STRATEGIC

PLAN

2025-2030

“To provide quality homes

and services for our tenants

and wider community”

Grove Community

HOUSING ASSOCIATION

Grove Community

HOUSING ASSOCIATION

Introduction ........................................................... 4

Who We Are ........................................................... 7

What’s Important - How We Do Things ........... 9

How We Work Together ................................... 11

What We Have Achieved ............................... 13

Our 3 Strategic Goals ..................................... 15

Measuring Success .......................................... 29

CONTENTS

In presenting our Strategic Plan we aim to achieve

sustainability, enhanced quality and increased

opportunities for those living in and around North Belfast.

The operating environment within which we work is

changing and more demanding. The sector faces third

party relationship challenges (maintenance contractors),

diminishing grant availability in the midst of a housing

crisis (new build development) and a greater focus on

tenants rights (quality and safety standards). These

are all strategic factors that require underpinning with

sustainability alongside an increased need for all housing

providers to plan for a future where self-reliance is a key

requisite of good governance.

As a community housing provider Grove Community

Housing Association (Grove) is well placed to be a beacon

for tenants rights and service excellence. Our plan is not

only intended to do the best for our tenants, and wider

community, but to also act as a shining light to others on

how things can be achieved through smarter working and

an unrelenting commitment to those we serve. Equally,

as a smaller provider developing housing capacity and

achieving stronger and more durable partnership is

more dicult. This is due to our size and the scarcity of

resources within the wider economy. What worked in the

past, won’t work in the future.

Against the above backdrop we approach the future with a

mindset of openness. Whilst our values and commitment to

community are non-negotiable the way in which we deliver

better outcomes for our tenants will be heavily dependent

upon our openness to do things dierently. Part 1 of our

strategic plan is aimed at building the foundation, with the

full beneﬁts of a dierent strategic focus realised over a

longer time frame i.e. Part 2 - 4 years.

In essence, foundation building means amassing and

prioritising resources, developing partnerships and

designing out activity that adds little or no value. These

factors will occupy our strategic thinking through to 2026.

Once complete, the following years of the plan will centre on

achieving strategic goals through leveraging the foundation

built during 2025/2026 and the early part of 2027.

As a Board, we believe the best way to ensure

sustainability, is to radically plan for change whilst

remaining true to our values. We are committed to

stripping away process, bureaucracy and waste which

only eats into resources that would be better invested in

INTRODUCTION

the priorities of our tenants - more housing, right ﬁrst-time

maintenance, support for those who need more than just

the safety of a home etc. To get to this point will take time,

hence a more strategic focus to our planning which will be

in two parts spanning 5 years.

In 2025 and 2026 (Part1) we intend to have in place

partnerships and resources that enable us to deliver step

change dierence based on the 3 strategic goals.

Part 2 2027-2030 will see the realisation of our

renaissance, moving from an organisation that manages

housing to one that with enables community growth.

Equally one with the tenacity and ambition to contribute

proactively to the critical need for sustainable new homes.

Mr Brian Dunn

Chairperson

April 2025

Grove Community

HOUSING ASSOCIATION

Grove Community Housing Association was established in

1977 when people were leaving this area of North Belfast due

to the poor housing and environmental conditions. Since

then, the Association has worked successfully to improve

the area through renovating old dwellings and building new

homes. As a small community-based organisation, we have

a stock of 215 social housing units for rent, allocated through

the Common Selection Scheme. We are regulated by the DfC

and FCA and registered with the Charity Commission of NI.

Grove CHA has demonstrated achievements in the

regeneration of the Grove area, and we have plans to

further increase the stock portfolio and develop 31 new

general needs passive standard social housing units

on the site of the former Grove Primary School. We

employ a dedicated sta team and contribute to the local

construction and service industry through contracts to

provide maintenance works and associated services such

as IT, accountancy, HR and insurance services. We also give

back to the community where it matters. This is through

various community support initiatives including, provision

of a beneﬁts and welfare advice service, a drop in ‘Warm

Space’, a ‘Helping Hand’ service and host of community

events and ﬁnancial support to youth groups and others.

