Words by Simon Wilson, Chief Executive Officer – The Pioneer Group & Castle Vale Community Housing / Pics supplied by The Pioneer Group
At Pioneer, a bricks and mortar business, our foundations are built around sustaining the large-scale regeneration of the 1990s in Castle Vale.
We take long-term decisions based on a 40-year financial business plan. We can borrow money against some of our homes and develop long-term investment plans to make homes the best they can be for tenants.
Our homes sit within a community with a range of other assets, including schools, GP surgeries, shops, parks, swimming pool, library, football stadium and more. Most importantly, the people living in our homes and communities are who we must pay attention to.
For many the cost-of-living crisis continues to be tough. It’s also tough running a business, with rising costs and resource demand stretched like never before.
In the Aril/May edition of Erdington Local, you can read about Pioneer’s £11 million investment in a windows and doors replacement programme across Castle Vale. Tenants explained the importance of this, to keep homes warmer and energy bills down.
I am pleased to begin this work and have it completed as quickly as possible. This is part of a wider £47 million investment in our homes over 10 years, alongside replacing core components. This will see us tackling climate change by making homes even more energy efficient.
It’s important to take every opportunity to listen and shape investment decisions around what matters to tenants – even meaning difficult choices on occasions. If we continue to listen and act on what matters to our tenants this will stand us in good stead.
For more on The Pioneer Group visit www.pioneergroup.org.uk and for more on Compass Support visit www.compass-support.org.uk
For more on Castle Vale Community Housing visit www.cvch.org.uk
The Pioneer Group, Castle Vale Community Housing, and Compass Support are key partners in the Erdington Local COMMUNITY ANCHORS programme – supporting independent local and community journalism.
