Last week, Derby City Council’s Healthy Housing Hub team were named ‘Home Improvement Agency of the Year’ at the National Healthy Housing Awards.

The Healthy Housing Hub works with vulnerable residents living in unsafe and unhealthy housing conditions, whose home living conditions impact detrimentally on their health and wellbeing.

Health, Care & Community Partners refer their most vulnerable clients, specifically identified as being in priority health need & living in unsuitable housing conditions.

Among the work that the team do is risk reduction of home accidents such as falls and other health problems, maintaining the ability for independent living and enhancing childhood development.

The awards were run by Foundations, a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) appointed national umbrella body for home improvement agencies (HIAs) and handyperson providers.

The ceremony takes place annually and aims to recognise innovative projects, commend exceptional staff and showcase the range of people involved in changing the lives of elderly, vulnerable and disabled people every day.

This year’s awards ceremony took place on the 25th September 2019 at Central Hall, Westminster.

The Healthy Housing Hub were presented with the coveted ‘Home Improvement Agency of the Year’ award, which recognises all round excellence in the sector, an understanding of the local commissioning environment and delivery of a range of innovative services.

On the win, Councillor Webb, Cabinet Member for Adults Health and Housing, said:

It’s entirely deserved that the Hub and its team members have been recognised again for their fantastic work, which consistently delivers in terms of customer satisfaction and innovation. What they do for the city is incredibly important and this award is testament to the dedication they feel in providing as excellent a service as possible to those in need.

The Healthy Housing Hub has received a large amount of positive feedback from clients who have highlighted the life changing impact their work has had on them and their lives.

The Hub’s Annual Report for 2018-2019 demonstrated some of these successes, including a nearly 40% reduction of A&E usage from clients following use of the service and over 85% stating that they felt a benefit to their health, wellbeing and confidence.