West Mercia Housing Group

West Mercia Housing Group was established in 1998 with the primary purpose of providing customers with high quality housing and cost-effective services that are also locally accountable.

The Group consists of three housing associations working together in partnership: Harden, Kemble and Nexus. Each retains its own distinct identity, Board and its own staff.

Our three Partner Associations manage over 5,000 homes across the West Midlands, Worcestershire and Herefordshire and each of the Group partners manages housing and services within their geographical boundary including:

Family houses
Flats and bungalows
Retirement Homes for the elderly
Supported Housing
Nursing Homes

The West Mercia parent organisation provides financial, development, technical, information technology, personnel, performance improvement, marketing and committee services to all Group Members.

As a modern, forward looking social housing provider the Group recognises its environmental as well as social responsibilities and we are keen to play our part in minimising climate change and improving the broader environment.

We have already embarked upon an extensive programme, in conjunction with Powergen, to insulate our homes thereby limiting carbon emissions and saving money for our tenants by reducing fuel bills.

We are in the process of putting together a comprehensive Affordable Warmth strategy which becomes increasingly important against a background of rapidly rising fuel costs and by the summer of 2006 aim to have undertaken a full environmental assessment and have a strategy and action plan in place to deliver higher levels of environmental performance.

We will also be working with partner organisations to ensure the higher environmental standards we adopt do not stop with our own service delivery but are exported to the people we work with, including other social housing landlords on whose behalf we provide a development function.

Our draft publication timetable is:

Subject	Baseline/Impact Assessment	Strategic Action Plan
Affordable Warmth & Fuel Poverty	December 2005	January 2006
Environment	April 2006	September 2006