Following a comprehensive tender process, Two Rivers Housing has awarded two four-year contracts to PH Jones in a deal worth £6.4m.

The two new contracts build on a successful long-term partnership between the two organisations, which has seen PH Jones provide servicing and repairs to the housing association’s traditional fuel heating systems for the last nine years.  

Two Rivers Housing recently secured funding from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund to undertake a pilot to fully retrofit a small number of its homes. This will include the installation of more efficient and renewable heating systems in these properties.

The first of the new contracts will see PH Jones take responsibility of the servicing and repair of Two Rivers Housing’s renewable systems as well as the traditional heating systems it has previously serviced.

Two Rivers Housing provides more than 4,200 affordable homes across Gloucestershire, which account for more than 90% of the organisation’s carbon emissions. The replacement of gas, oil and solid fuel heating systems in its older homes and the installation of this technology in its new build homes, will play a key part in reducing this and support its ambition to become a Carbon Zero organisation by 2050.

Following a tender through the CHIC Framework, a not-for-profit, member-owned tendering consortium, PH Jones was awarded a second four-year deal. This will see the firm complete heating system improvements, installations and upgrades to the housing association’s homes helping it to reduce its carbon footprint over the coming years.

As part of the deal, PH jones have committed to delivering employment and skills opportunities throughout the contract, alongside a number of customer focused improvements for appointment booking and tracking.

The latest edition of our Tenant Topics magazine is out now!

In this issue you’ll find updates on our repairs team coming back in-house, our new branding, and our new corporate strategy. We’ll introduce our tenant’s voice panel and new board members, and you can read about what we’re doing to making our tenant’s homes warmer.

Plus don’t forget, you can win a £15 voucher in our wordsearch competition!

Richard Chappell has joined our Board as a Non-executive Director. As a former Board member for Centigen Facilities Management, Richard already has great knowledge of our business and what we want to deliver for our tenants.

He has an exceptional background in commercial management and is the former Chief Executive of TC Facilities Management, which held contracts with big names including Tesco, M&S and Amazon. Before this, he held multiple roles at Carlisle Support Services, part of the Impellam Group Plc for 10 years and was made Chief Executive in 2009 after a five-year spell as Managing Director at one of its subsidiaries Carlisle Security.

His strong background in commercial management will bring the best practice from the commercial world to Two Rivers Housing helping us remain a strong, well-run organisation.

We spoke to Richard about what he hopes to achieve as part of the Two Rivers Housing Board and he told us he’d really enjoyed being part of the Centigen Board and happy to have the opportunity to continue working with our team. He added:

“My colleagues on the Two Rivers Housing Board are committed to providing warm, safe, affordable homes and the best services to our tenants and I am looking forward to working with them as we continue to make the changes that our tenants want to see.”

For many families in our communities finding a warm, safe, affordable home is already challenging, but it can be even more difficult if you or your family have accessibility needs.

We work hard to adapt our homes where we can and have even factored building fully accessible homes into our new developments, but it can be difficult for families to quickly see if a home will meet their needs. That’s why we’ve been working with Gloucestershire County Council to create a new Accessible Housing Register.

Championed by our friends over at Gloucester City Homes, the new register works a bit like the energy rating systems that you see on electrical appliances. Each home is given an accessibility rating from A (most accessible) to G (not assessed yet), which will be displayed alongside other information on the Homeseeker Plus website.

This will make it really easy for families to see if a home will meet their accessibility needs.

We’ve been working #Twogether with Gloucester City Homes, Cheltenham Borough Homes, The Guinness Partnership, Stroud District Council and the Occupational Therapists at Gloucestershire City Council, the Integrated Care Board and the HomeSeeker’s Board to develop the scheme and it’s great to finally see it get launched.  

The categories are based on the London Accessible Housing Register system, and a description of the categories can be found below:

• A Fully wheelchair accessible: Designed to meet wheelchair housing standards.
• B Partially wheelchair accessible: Wheelchair users can access main facilities but not all areas.
• C Lifetime homes: Features include level access, wider corridors, and adaptable stairs.
• D Easy Access: Level entrance with features similar to Category C internally.
• E Step free: No steps at the entrance, suitable for those who struggle with steps.
• E* Minimal Steps: No more than 4 steps to enter, suitable for limited mobility.
• F General needs Housing: Does not meet the above standards, may have steps or poor internal access.
• G Not yet assessed: Accessibility category not available because the property has not been assessed.

 You can find more details on the HomeSeeker’s website.

Our Tenants’ Voice Group held their latest meeting on Tuesday 20 May 2025 at the Council Chambers in Cinderford. They were joined by our Board Member Yvonne Leishman, as well as Chief Executive Hayley, Executive Director of People and Neighbourhoods Liz, Executive Director of Homes Jonny, and members of our senior management team.