The overall control and supervision of the work of the

Association is provided by the Board of Management.

Members of the Board serve in a voluntary capacity

and they bring a range of skills and experience to the

Association. Along with the sta at the York Road oce,

they share a common commitment to improving housing

conditions for all Grove residents.

The Association operates in a complex environment where

challenges are varied. The issues facing all social housing

providers around capacity and demand are increased

in areas with sectarian interfaces, deprivation and

disadvantage. Regulatory standards must be improved and

maintained, and there are ongoing government reviews in

relation to structure, sector reclassiﬁcation, procurement

and rent policy. Welfare reform also remains a big issue for

the sector and area. As a small community organisation,

we can be vulnerable to political change in housing policy,

particularly in relation to rationalisation and eciency.

Against this backdrop this strategic plan has been

developed to meet our aspirations to grow, whilst providing

great service through a skilled and enthusiastic Board and

Sta team.

WHO WE ARE

Grove Community

HOUSING ASSOCIATION

The way our Board and sta team deliver is deﬁned by

our Mission Statement and underpinned by our Values

and Behaviours below.

Our Mission & Purpose

Is to provide quality homes and services for our tenants

and wider community.

Our Values

Our values are central to all that we do and guide

decision making, behaviours and the way in which we act

collaborate with partners within the community in which

we work:

• Service Focused – we strive to

continually improve the beneﬁcial impact for

those who access our service range.

• Approachability – we continually

consider the best way to provide access to

our organisation in a way that is friendly and

centred on the individual needs of everyone.

• Compassion – we approach all situations

with human kindness and a willingness to help.

• Honesty & Integrity we do the right

thing, in the right way, irrespective of the

potential for adverse consequence.

• Accountability – we take ownership for our

individual and collective actions with a willingness

to change where that is the right thing to do.

WHAT’S IMPORTANT 

HOW WE DO THINGS

Grove Community

HOUSING ASSOCIATION

The way in which we collaborate and work as a team

is a strength and test of our resolve to commit to a

common purpose. We therefore aim to practice in

whatever circumstances we ﬁnd ourselves a way of

working together that maximises our collective talents:

• Listen – we ‘hear’ what others say and

consider views before ﬁnalising our own.

• Treat everyone fairly – we give

everyone equal consideration and ensure

everyone feels valued in what they do.

• Take ownership – we do what

is right and own what we do.

• Work as a team – we value dierence,

promote collaboration and selﬂessly work

towards our common purpose.

• Develop ourselves and others – our personal

best is always just out of reach, so we aim to improve in

all we do and support others in that personal goal too.

• Agile – We adapt quickly and ﬂexibly to changing

needs, learning as we go and continuously

improving how we deliver for our community.

HOW WE WORK TOGETHER

GRADE 1

ACCREDITATION

RETAINED

Grove Community Housing Association has transformed

from a landlord function into a sustainable visible

Community Housing Association, recognised for

delivering valued additional services to its tenants and the

wider community in North Belfast.

Here we illustrate some of our proudest achievements

over the past couple of years;

•

Signiﬁcant investment in our homes safety and comfort.

•

Readiness for new homes development by investing

in local land and achieving planning permission for 31

new homes overcoming many development barriers.

•

Robust scrutiny and excellent audit, ﬁnancial

and regulatory performances.

•

Giving back through our Community

Engagement Fund and Community Events.

•

Providing platforms for engagement, capacity

building and tenants voices to be heard.

•

Achieved excellent key performance

indicators across all areas of our work.

•

Achieving ‘Grade 1’ Regulatory Grade

Judgement year on year.

•

Restructured and expanded the Board with

the diverse set of skills and experience

required for good governance.

•

Restructured and enhanced the sta provision to meet

regulatory and operational requirements and deliver

on our Strategic Plan, Tenant Engagement and Asset

Management Strategies, underpinned by our values.

