An Overview
A brief history of the Association
Two Castles Housing Association started life as the Cumbria Housing Society in
1966, with the Castles referring to Carlisle and Newcastle Castles at either end of
Hadrian’s Wall. The Association has grown significantly since then, now owning over
3,400 properties and celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2006.
Throughout the forty plus years of operation, Two Castles has always had at its heart
a drive to build and manage high quality, affordable, housing for local people. Its
area of operation now runs straight across the Pennines and throughout the North of
England, as far down as Lancashire and Yorkshire. Housing provision covers a
blend of rented, shared ownership, general needs and supported stock (including a
large amount of elderly provision).
Our Vision Statement
Two Castles’ vision is to: ‘Enhance the quality of life of residents and
communities’
We will promote all of our core values through everything we do, having the
dedication to see things to their conclusion even when they may be difficult or
controversial.
Our Core Values
Empowerment
We are committed to the participation, involvement and development of residents,
Board Members, employees and other stakeholders.
People Focussed
We value the contribution of each individual and are committed to encouraging and
supporting the fulfilment of potential.
Quality and Added Value
We will innovatively respond to opportunities which are cost effective and enhance
the services we provide.
Equality and Diversity
We will ensure that our standards of service are applied consistently to all.
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Integrity
We are committed to promoting respect, openness and honesty in all our areas of
work and service delivery.
Collaboration
We will seek to work with others in order to improve services and provide benefits to
residents and other stakeholders.
Our Corporate Goals
The corporate goals of the Association set out how our vision will be achieved.
These are then broken down into specific targets using the Balanced Scorecard to
measure progress against our objectives, according to our agreed timescales and
targets.
Goal 1 - Customer
To deliver a high quality service to residents and prospective residents.
Goal 2 – Employer
To be the preferred employer for both existing and prospective employees.
Goal 3 – Property
To ensure that all of the Association’s new, and existing, homes are designed,
constructed, refurbished and maintained to the highest affordable standard.
Goal 4 – Viable
To be a financially viable, well run, organisation.
Goal 5 – To achieve high standards of corporate governance
To ensure that the organisation has effective and accountable governance to enable
it to meet the challenges facing it.
Our Stock
The Association works across the North of England. We have main offices in
Newcastle upon Tyne and Carlisle and two smaller offices in Kendal and
Whitehaven. We provide a mix of houses, flats and bungalows for families, couples
and single people, sheltered accommodation for elderly residents and some
supported housing. We offer houses to rent and to buy on a shared ownership
basis. We have a healthy development programme with approximately 300 units in
pipeline over the next 3 years across both sides of the Pennines. In total, we have
about 3,500 units.
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Staffing
Approximately 100 staff in total.
Chief
Executive
Finance
Director
Housing Services
Director
Property
Services Director
Team responsible for all
Finance, IT and
HR issues
Team responsible for all
Housing services
Team responsible for all
maintenance issues
and the development of
new properties
Summary of the services we provide
Two Castles provides a range of services to its residents and potential residents.
All residents

Providing advice around debt management.
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The provision of a specific Housing Officer for advice and assistance.

Home visits by appointment.
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Access to resident initiatives, such as residents’ associations, residents’ panel,
resident newsletter.

Access to a complaints and compliments system and compensation policy.
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Residents in rented accommodation
Such residents receive some or all of the following services, depending upon the
actual property type:

A full maintenance service, including responsive repairs and 24 hour
emergency service.

Gas servicing.
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Gardening service.
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Window cleaning.

Provision of digital television receiving equipment.

Estate management.

Supported housing provision appropriate to specific circumstances (This may
be provided by an external organisation).

Countdown discount card.

Service of a Resident Manager depending upon type of property occupied.
Leasehold residents
Leasehold residents receive some or all of these depending on their lease:

Gas servicing.

Gardening service.

Window cleaning.

Estate management.
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Countdown discount card.

Service of a Resident Manager depending upon type of property occupied.
Prospective residents
Prospective residents receive the following services:

Home visits by appointment.

Access to our lettings service.

Access to our leasehold sales service.
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Two Castles Housing Association
Board and Committees
Terms of Reference
Board
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To define and ensure compliance with the values and objectives of the
Association.
To set long and short-term Strategic Plans to achieve those objectives.
To control the overall effective operation of the Association in terms of its use of
resources, financial viability and achievement of aims and objectives.
To agree policies and make decisions on all matters that create significant
financial risk to the Association or which affect material issues of principle.
To oversee a framework of delegation and systems of control, delegating powers
to Committees and the Association’s staff.
To ensure that the Association’s affairs are conducted lawfully, and in
accordance with generally accepted standards of performance and propriety, in
particular ensuring compliance with the TSA’s regulatory requirements and,
specifically, the Regulatory Code.
To promote the Association’s equal opportunities policy and to have overall
responsibility for its implementation and for monitoring its effectiveness
throughout all its activities.
Finance Committee
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To review the financial policies and strategy of the Association.
To ensure regular, timely, and accurate, financial reporting.
To review the treasury management function.
To review and monitor the development finance function.
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To recommend the Association’s IT Strategy to the Board and monitor its
implementation.
Audit Committee
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To review the framework and processes for risk assessment, including its
quantification and management.
To assess adherence to the Association’s policies and directives.
To ensure the safeguarding of the assets and interests of the Association.
To ensure compliance with statutory and other regulatory requirements.
To ensure as far as possible the reliability and integrity of financial and operating
information.
To ensure efficient, effective and economic use of resources.
To assess the effectiveness of internal controls and management systems.
Regional Customer Services Committees
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To ensure effective engagement with customers and prospective customers
about the quality and nature of the Association’s services.
To ensure all sources of customer feedback, including complaints and
compliments, are considered, to inform future service delivery and to raise
customer satisfaction levels.
To scrutinise appropriate service policies, taking into account customer and
stakeholder feedback, good practice, performance information and changes to
legislation.
To monitor and benchmark key service standards and key performance
indicators through reporting. To report directly to Board, on a quarterly basis, the
reasons for any variances and to make any recommendations for future target
setting.
To oversee the implementation of the Resident Involvement Strategy.
To advise the Board on local priorities for inclusion in the Association’s
development programme, including ensuring satisfactory arrangements for
identifying housing needs. This would include notification of local sites
potentially suitable for housing.
To oversee the management of the Association’s supported housing schemes,
including approving the terms of any agreement with third party care providers.
To approve the local standards appropriate to the region following consultation
with residents.
Published Information
The Annual Statement to Residents is available on our website
(www.twocastles.org.uk) and contains key financial information about the
organisation
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