Presentation achieves QHS accreditation for services
Presentation has just earned accreditation for its customer services to residents from the leading independent service standards body, Quality Housing Services (QHS). Presentation is one of only 16 housing associations to achieve this demanding level of customer service provision.
QHS assess organisations across 10 measures, including maintenance of its homes, complaints handling and resident participation. Accreditation demonstrates that Presentation is achieving well above average scores in comparison to its benchmark group.
QHS combines mystery shopping with six-monthly audits and in-depth analysis of customer services to help housing associations progress towards excellence.
Mohni S Gujral, Chief Executive of Presentation said:
"We are delighted to receive this independent endorsement of the high quality services we provide to our residents. Achieving QHS accreditation is not easy, the bar is set very high. It is only through a commitment to continuous improvement that such standards are achieved and maintained."
Andrew Greenhill, Chief Executive Officer of QHS said:
"Quality Housing Services is delighted to congratulate Presentation on the achievement of certification against 'The QHS criteria for Excellence'. Throughout their membership we have seen a steady improvement in the areas of customer service that we monitor through the use of auditors, mystery shopping and, most importantly, the opinion of customers."
For more information please contact: Eva Tyler, Communications Manager, Presentation at eva.tyler@presentation-sia.org.uk or 020 7091 9350. You can also find out more at www.qhs.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
Presentation is one of the UK’s leading social investment agencies. We provide affordable, award-winning housing and a range of community programmes in London, the south-east and Northamptonshire. We aim to revitalise communities through social investment and strategic partnerships. Presentation and its subsidiaries provide general needs and key worker accommodation and a range of community investment programmes. Our work is based on the principles of self-help, design excellence and sustainability. We believe that a holistic approach is essential to building thriving communities.
Quality Housing Services is a third party certification body, and is a non-profit distributing membership-based organisation formed by a number of Housing Associations with the support of an IGP grant from the Housing Corporation. It exists to add value to consumers and housing associations alike by driving continuous improvements in service delivery.
Paragon wins Building Magazine award
Our £100 million development Paragon in Brentford has won the Building Magazine Building Awards 2007, Major Housing Project of the Year award. Paragon was built in partnership with Berkeley First and Thames Valley University. The Building Magazine awards are recognised as acknowledging innovation, best practice and excellence in construction. The judges commented that “The resulting building is sustainable, well finished and a shining example of good neighbour relations. In short, a landmark for the rest of the industry to follow.”
Paragon was designed by Carey Jones Architects and provides a combination of affordable homes, student accommodation, academic facilities and retail space and has helped create over 300 jobs for local people. A brownfield site the land had been vacant for over 12 years and was in need of regeneration. Built using innovative Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), the Paragon development includes the tallest building in the U.K. built using MMC. Paragon has achieved a high density development that still feels spacious and open and the combination of differing housing types has brought diversity and a new community to Brentford.
For more information please contact: Eva Tyler, Communications Manager, Presentation at eva.tyler@presentation-sia.org.uk or 020 7091 9350.
St. Matthews on the Mayor’s benchmark list
On the 22nd of June the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone visited St. Matthews. He is keen to see changes in planning regulations to make London greener and asked to see the development for himself. He called the 12-apartment keyworker block a ‘benchmark’ for sustainable building.
Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone said:
"The high-quality, low-cost design achieved by Presentation at St Matthews sets the standard for what we should be achieving in every social housing development in London. Given the choice, most people would rather live in an energy efficient building like this, with lower bills and higher year-round comfort. And the big reductions in carbon emissions will help London play its role in the increasingly urgent task of tackling global warming."
Yet another accolade for St. Matthews, which recently received a highly commended award in the Affordable Homes category of the Evening Standard Homes and Property Awards, and a commendation in the Architect’s Journal Sustainability Awards, with the judges describing St Matthews as “a bold attempt to introduce a forward-looking approach to environmental issues into the social-housing sector.”
