The Riverside Group - Housing Stock Partnership

The Riverside Group is a major provider of affordable housing, care and support services across England and Scotland, with over 52,000 homes in management.

In 2017, J Tomlinson was appointed by the social landlord to undertake kitchen and bathroom replacements/conversions across over 200 properties across Leicester, Stoke, Kettering and Kirkby-in-Ashfield. The scope of works included:

Bathroom replacement/conversions - baths, showers, wet rooms, WC’s, plastering, electrical and plumbing, flooring and decoration

Kitchen replacement - units and worktops, plastering, electrical and plumbing, flooring and decoration works

Per the client’s specifications, all work had to be completed by the end of Riverside’s financial year, giving J Tomlinson a time-line of just over 4 months.

The project saw J Tomlinson working within a range of property types, and included a percentage of General Needs and Care and Support environments. Our extensive experience delivering similar projects enabled the team to make suggestions to the client with a view to saving time and maximising efficiency.

Prior to commencing works, J Tomlinson visited all residents across each scheme to gain a detailed understanding of each person’s individual preferences and requirements. This information was then used by J Tomlinson to inform the schedule of works and provide additional assistance to those who required it.

In properties where works were required on both the kitchen and the bathroom, J Tomlinson worked in both rooms at the same time in order to reduce the amount of time spent in each property, thus minimising disruption to each resident.

Residents and the client were kept updated throughout the works. Whilst works were taking place, J Tomlinson ensured that running water was available, and that sinks and at least one worktop could be accessed and used by residents overnight.

A choice of kitchen and bathroom colour finishes were offered to residents, allowing them to personalise their living space. Throughout the scheme and upon completion, J Tomlinson received positive feedback from residents and the client for our friendly, open and collaborative approach.

ENHANCED LIVING CONDITIONS FOR RESIDENTS - as per the specification, a number of baths were converted to walk-in showers in order to better accommodate residents with specialist needs

COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP - J Tomlinson liaised with the client on a daily basis, providing updates and suggesting tried-and-tested ways to maximise efficiency and save time

HIGH-QUALITY WORKMANSHIP - J Tomlinson’s site team were praised on their attention to health and safety as well as outstanding communication with residents

Positive feedback from residents - high satisfaction ratings on surveys collected by the client

ON-TARGET COMPLETION - the project was completed to budget

CLIENT COMMENDATION - Phil Pemberton, Director of Asset Strategy & Delivery at The Riverside Group, commented: “The social housing industry brings with it considerable challenges - a notion that every housing provider is familiar with. For this reason, a large project that runs smoothly is particularly invaluable to our continued operations.

J Tomlinson’s delivery and workmanship has been second-to-none, and they have set a high contractor standard which has been observed by Riverside and its residents.”