At the meeting the group reviewed our complaints performance for the last financial year and the quarter four results of our Tenant Satisfaction Measures. They also received an update on the changes we are making to our housing team, our estate maintenance programme and an update from Hayley.

The Tenants’ Voice Group are tasked with challenging our decisions on behalf of our tenants and making sure that we do the things we say we will when we make a promise to our tenants. They are given key information ahead of the meeting to review, so that they are able to ask questions and scrutinise our progress.

They meet every couple of months to look at our performance in key areas, provide a tenant perspective on the decisions we are making and make sure that tenants are represented and heard across the organisation. If you would like to find out more about our Tenants’ Voice Group or how you can get involved and help improve our services for tenants, you’ll find more information in our Get Involved section.

Former Director of Strategic Asset Management, David Greenhalgh is the latest Non-executive Director to join our Board.

David has had a long career in social housing and has a wealth of knowledge and experience in improving, maintaining and repairing homes for tenants. Since retiring from his most recent role as Director of Strategic Asset Management at Magna Housing Association, he has continued to put his knowledge to good use. Before joining our Board, he was a Non-Executive Director for GreenSquareAccord one of the UK’s largest social housing providers.

Throughout his career, David has helped housing associations transform their approach to manging homes and has worked across every part of home management and maintenance. He has also held senior positions at LiveWest Housing and Knightstone Housing Association supporting property maintenance and repairs teams.

As part of our new corporate strategy ‘Delivering #Twogether 2024-2027’, we promised to strengthen our Board to help make sure we can continue to improve our homes and deliver the best services for our tenants. David’s knowledge of and expertise provide valuable insight and support to the teams that manage the maintenance and repairs of our homes.

David is excited to be joining the Two Rivers Housing team and get stuck in to delivering the improvements our tenants want to see.

He told us: “Both the Board and the executive team are committed to working with tenants to make improvements and I will do everything I can to support the team. It’s a great time to join the organisation and I am looking forward to working with the team over the coming years.”

New tenants and residents have moved into 10 new affordable homes in Shurdington. Working in partnership with Kendrick Homes, we have built seven social rent, and three Shared Ownership homes to help meet local housing needs.

Lavinia and Alin Burz recently got the keys to one of the two-bedroom homes where they will be living with their two-year-old daughter and five-year-old son. Their new home will be warm and affordable to run thanks the air source heat pump and solar panels that were installed as part of the development. They also have a lovely garden to enjoy with their children this summer.

Last March, we signed a contract with new development partner, Kendrick Homes, to deliver 10 new affordable homes in Shurdington. This is a small 25-home site, near Cheltenham, with beautifully designed homes in a stunning setting.

Thanks to this new partnership, we’ve been able to provide a mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes for families in Gloucestershire.

Building new affordable homes is one of the commitments in our corporate strategy – ‘Delivering #Twogether 2024-2027’. It forms part of our promise to provide much needed warm, safe, sustainable homes for families in our communities.

As an experienced Financial Director, Anne Marie has worked with lots of high profile government bodies including the Rural Payments Agency, DEFRA and the Department of Health. She has managed multi-million pound budgets and large finance teams helping key government departments deliver their objectives within budget.

Her experience in finance and health care will help ensure that the financial decisions we make will consider the impact on our tenants as well as our finances – keeping you at the heart of everything we do.

Alongside her new role at Two Rivers Housing, Anne Marie is also a Non-Executive Director on the Audit Committee for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), A Board member and Audit Chair at the Royal College of Physicians and a Trustee for Mental Health Research UK.

Our Board set the strategic direction of Two Rivers Housing. Using feedback from our tenants, they developed our corporate strategy ‘Delivering #Twogether 2024-2027’ which sets out our plans to support tenants over the next three years. They also hold Hayley and the leadership team to account and make sure that we are delivering on our promises to tenants.

We spoke to Anne Marie and asked her why she wanted to be part of the Two Rivers Housing Board. She told us: “A good quality, affordable home is the cornerstone of a happy, healthy life. As a community-based housing association, Two Rivers Housing can make a real difference for so many people across Gloucestershire, and I am very pleased to be able to play a part in that as a member of the Board.”

Our tenant George has planted six fruit trees in Rodley Square, Lydney, to make his neighbourhood a nicer place for everyone who lives there.

George came to us last year to ask if he could plant some apple trees in a grassy area that we own near his home. After checking with other people that live in the area, we agreed this would be a great thing for the neighbourhood and were happy to give him permission.

