Observer Summer 2019
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MITIGATION P.8 RAVENHILL ROMP Apex wins Business in the Residents’ views help P.7 Community Award - The Brookhill House win PAYMENTS TO END P.6 Investing in Your Community Gold at the UK Elderly IN APRIL 2020 Award underlines Apex’s aim Accommodation to tackle disadvantage P.9 Awards Michael and Daniel are Julie Ann & Joan cheer on P.9 here to help you the Ulster Rugby Team Building Blocks for Africa MARION IS A ‘HERO’ Issue 21: Summer 2019 Apex Housing Association Apex is building big in Mourne Country St Brigid’s Church ON SITE March 2020 Craigmore Way Fiveways Shopping Centre 300 new homes will have a huge impact in an area with 573 families in housing stress - work to start soon at Craigmore Way, Newry Apex is delighted to announce that we expect space are filled with trees and plants to ensure to start construction of around 300 new homes year-long interest by way of foliage and colour, at Craigmore Way, Newry before March 2020. helping attract wildlife to the area, and give our The site is close to the city centre and is adja- residents a delightful environment in which to cent to the Fiveways’ Shopping Centre which bring up their families. Apex will manage and will make life very convenient for our new maintain these open spaces and is particularly residents. interested in developing allotments - a great way The site commands great views over the coun- to foster good relationships in new communities. tryside and will include a cycle path which Social Housing was requested by local planners, and at some The well designed modern development will stage will connect to a new green network in provide first class, energy efficient homes for and around Newry. The development will con- those who have been identified by the Housing tain a large central communal garden with a Ray Forbes - Apex’s Development & Procurement Director; and Executive as being in housing stress, and will well equipped children’s play area. Apex has Kevin Watson - CEO of KWG - design and build contractor for a new go some way to alleviate the acute shortage of development of around 300 homes at Craigmore Way, Newry employed landscape designers to ensure that the affordable homes to buy or rent in the Newry area. central communal area and other areas of open CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 2 The Apex Observer | Summer 2019 First things first Ready to respond to challenges At its meeting in March 2019, my homes for sale through our subsid- We are committed to working with HIGHLIGHTS Board approved the Apex Plan iary Fairbuild Homes (NI), and in the our tenants and key stakeholders to 2019/2020 setting out what we hope coming period will see an increase in build sustainable communities. During Community to achieve in this the final year of our this provision. We will also continue the coming year we will further devel- 04 current Corporate Strategy. to explore new opportunities to meet op engagement with key sectoral stake- Housing housing need. holders and our tenants to build strong John Meehan While demand for housing has and resilient communities where poten- Chairman of Apex Associations increased, so too has the need for our tial is maximised and people can fulfil tenancy support services. The imple- their aspirations. Integration mentation of Welfare Reform and While we are focused on responding in particular the introduction of the to the challenges facing those in gen- Project (HAIP) Benefit Cap and Universal Credit, have eral family housing, we are also cog- increased demand for our services. nisant of the significant challenges fac- While to date only 10 percent of Apex ing our supported living services. There tenants have been impacted by the has been no uplift in Supporting People roll out of Universal Credit, we expect funding this year following a five per- this to increase to around 70 percent. cent cut to services in 2018/19, and no Apex is at the centre of meeting In addition, approximately 25 percent increase since 2008. In effect there has an increasing housing need. of Apex tenants are impacted by the been a funding cut of approximately “In the last year alone, Apex ‘Social Sector Size Criteria’ - otherwise 30 percent in real terms over the last completed 340 new social homes known as the ‘Bedroom Tax’. Apex 10 years. At the same time rising costs, and started a further 524. currently receives around £1m per year particularly as a result of increases in Cross-cultural activities John Meehan, Chairman of Apex in Welfare Supplementary Payments pension costs and the minimum wage facilitated through HAIP (also known as mitigation payments) have also impacted on budgets. from DfC to cover the reduction in the Apex provides housing support ser- As we reflected on the challenges amount of benefits that tenants are vices to some of the most vulnerable in 12 New