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Large North East landlord reveals £42.9m plan to improve nearly 6,000 homes
Sunderland-based Gentoo has revealed plans to invest £42.9m to improve nearly 6,000 homes across the city.
The 30,000-home landlord said that 6,644 residents will benefit from home improvements, ranging from loft insulation top-ups to new kitchens and bathrooms.
These improvements form part of its wider multimillion-pound investment plan for 2024-25.
This year’s investment plan has a large focus on improving the energy efficiency of properties by giving residents the option of removing fires and topping up loft insulation.
The scheme is part-funded through the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
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It will also see work on ongoing programmes completed, such as the replacement of Washington’s district heating system and the Pennywell whole-house improvement scheme.
The landlord revealed that 72.9% of its stock had an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C or above at the end of March this year, with plans for the rest to meet this target by 2030.
Marc Edwards, director of asset and sustainability at Gentoo, said: “The 2024-25 investment plan has a huge emphasis on making Gentoo properties more energy efficient, which in return will help lower the cost of customers’ fuel bills.
“We’re looking forward to working with a range of contractors to deliver the work and ensure our customers have a safe place to live that they are proud to call home.”
In January, the association revealed that a partnership scheme to offer residents discounts on their water rates had seen referrals to the scheme increase more than 1,000% in one year.
One month later, Gentoo strengthened its top team by hiring a former Ocado executive in a newly created role to boost its service to tenants.
Chris Roberts, whose most recent role was at Gentoo’s North East neighbour Beyond Housing, joined the group in February as its first director of customer.
Like many large landlords, Gentoo has faced scrutiny over its service to residents and last October was named by the Housing Ombudsman among a string of providers with a high maladministration rate.
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