To pay for the new trees, George applied for a Community Grant 2024-2025 from the Forest of Dean District Council (FODDC). The grants are available to voluntary and community groups to help build stronger communities. George was awarded £500 towards a tree orchard and wildflowers.

Since receiving the funding, George has cleared out the space, bought wildflower seeds and planted the trees. He planted five apple trees of different varieties and one quince tree, and the trees have already started to blossom.

Liz Evans our Executive Director of People & Neighbourhoods, recently visited the newly planted orchard with team members from our neighbourhood housing, and community engagement teams. They were joined by Lin Waters, Community Builder from Forest of Dean District Council to see the great work George has done. Liz thanked George for his hard work and thanked the FODDC for the funding to help improve the area.

Working #Twogether with local partners and supporting projects to make our neighbourhoods places where people love to live, is an important part of our 2024-2027 corporate strategy – ‘Delivering #Twogether’.

We will enjoy watching the beautiful orchard develop and look forward to the trees producing fruit in future years.

Applications for 2025-26 Community Grant are open now and close on 30 May 2025 Community grants and funding – Forest of Dean District Council

We have secured £4.56m from the government’s Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund to help improve the energy efficiency of hundreds of our tenant’s homes in the Forest of Dean and across Gloucestershire.

Over the next three years, we will use the grant to partially fund upgrades to more than 750 of our homes. The upgrades will include energy saving fittings such as solar panels, loft insulation and improved ventilation systems to homes that have low energy ratings. 

Investing in our tenants’ homes is a key part of our organisation’s 2024-2027 corporate strategy – ‘Delivering #Twogether’. It forms part of our promise to provide, warm, safe, sustainable homes and help combat fuel poverty in the area.

As part of that commitment, we have already completed energy improvement work in around 300 of our homes in Gloucestershire, including a pilot project to fully retrofit 16 homes in the Gloucestershire village of Blakeney in 2022.

We have also received grants from previous waves of the Social Housing Fund, (formerly called the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF)), as well as the government’s ECO4 scheme to help fund this work. This funding has helped us install air-source heat pumps in 225 of its tenants’ homes over the past two years.

The government’s Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund is allocated to local authorities and housing associations for work to improve the energy performance of homes currently rated below EPC Band C. We applied for grant funding from Wave 3 of the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund in a joint bid with Stroud District Council, Gloucestershire City Homes and Cheltenham Borough Council. More than £15.5m has been allocated our four organisations in the latest wave of funding to improve the energy efficiency of homes across the region.

Speaking about the £4.56m awarded to Two Rivers Housing, Jonny Jones, Executive Director of Homes, said: “This will make a huge difference for families in Gloucestershire and the Forest of Dean who have been affected by the cost-of-living crisis and are struggling to heat their homes.

“It will help us deliver on our promise to do everything we can to make sure that our homes are modern, warm, safe and affordable for our tenants to live in.”

Sam Batt, Asset Investment Manager at Two Rivers Housing, said: “We are really pleased to be able to continue working with Stroud District Council, Gloucestershire City Homes and Cheltenham Borough Council to secure this funding.

“Over the last few years, we’ve been investing in our homes to make them warmer and more energy efficient and help reduce energy bills for our tenants. The grant means we can continue to invest in our homes and make them warmer and more affordable to live in for even more of our tenants.”

We manage more than 4,600 homes in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire and nearby Herefordshire. Since 2021, we have completed energy improvement work in 301 of our homes using grants from the SHDF and ECO4 programmes.

Work on 20 new affordable homes is making great progress at our Johnstone Close site in Staunton.

Our Chief Exec Hayley Selway, Executive Director of Homes Jonny Jones, and Group Board Chair Ted Pearce recently went along to see how the site is being transformed. They were joined by our partners from Forest of Dean District Council and Homes England who are working with us to help us meet the need for affordable housing in the area.

We have partnered with Harper Group to redevelop this site and build new homes for families in Gloucestershire. The former sheltered housing scheme was demolished last autumn and this spring we can see the new homes really taking shape.

On their visit, our Chair Ted thanked everyone for their work on the project so far, before the group took a tour of the site.

Andrew Chad, Construction Director from Harper Group showed everyone the new bungalows, flats and houses, which are being constructed in timber frame. Inside one of the homes, the group could see the wall insulation that had been installed. This is one of the ways the homes are designed to achieve an EPC A rating – making them as energy efficient as possible for the new tenants!

Building new affordable homes is one of the commitments in our 2024-2027 corporate strategy – ‘Delivering #Twogether’. It forms part of our promise to provide much needed warm, safe, sustainable homes for families in our communities.

The regeneration of Johnstone Close is due for completion at the end of the year. The new site will include a mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes. There will be 14 homes available for social rent and six homes will be available for Shared Ownership.

Check back for more updates later in the year!