• Home
• |
• About us
• |
• News
• |
• Our residents open their doors to a special guest

Our residents open their doors to a special guest

Residents from CityWest Homes’ estates have recently showcased their homes to a special guest. Turkish Ambassador Mr Attila Sirin, President at the Beysehir-Derebucak-Huyuk Association and Head of the Social Services Department at the Konya City Council, has been visiting the properties to see how homes in Britain have been adapted to suit disabled needs. CityWest Homes was proud to be chosen for his visit - and local residents have welcomed the ambassador into their homes.

Mr Attila Sirin has now seen several properties on the Little Venice and Churchill Gardens estates. The properties have had some of the latest disability adaptations made, including ceiling track hoists, self cleaning toilets and adjusted kitchen work surface units.

The adaptations on Little Venice estate were part of the CityWest Homes Community Build project. The estate was identified as an opportunity for the development of new apartments. In 2011 Community Build completed ten new homes and seven of these were built to a mobility standard. CityWest Homes achieved a high BREEAM rating in May 2011 for the sustainability and construction of the buildings and all ten properties are now occupied by tenants.

A local resident, who inhabits one of the Little Venice properties, said: “The property is wonderful and modern. There is plenty of space, and the adaptations which have been fitted have made a big difference.”

The Churchill Gardens properties were not part of the Community Build project, but were pre-existing ground floor properties, adapted to meet the tenants’ needs. The properties were part of the annual aids and adaptations programme, which assesses the requirements of the tenant and then implements the adaptations best suited to meet their needs. In 2010 alone, CityWest Homes carried out 143 major adaptations.

Rowena Ng, senior performance officer, CityWest Homes commented: “We work hard to identify the need of the individual, then work closely with them to hear their views and give them choices. We are a performance driven company- but not at the cost of our customer. So we always ensure we’re finding better ways to effectively meet their needs.”

On his return to Turkey, Mr Sirin will write a detailed report for the Mayor of Konya City Council, describing his visit. He commented: “I am very pleased with what I saw during my tour. We may not have been speaking the same language, but this was no barrier to the visit: we all shared the same feelings about creating a home which meets the needs of the resident. Many thanks to both the residents and CityWest Homes for such a pleasant and interesting visit.”

Darren Levy, director of customer services, CityWest Homes, said: “We have really enjoyed showing Mr Sirin around our properties and are grateful to our residents for being so accommodating. It has been an excellent opportunity to share best practice, especially with an individual we might not usually have the chance to meet with. So this visit has been a real first, and an exciting opportunity for CityWest Homes.”

We hope to continue sharing best practice, and by looking for new ideas, we can find better ways to deliver our service to our residents.