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Housing Management

At the core of PSEMBs work is the Housing Management role that has been in place since 1994, when the management agreement was officially signed.  This marked the beginning of a new era, with resident led management arrangements in place to look after the newly refurbished Estate. The official start of the new management arrangements began as the refurbished blocks of flats were completed. Instead of being handed back by the contractor to the city council they were handed back to PSEMB.
 The capital works had been funded by central government ‘estate action’ funding with residents taking a lead on every aspect of the design process. Formally taking over the management of the estate was a key milestone and was the result of much hard work by the residents group in the preceding years.

 The management agreement with Plymouth City Council (PCC) provided the basis for this partnership approach to service delivery.  With a devolved budget from the City Council’s Housing Revenue Account, PSEMB took over responsibility for the day to day management of the estate office; repairs; planned maintenance; grounds maintenance; caretaking and cleaning; allocating properties; and tenancy matters.  The City Council maintained responsibility for rent collection and major structural repairs. The  staff team who work for PSEMB are from the local area and some live on the estate.  This promotes local accountability and ensures that the Estate remains safe, clean and well managed. Any minor damage is dealt with almost immediately and the few void properties that do occur, are re-let quickly. 

 The Board itself consists of a majority of resident directors, and, as it works in partnership with the City Council there are places for 2 housing officers and 2 councillors. Additional skills such as business support have been brought in when necessary.  The Board has always remained resident led throughout.   PSEMB has continued to work with the City Council to achieve consistently good results in housing management. The organization as a whole has been awarded ‘Investor in People’ status and also the new Social Enterprise kitemark award. This, combined with being a nationally recognised example of good practice means that standards are consistently good across all PSEMB’s working practice.  As a result, the Estate remains a popular place to live with high levels of resident satisfaction.

 PSEMB has been involved in the changeover to Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) – a new, not for profit housing association which has responsibility for 15,000 homes. PCH took over the entire council  housing stock in the late autumn of 2009 and has pledged its continuing support to PSEMB.
 
 As a result of extensive regeneration programmes across the whole of the Devonport in recent  years, the tenure of the Devonport area has changed and there are now a number of Housing Associations who have built new homes to meet a range of needs from social rented, to shared ownership, through to full owner occupation. This has brought a wider mix of residents to Devonport. The successful management of Pembroke Street has been instrumental in other housing associations awarding maintenance contracts to PSEMB, in order to benefit the area as whole.   
Regular meetings are held between managers and Repair & Maintenance staff to plan ahead and set priorities

 
A view of one of the blocks of flats on the Estate as it looks today – still in excellent condition many years after refurbishment!