsters to come along to the Manor Park Primary School, Ivybridge, before heading off to do some litter picking.

Networking event held on the 5 July, hosted by Devon & Cornwall Housing at their new Ker Street offices in Plymouth, was well attended by many ‘design champions’ with one common goal in mind.

Totnes Member of Parliament, Dr. Sarah Wollaston, is set to visit some of the tenants who have recently moved into the Culverdale estate, Totnes, built by affordable housing provider Tor Homes, part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group. This is the first affordable housing to be built exclusively for rent in Totnes for eight years.

Along with Devonport Community Land Trust, we are offering five families in housing need, who are committed to living a green lifestyle, the opportunity to live in an exceptionally sustainable new home in Devonport, Plymouth.

New designers selected after much consultation with residents and staff alike – read on for how, why and when…

Recent performance benchmarking for the whole year, 2010 – 2011, once again shows brilliant results. The outcomes we achieve for our clients are better in every area except one, benchmarked against the South West and all of England.

The Government is proposing to remove tenants’ right to have housing benefit paid directly to their landlord. The National Housing Federation says that tenants deserve the choice. Visit the NHF website to find out more and to email your local MP about the issue.

Four designers have now pitched for the new-look residents' magazine. Take a look, vote for your favourite and get in touch to tell us what you think.

Open Door is changing – we are bringing our three individual residents' magazines together to create one, new and improved magazine with a Devon and a Cornwall edition.

Young people, from difficult backgrounds, across Cornwall have been recognised for their personal and academic achievements and hard-work in an awards ceremony at Truro Foyer yesterday.

After extensive consultation with you our residents, and joint working by staff across PHA, Tor, Independent Futures and DCH, it’s great to be launching our new group-wide service standards for housing. They’ll be hitting doorsteps this week with the latest edition of Open Door, and there will be copies available in our offices too.

On 1 April 2011 we created a new group parent company, Devon & Cornwall Housing (DCH), by amalgamating Devon & Cornwall Housing Association and Devon & Cornwall Housing Trust.

The first tenants have moved into a multi million-pound housing development for older people in Plymouth, capping years of hard work by Devon & Cornwall Housing and its partners.

Eight local families each with strong connections to the village of St Giles in the Wood, Torrington have moved into their new homes provided by Devon & Cornwall Housing (DCH) and built by Pearce Construction.

Call24’s telecare response centre, which operates a life-saving alarm service, has reason to celebrate after achieving compliance with the Telecare Services Association’s Code of Practice, for the fourth year running.

It’s an exciting time for affordable housing in Plymouth as the latest development in modern living begins at Kinterbury Square in Barne Barton.

Carn Brea Foyer in Camborne has been superbly renovated to provide shared and self-contained accommodation for young people - even the new MP was impressed!

We welcomed our guest David Orr, NHF Chief Executive, at DCHT's AGM, who presented his views about future challenges.

Our annual report includes great case studies that reflect our subsidiaries working collaboratively to create better homes, better places, and better lives.

Devon Strategic Housing Group has published its autumn 2010 ebulletin which details successful housing partnership stories.

An excellent example of Tor Homes, Penwith Housing Association and Devon & Cornwall Housing Association working together to meet national standards.

St Therese’s sheltered housing scheme hosted Marlborough primary school in an open day that was as much about the past as it was the future.

Wish you could buy your own home?

Barne Barton in Plymouth is to benefit from a new high quality affordable housing development, thanks to a grant of almost £5m from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

New single utility contract saves tenants thousands of pounds...

Fitting solar panels to Whitleigh Court to reduce carbon useage and tenant bills...

Dawn French celebrates Foyer's 10 year anniversary

Nine new homes opened by chief executive, Andy Moore and MP, Dan Rogerson.

For the first time in its 17 year history, Penwith Housing Association (PHA) will lower the rents for thousands of its tenants from next month (April).

New Code of Good Practice raises hopes of combating domestic violence and abuse in Devon.

Helping a resident fulfill her dream to volunteer overseas with the help of the Devon and Cornwall Housing small grants and awards programme.

Making efficiency savings of over £10million through our group structure, and improving things that matter for residents

"Paul’s ability, enthusiasm and track record of success will help us achieve our vision of better homes, better places and better lives"

Find out the best way to get to some of our offices across the group, as well as information on access.

Our annual report for 2008/09

More than 200 new homes could be built in Sidmouth with two planning applications set to be submitted to local authority chiefs within the next fortnight.

“Staff share a sense of pride in what they do.”

Residents are invited to fine tune the Tenant Services Authority's draft standards.

Helping 103,000 people to a brighter future every day… it’s time to celebrate supported housing in the south west!

Rewarding the difference, through a grant from DCH

We are committed to ensuring equality and diversity in all our relationships and have added two accessibility features to our websites

Now available to download, for each organisation in the group

We recently welcomed the new Chief Executive Designate of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), Sir Bob Kerslake to a special visit in Plymouth

Keeping partners in touch with our work across the area

How we plan to achieve our vision of better homes, better places, better lives

Ensuring fairness and accessibility in every aspect of our work and the services we provide

Improving our services for disabled people

Ensuring we listen to tenants and live up to our vision

European partners visit regeneration projects

Now available to download, for each organisation in the group

Becoming more than the sum of our parts

Working together with residents across Europe

Adam is a safe pair of hands - helped out by funding for goalkeeping kit

Offering more local services and more affordable homes

Developing the new DCH vision

Working together to improve community involvement

We are really pleased that Tor Homes board members have agreed to join Devon & Cornwall Housing group.