South West housing association to bring repairs service in-house

The 4,600-home landlord, which serves households in the Forest of Dean and Gloucestershire, explained that the decision to close Centigen followed discussions between its chief executive Hayley Selway, tenants and Centigen staff.

Following feedback on the estate’s repair service, the executive team made a recommendation to the board to bring the services back in-house.

Ms Selway, who took over the helm of the organisation at the end of 2023, said: “Providing great services to our tenants is our top priority and this includes making improvements to our repairs and maintenance services.

“Over the last year, tenants have told us that we don’t always get things right. We have listened and are making the changes that we believe will help us improve the service we provide.”

According to the provider, the move will make it easier to improve services and strengthen collaboration between the teams involved in delivering them. It will also simplify the group’s governance structure and reduce costs.

Two Rivers said it is now in the process of consulting with the Centigen team to complete the transfer, which it hopes to do by the end of March.

Alongside this, the housing association has reviewed the terms and conditions of the team and made several enhancements to bring these in line with the rest of the Two Rivers Housing group.

“We have a fantastic team who go out and serve our tenants every day. Bringing them back in-house will help us work with and support them more effectively and bring our team closer together as we drive service improvements across the organisation,” Ms Selway added.

Ms Selway joined Two Rivers from Cardiff Community Housing Association, where she was credited with improving performance following regulatory intervention at the landlord due to governance concerns in 2018.