L&H Homes brings shared strength to residents

From 1 October 2009 Havelok Homes and Longhurst Homes joined forces and formed Longhurst & Havelok Homes Limited, L&H Homes.

Mike Hardy, Longhurst & Havelok Homes Managing Director, said: “The rationale behind the amalgamation is to share and strengthen the expertise of both successful companies.

“By bringing together Longhurst Homes and Havelok Homes, we will not only become a major provider of housing and care services but we will also become stronger and increase our knowledge and expertise in developing homes, managing estates, providing care and support services and engaging communities.”

There was also a clear geographical overlap between the two companies. Havelok, based in the centre of Grimsby, covered North and North East Lincolnshire, parts of East and West Lindsey and Hull. Longhurst Homes operated in a much wider area from the Humber to Norfolk, across the East Midlands and into the West Midlands, but it also shared some of the same territory in North Lincolnshire. The amalgamation will address that.

Both companies’ broad skill set also means that L&H Homes is ideally equipped to improve customer care, service delivery and the management of homes. In fact residents will benefit from a wealth of expertise and improved streamlined services. Just some benefits that residents will see are improved accessibility to services and community involvement, a customer service centre that they can contact to discuss any tenancy issue, from repairs to anti-social behaviour, and for residents in the Havelok area, access to the Longhurst Homes ‘Just Rewards’ tenant incentive scheme.

Examples of L&H’s shared strengths include:
• Havelok Homes’ 3 star ‘excellent’ residential care homes – the highest rating given by the government sponsored Care Quality Commission
• Longhurst Homes’ highly rated leasehold management service
• Both companies’ Investors in People status
• A combined investment of approximately £25m in new development projects over the last year
• Longhurst Homes’ prestigious Charter Mark Award accreditation, a government sponsored award for customer excellence
• Havelok Homes’ 2 star Audit Commission rated service
• Longhurst Homes’ 98% customer satisfaction rate for their Income Team

In addition, both companies have strong partnerships with local authorities, health trusts, the police, voluntary organisations and private developers, helping them to create stronger and safer communities for residents, their families and neighbourhoods.

Mike added: “I’m really excited about the amalgamation. The new company will not only bring benefits to tenants but it will boost our contribution to providing much needed affordable housing in the future.”

The amalgamation will create a combined stock of 7500 homes, including the former Havelok care homes and both organisations’ general needs stock, and will see the company work across four regions – the East and West Midlands, the East of England and Yorkshire and Humberside.

Sidney McFarlane joins L&H, after two years on the Longhurst Homes Board, as the new company‘s chairman.

L&H is a member of Longhurst Group – a diverse and dynamic group of companies that create communities where people live positively together.