The Biggest Challenge

Under 25 per cent of Sheffield’s 48,000 council properties met the Decent Homes standard when the ALMO set out on the £669million project.

This figure has already risen to over 45 per cent, and Sheffield Homes is confident it will keep its promises to customers by reaching the 2010 target on time and within budget.

Customers were put at the heart of the programme from the outset. They helped to select the partner contractors (Connaught Property Services, Keepmoat plc, Kier Sheffield LLP, Lovell Partnerships and Mears Group plc), and more recently approved Henry Boot Construction Ltd and Wates Construction Ltd to provide the extra capacity needed from this year.

In addition, they are consulted widely over product specifications and timetables via individual project groups at the neighbourhood level, Area Investment Working Groups, Local Boards and the city wide forums.
The Sheffield programme has resulted in many beneficial partnerships and it spans several of the city’s regeneration priorities.

Its impact goes far beyond some nice new kitchens and bathrooms. Suppliers have been sourced locally wherever possible, giving a real boost to the economy, whilst recruitment has created hundreds of jobs.

Local manufacturer JELD-WEN, won the multi-million pound contract to supply 80,000 new doors for the programme - one of the largest single government contracts for doors ever made in Europe. Sheffield-based charitable social enterprise, IMBY, secured the contract to carry out independent customer telephone surveys.

The programme is addressing the national shortage of skilled labour and helping the unemployed to find a trade for life through the Construction JOBMatch programme. The £14 million scheme, financed by private and public funds including Objective 1, is creating 500 apprenticeships in Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster.

Regional partnership working has also worked well in the procurement process.

Sheffield has been instrumental in the launch of the South Yorkshire Decent Homes Consortium, which is holding an eauction for key components, sharing best practice, benchmarking performance and costs and establishing collaborative frameworks for new programmes of work.One of the most enlightening results of Sheffield’s Decent Homes programme has been its impact on the health of the city’s residents. A Health Impact Assessment was commissioned by the Sheffield First Health and Well Being Partnership as part of its commitment to being a World Health Organisation Healthy City.

Academics at Sheffield Hallam and Warwick Universities concluded that the improvements to local homes would save more than a £1million a year in long-term NHS care, improve mental health and mean 300 fewer accidents in homes every year.

The final seal of approval rests with the customers, and Sheffield has seen satisfaction levels with the work grow dramatically from 75.5 per cent at the start, to an all time high of 94 per cent last summer.