Company type | Company, charity, housing association |
---|---|
Industry | Social housing |
Founded | 13 September 1996 |
Founder | Steve Stride |
Headquarters | |
Area served | East London |
Services | Housing, community regeneration |
Revenue | £54.6 million (2016) |
£10.1 million (2016) | |
Total assets | £506 million (2016) |
Number of employees | 300 FTE (2016) |
Website | poplarharca |
Footnotes /references Source: Statutory accounts |
Poplar HARCA (Housing and Regeneration Community Association) is a housing association in London, England. It is the landlord of about 9,000 homes in the East London area, a quarter of which have been sold leasehold; the remainder are let on assured tenancies at subsidised rent levels.
The association focuses on community regeneration as part of its core mission, with a Neighbourhood Centre on each estate. It is part of the Placeshapers network of housing associations and works on improving infrastructure, services, activities, employment, health and education in the area. [1]
Poplar HARCA was set up by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to regenerate the area, especially certain council estates whose residents voted to transfer to the new body. Parts of seven estates (about 4,500 homes) transferred to Poplar HARCA in March and December 1998. The following year, tenants on further estates voted to remain with the council. However, after a lengthy consultation of all council estates in Tower Hamlets begun in 2002, several more estates in Poplar did transfer between 2005 and 2007. The final ballots were on several estates in East India ward, with a 78% majority in favour of transfer in 2006, [2] including the iconic Balfron Tower; and Coventry Cross Estate with 65% in 2007. [3]
Poplar HARCA has refurbished all its existing housing stock and brought it up to standard. Its "Reshaping Poplar" agenda is a twelve-year plan to update, improve and replace this housing, developing hundreds of new homes, alongside parks, health and education facilities. [4] John Denham, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, met residents to discuss the plans in September 2009. [5]
In 2012 Poplar HARCA and Willmott Dixon obtained planning permission for a joint redevelopment of the Aberfeldy Estate. The plans include the demolition of nearly 300 homes and their replacement with 1,100 new homes and improved amenities to be provided over twelve years. [6] [7] Of the 1,100 new homes built, 986 will be at market rates, 20 at intermediate rent, and 170 at social rent. [8]
The constitution allows for twelve board members including seven resident directors (tenants or leaseholders), one local councillor and up to four independent members. As of November 2015, the Chief Executive is Steve Stride, the Chair of the Board is Dr Paul Brickell, and the Vice-Chair is Rev. James Olanipekun, a resident. [9]
Poplar HARCA has also formally incorporated youth empowerment into its management structure. Its Youth Empowerment Board is formally represented in the governance of the association. [10]
The Audit Commission's last inspection in 2007 awarded Poplar HARCA two stars out of three, with "promising prospects for improvement". [11]
Poplar Harca's Community and Neighbourhoods team (CaN), often in partnership with other associations, work on projects that help residents to find new jobs, empower them to improve their local area or develop and improve their physical, mental, emotional, social and educational wellbeing. [12]
Poplar is a district in East London, England, now part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Five miles (8 km) east of Charing Cross, it is part of the East End.
The Housing Corporation was the non-departmental public body that funded new affordable housing and regulated housing associations in England. It was established by the Housing Act 1964. On 1 December 2008, its functions were transferred to two new organisations, the Homes and Communities Agency and the Tenant Services Authority.
Thames Gateway is a term applied to an area around the Thames Estuary in the context of discourse around regeneration and further urbanisation. The term was first coined by the UK government and applies to an area of land stretching 70 kilometres (43 mi) east from inner east and south-east London on both sides of the River Thames and the Thames Estuary. It stretches from Westferry in Tower Hamlets to the Isle of Sheppey/Southend-on-Sea and extends across three ceremonial counties.
Bromley, commonly known as Bromley-by-Bow, is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, located on the western banks of the River Lea, in the Lower Lea Valley in East London.
The Lansbury Estate is a large, historic council housing estate in Poplar and Bromley-by-Bow in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is named after George Lansbury, a Poplar councillor and Labour Party MP.
Chrisp Street Market is the central marketplace and town centre of Poplar and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was the first purpose-built pedestrian shopping area in the United Kingdom, rebuilt as part of the 1951 Festival of Britain and is directly connected onto the high street, East India Dock Road.
Balfron Tower is a 26-storey residential building in Poplar, Tower Hamlets, East London. Built in a Brutalist style, it forms part of the Brownfield Estate, an area of social housing between Chrisp Street Market and the A12 northern approach to the Blackwall Tunnel. It was designed by Ernő Goldfinger in 1963 for the London County Council, built 1965–67 by the GLC, and has been a listed building since 1996. Balfron Tower is stylistically similar to Goldfinger's later Trellick Tower in London.
Keeling House is a 16-storey block of flats located on Claredale Street in Bethnal Green, London, England. It was designed by Denys Lasdun and completed in 1957 as a cluster of four blocks of maisonettes arranged around a central service tower. A radical renovation in 2001 added a penthouse storey and concierge service.
The Peabody Trust was founded in 1862 as the Peabody Donation Fund and now brands itself simply as Peabody. It is one of London's oldest and largest housing associations with over 100,000 homes across London and the home counties. It is also a community benefit society and urban regeneration agency, with a focus on placemaking, stewardship and a provider of an extensive range of community programmes.
The Aylesbury Estate is a large housing estate located in Walworth, South East London.
Robin Hood Gardens is a residential estate in Poplar, London, designed in the late 1960s by architects Alison and Peter Smithson and completed in 1972. It was built as a council housing estate with homes spread across 'streets in the sky': social housing characterised by broad aerial walkways in long concrete blocks, much like the Park Hill estate in Sheffield; it was informed by, and a reaction against, Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation. The estate was built by the Greater London Council, but subsequently the London Borough of Tower Hamlets became the landlord.
Lee Bank was an inner city area of Birmingham, England. It was part of the Edgbaston and Ladywood wards, inside the Middle Ring Road or Middleway, which surrounds Central Birmingham.
Andrew Mawson, Baron Mawson, is an English social entrepreneur.
Homes England is the non-departmental public body that funds new affordable housing in England. It was founded on 1 January 2018 to replace the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).
Countryside Partnerships plc, formerly Countryside Properties plc, is a UK housebuilding and urban regeneration company, operating mainly in London and the South East of England, but with a presence in the North West of England. Until 2022, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Coventry Cross Estate is a social housing estate in Bromley by Bow area of London.
One Housing Group is a housing association based in London and the south east of the United Kingdom. They manage 16,000 homes and provide support to residents who needs special help, through their social care arm, One Support. As of 2015-16, they had an annual turnover of £255m and employed ~1800 staff.
Hyde Group is a housing association in London. It is a member of the G15. It operates in London, the South East, the East of England and the East Midlands.
Clarion Housing Group is the largest housing association in the United Kingdom with 125,000 properties across more than 170 local authorities. Clarion Provides a home to over 350,000 people.
Aberfeldy Village is an urban village in a part of Poplar that was once part of Bromley in London, England, which is in the process of being redeveloped in a joint venture between Poplar HARCA and Willmott Dixon. It was known as the Aberfeldy Estate, a housing estate but has expanded into a new urban village. It is sometimes referred to as Aberfeldy New Village in planning documents.