Through the equal partnership between Cambridge City Council and award-winning housebuilder, The Hill Group, Cambridge Investment Partnership (CIP) is committed to building additional council homes to meet the acute local demand. Beyond providing housing, CIP focuses on ensuring that tenants are offered tailored support and guidance, so they can fully benefit from their new homes.
Cllr Gerri Bird, Executive Councillor for Housing at Cambridge City Council and CIP board member, explains: “Once tenants have had a few weeks to settle into their homes, our Housing Development Team will hold one-on-one surgery sessions, offering them the opportunity to ask any questions about their home’s systems, such as the air source heating or mechanical ventilation system. We also provide advice on energy-saving tips and maintaining a comfortable and sustainable living environment.
“Our partnership is dedicated to improving the entire living experience of our tenants. We go beyond bricks and mortar by providing comprehensive support to help our residents maximise the benefits of their new homes.”
The surgery sessions have proven especially valuable for residents of CIP’s 21 Passivhaus standard council homes at Fen Road, Ditton Fields and Borrowdale. An engineer from Panasonic joined the Housing Development Team to provide a detailed explanation of the homes’ heating system, including how to operate them and troubleshoot any issues. Any concerns were promptly addressed and resolved on-site.
Tom Hill, Managing Director of The Hill Group adds: “Our commitment extends beyond construction. We are creating communities where residents feel supported, informed and truly at home. Our new council homes are achieving high levels of energy efficiency and are now completely gas free. However, this means new systems and technology have been incorporated which may be unfamiliar to some tenants. We want to ensure they can fully benefit from the low running costs that these homes offer.
“Following feedback from our post occupancy evaluation, we recognised the importance of these personalised sessions, which are both engaging and tailored to the specific needs of each household. In addition to these surgery sessions, we also provide extra resources, such as video manuals which residents can refer to after the visit.”
