A short history of SGCH

Stockland Green is a north Birmingham neighbourhood close to Castle Vale. It has a mixture of house types, most of them traditionally in owner-occupation. Some years ago, the area began to experience a rise in poor quality and badly managed private renting, with some larger houses being divided for letting as housing in multiple occupation (HMOs).

In 2012, Stockland Green Opportunities Housing & Training (SGOHT) was formed in response to these trends and the damaging impact that they were having on the wider neighbourhood. With the strong support of local Ward Members, CVCHA (now the Pioneer Group) was enlisted to help.

Initially, Pioneer intervened in the local housing market on behalf of SGOHT – acquiring 10 especially problematic properties – renovating and re-letting them as a good and conscientious landlord. Subsequently, Pioneer supported the Stockland Green group on governance, strengthening it, such that it defined, measured and enacted its objectives and became genuinely accountable to local people.

Following the initial “emergency acquisitions”, Pioneer commissioned LocalGrowth – its consultancy partner – to prepare a detailed Neighbourhood Diagnostic. This was the basis for a subsequent SGOHT Neighbourhood Business Plan and gave the Pioneer Housing & Community Group Board the confidence to support SGOHT by investing further in their patch.

SGOHT formally became a member of the Pioneer Group in the summer of 2015. The nature of the relationship between Pioneer and SGCH now is that the SGCH Board oversees the implementation of the Neighbourhood Business Plan, assures the continued support and participation of residents and develops suitable management, allocations and maintenance policies.

Together, sites and properties are identified for acquisition. The Pioneer Group undertakes improvements to an agreed quality standard and then applies SGCH’s local lettings policy – by letting them to suitable tenants. Any surplus is used by SGCH to address local priorities – such as skills and training, eyesore sites and resident engagement.

In 2021 we started our first flagship social housing development on Slade Road and rebranded to Stockland Green Community Housing (SGCH).

What do we offer?

We continue to help Stockland Green and its people flourish by providing excellent homes and creating development and training opportunities for those living in the community (Image 28/24). SGCH’s future aims are to:

  • Provide excellent homes resulting in successful and stable neighbourhoods.
  • Create training and employment opportunities across the generations, supporting and incubating social and business enterprise for those living in Stockland Green.
  • Improve the health and wellbeing of residents.
  • Work in partnership with agencies, groups and other stakeholders, sharing knowledge and encouraging social enterprise.
  • Help sustain and improve the local environment and cultural life in Stockland Green.

SGCH is a partner in a network of over 100 community organisations and other stakeholders (like West Midlands police/YMCA/Erdington Methodist Church/Highcroft Community centre/Marsh Hill allotments etc.), who are all working together make Stockland Green a better place to live.

We have around 50 properties in Stockland Green ranging from market rent homes to social housing to help meet local housing needs. These range from newly built properties to Victorian property refurbishments. We understand concerns about the number of homes in multiple occupation in Stockland Green and the oversupply of exempt accommodation, costing the taxpayer thousands in very high rents supported through Housing Benefit. We therefore took the opportunity to purchase two large properties in Stockland Green when they became available to prevent them from just becoming another problem property. We refurbished these to a very high standard. Continuing to let these as shared households, we thoroughly vet all incoming customers to ensure they can pay the rent and we do not provide exempt or supported housing. We require those who live in the properties to meet stringent pre-tenancy checks and be able to live independently. Positive change in the community isn’t just about bricks and mortar it’s about what you see when you open your front door, your options for how you spend your leisure time and having a vibrant engaged community where people care about each other.

 

Our vision and values

Our vision and aims link closely to those of The Pioneer Group

Our Vision

To develop long term social economic and environmental benefits to the community by providing good quality housing and offering training and employment opportunities.

Our Purpose

To be a major provider of good quality affordable accommodation in Stockland Green using the skills of local people to create a vibrant and thriving community.

Our Values

We treat people with dignity, honesty and respect
We act with integrity and take personal responsibility
We will deliver quality and achieve value for money
We are innovative, making good things happen
We are community and customer focused