Housing group awarded top national title

HOUSING group Torus has been awarded the title Housing Association of the year at the National Energy Efficiency and Healthy Homes Awards.
The group – comprising Warrington’s Golden Gates Housing Trust and Helena Partnerships of St Helens – own, manage and maintain around 22,000 homes.
Since last year the group has invested more than £11 million into energy saving measures across its housing stock, from solar panels and external wall insulation to innovative, award-winning ground source heating technology.
Alongside this, the group also undertook almost 2,000 one-to-one energy advice visits designed to give tenants warmer homes and lower bills.
Torus also operates a pool of electric cars which helps staff minimise their carbon footprint on a day-to-day basis, while staff are also given access to a car lease scheme specialising in low carbon cars. Staff are encouraged to work flexibly at home or at any of a number of key corporate buildings.
Since around 400 employees work from home at least one day a week, this equates to a carbon saving of approximately 80,000 tonnes per year.
Torus group director of assets and development, Dan Bradley said: “We’re thrilled to have been awarded Housing Association of the Year.
“We work hard as a group to embrace a holistic approach to energy efficiency with an aim of benefiting tenants, residents, staff and wider communities alike and are proud our efforts in community based energy efficiency initiatives.
“Helping improve the homes and lives of our tenants is a huge priority for us and we’re continuously looking for new ways and innovative technologies to deliver long lasting results.”
Members of Torus assets team and sponsor, Ground Heat, receiving the Housing Association of the Year award from comedian Lenny Henry