Directors faced by our tenants and those who use receiving. However the mitigation society. In many cases this is delivered our services it became crystal clear that measures are due to end in March 2020 alongside care in specifically designed We welcome two new our vision, mission and values are more and responsibility for paying this £1m accommodation, providing a holistic faces to Apex’s senior relevant than ever and must continue shortfall will fall to our tenants. This service to meet the complex needs of management team; Donna to underpin everything we do. will inevitably place additional pres- tenants and residents. The lack of any Matthewson as Director of Despite years of investment by gov- sures on already stretched household increase in Supporting People fund- Housing and Deirdre Walker ernment and housing associations incomes and on Apex’s ability to collect ing is placing such services at risk. The as Director of Supported across Northern Ireland, housing need the rent due. implications of such an outcome needs Living. is increasing. Apex is at the centre in The delivery of effective and to be realised and responded to now. meeting this need. In the last year efficient housing management My Board is committed to respond- alone, Apex completed 340 new social services, coupled with the additional ing positively to the challenges that lie homes and started a further 524. In services we provide through our ahead. We will continue to work with 10 & 11 considering how we make best use of Community Investment Strategy to government, our funders, partner Development News the resources available to us, we have help sustain tenancies and build vibrant organisations, our tenants and service developed, and are delivering a range communities are more important than users and our staff team to ensure the of innovative solutions. Through our Shared Housing ever. The planned roll out of Universal best use of the resources we have and FairShare model of shared ownership Credit and the ending of mitigation explore opportunities to further sup- 11 we have supported 60 households to payments will increase the challenges port our tenants and those who require The Apex Observer | Summer 2019 The Apex Observer | Summer 2019 10 Development Development lenadoon avenue access home ownership in the last year. for tenants, and demand for our services our services in the year ahead. 14 NEW HOMES belfast Shared Housing - a developing story!EGLINTON COOLAFINNY MEADOWS 1 Complex Needs Home and 13 General Needs Homes We also started 22 new build affordable in the coming year. New complex needs home Coolafinny, Eglinton Garvaghey Avenue, Portglenone 10 New Homes derrycoole park new-build 25 NEW HOMES programme rathcoole creating much needed homes We are delighted to have started construction of over 500 new-build homes during the period April 2018 to March 2019. This is an Apex building big in Mourne Country - 300 new homes excellent achievement; down to the hard work and commitment of colleagues across Apex, Housing Executive and Department for Glenbank Place - Belfast Communities. The construction programme 5 New Homes will create around 500 employment opportunities for a range of building trades and professions at a time of increasing Community Fun day uncertainty. We look forward to completing the new homes and providing well maintained, energy efficient accommodation CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 room for the electric wheelchair.” for those in housing need. ly completed 10 homes at Gortaheran Tenants in each of Apex’s shared hous- Built almost five years ago it has become Drive in Portglenone and 14 homes at At Apex we set out to deliver our ing developments benefit from a five-year Ray Forbes a great example of how a large urban Coolafinny Meadows in Eglinton, a vil- company vision for “every person to programme of activities to support new Apex’s Director of Development & - scheme can embody the DfC’s vision for lage just outside Derry - Londonderry. enjoy great quality homes and sup and existing neighbours develop good shared housing. Such developments are Coolafinny Meadows is the first social Procurement port in vibrant, caring communities.” relationships and build sustainable com- not restricted to urban areas, as DfC is housing scheme built in the village for This sentiment is also embedded in munities. Apex works with new tenants Woodside Court - Omagh also intent on establishing shared hous- over 30 years. One tenant in particular the Department for Communities’ to help set up community structures and 14 New Homes ing developments in small towns, vil- had special reason to be happy, as he There are currently 573 families (DfC’s) Shared Housing Programme run events that respond to their aspi- lages and rural areas across Northern and his family had waited seven years for which aims to help housing associa- - rations and needs.