Member Article

Salix Homes in the running for FOUR housing sector awards

Salford housing association Salix Homes is in the running for four prestigious awards in recognition of its efforts to improve housing across Salford.

Salix Homes, which owns 8,000 homes in the city, has been shortlisted in four categories in the Northern Housing Awards, which recognise the achievements of housing providers in the north.

New-build development the Poets in Swinton has been named as a finalist in the Regeneration Scheme of the Year category. The ongoing project will see 160 new homes built to replace 146 homes that are being demolished due to structural issues caused by historic mining in the Beechfarm area.

Also in the running is Salix Homes’ Alexander Gardens project in Broughton, which has been shortlisted in the Affordable Housing Scheme of the Year category.

The ground-breaking project has seen an empty sheltered housing scheme, which was devastated in the Boxing Day 2015 floods, transformed into 26 affordable homes exclusively for NHS workers at Salford Royal to help attract more doctors and nurses to the city’s hospital, who have been struggling to fill 200 vacancies.

Salix Living, the private sector leasing arm of Salix Homes, has been named as one of the finalists in the Excellence in Improving Private Rented Sector Standards category, while the social housing provider has also been recognised in the Best Digital Transformation category in recognition of its efforts to become one of the first housing associations to migrate its IT infrastructure to the public cloud.

Lee Sugden, chief executive at Salix Homes, said: “The past year has been a monumental one for Salix Homes. By thinking a little differently around how we do things, we’ve created new affordable homes across Salford, improved homes and communities and pushed ahead with our bold ambitions to become a truly digital organisation equipped for the demands of a modern world.

“To be recognised for our efforts in all these areas in the prestigious Northern Housing Awards is a real honour; and is testament to all the hard work of the teams and partners involved in improving housing across Salford, and helping to ensure this fantastic city continues to be a great place to live and work.”

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at Emirates Old Trafford on May 23.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Hayley Collins .