Swan Housing Association “Housing Association of the Year” at the WhatHouse? Awards!

Swan Housing Association won Gold at this year’s prestigious WhatHouse? Awards, being crowned “Housing Association of the Year” with the Judges concluding that everything about Swan shouts “ambition and innovation”.

Now in its 36th year, the WhatHouse? Awards are the biggest and most prestigious event for the UK’s new homes builders and this year’s ceremony was attended by over 1,700 housing professionals with the awards presented by Jack Whitehall and Lawrence Dallaglio.

This award (which Swan won Silver for in 2016) is significant as the judges were looking at all aspects of a Housing Association’s performance, such as design and build, value for money, management and marketing. They also wanted to see innovative solutions to assist buyers onto the home ownership ladder or into rented accommodation, according to needs and status.

The judges particularly noted Swan’s willingness to take on those difficult challenges others do not. They highlighted our plans to finally bring about the long-awaited regeneration of the Laindon Shopping Centre, because we have 1,500 homes surrounding it, as well as our landmark scheme at 360 Barking.

They recognised our innovative approach to accelerating the delivery of new homes with our new factory in Basildon where we will produce around 400 precision engineered modular homes per year and that we have increased our secured development pipeline to over 3,500 homes, whilst noting our focus on providing high quality community facilities such as The Reach, at Blackwall Reach, where the Mayor of London recently launched his new Housing Strategy.

The Judges highlighted how “dynamic” Swan is, as this year they leaped from number 63 to 34 in the Sunday Times Best Not for Profit Companies to Work for rankings, retained SHIFT gold status and achieved accreditation from the Housing Diversity Network.

John Synnuck, Chief Executive commented:

“We are delighted to be recognised as Housing Association of the Year by the UK house building sector. Our approach is very much about delivering “more”, working with our partners to deliver more high-quality homes, more quickly to meet housing need. The Judges recognised how we are leading on modular construction and growing our secured development pipeline to over 3,500 homes. At Swan, our social purpose – that is providing homes and services for residents – underpins everything we do. That’s why we’re delighted that the judges also recognised that we take on the projects that others can’t or won’t, that we continue to provide excellent community facilities for our residents and to invest in our employees, the environment and in delivering equality and diversity.”

You can read what the judges said and more about the awards here: What House? Awards 2017