•

Increased the Association’s visibility and

engagement levels across the wider UK

and Ireland’s housing, construction and

sustainability sectors, sharing good practice.

•

Achieved recognition for working innovatively

in our service delivery and safe management of

our homes and the outstanding individual sta

contributions that make a real dierence to residents.

WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED

OUR 3 STRATEGIC GOALS

At the heart of Grove Community Housing Association’s

strategy are 3 goals that are essential to securing our long-

term sustainability and enabling our community to thrive.

We call these our 3 commitments to achieving BETTER:

• delivering better value for money,

• providing a better quality of service, and

• building stronger, better relationships.

These commitments will guide our decisions,

investments, and partnerships over the next 3 years.

By March 2027, we will have achieved a series of key

milestones – our “strategic stepping stones” – that

bring us measurably closer to these ambitions.

BETTER

HOMES &

COMMUNITY

ENVIRONMENT

VILLAGE

AMBITION

TENANT

FOCUS

• Introduce a Tenant Charter to ‘promise’ minimum

standards and guide our priority setting.

• Accessible, personalised, maintenance

services that provide a choice of appointments,

is increasingly delivered through the

enhanced ‘Helping Hand’ service – at least

two in-house designated colleagues.

• Providers the option to ‘purchase’ added

services beyond our core contractual oer.

• A one to one consultation if requested with each

household to assess their maintenance needs

and plan for their deliver with target dates.

TENANT FOCUS

• Establish community connections via four ‘special

interest’ groups that work in pursuit of improving

the community of Grove e.g. cooking, gardening,

art, local history, sport activity etc.

• Develop partnerships in pursuit of establishing at least two

social enterprises initiatives – these social enterprises should

have the prime objective of creating local employment

opportunity and delivery a service of community value e.g.

village bakery, small repairs centre, gardening, tourism etc.

• Formalise a calendar of community events for each

season Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter - planning

and delivery through an established ‘village’

community group and encouragement of local

celebrities to participate providing proﬁle & pride.

VILLAGE AMBITION

• Delivery of 31 new build social housing units by March 2027.

• Establish a development programme that consistently delivers

increased number of homes throughout the period 2027-2031.

• Survey and allocate % of projected surplus each year to retroﬁtting homes.

• Establish three ‘Green’ agenda plans for People, Place and Planet.

• A commitment to strive for all new homes to be built to

Passivhaus standards.

• Complete planned maintenance and improvements

annually not through a desktop exercise but in

consultation and partnership with each tenant.

BETTER HOMES &

COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT

Our success will be measured annually through

meaningful analysis and assessment by our tenants,

sta, Board and stakeholders. We will be informed not

just by operational KPI statistics and accolades but also

by the partnerships developed, drawing on constructive

conversations and feedback and collaborating with all

involved in achieving our strategic ambitions.

MEASURING

SUCCESS

Grove Community

HOUSING ASSOCIATION

We give special thanks and appreciation to the many

people who have kindly given their time and energy so

readily and inspired and shaped us, both in our daily work,

and during the production of our Strategic Plan. We look

forward to continuing to collectively play a key role in the

successful delivery of our services and homes and in the

achievement of our strategic ambitions.

SPECIAL

NOTE OF

GRATITUDE

Grove Community

HOUSING ASSOCIATION

• Our Tenants

• Our Voluntary Board

• Our Sta Team

• Distinctive People Team, our HR & OD

Consultants

• Connon Associates Team, our Accountants

• EOS Systems, our IT providers

• Sumner NI, our external auditors

• TIAA, our internal auditors

• NI Fed. Of Housing Associations Team

• Housing Association & NIHE colleagues

– too many to name!

• Mr Erskine Holmes OBE

• Richard Trainor, Photographer

• Avril Thompson, Graphic Designer

• Julia Bakay, Illustrator

• NI Charity Commission, Department for

Communities and Financial Conduct Authority

(our regulators)

“COMMUNITY IS THE SPIRIT THAT DRAWS PEOPLE TOGETHER”

NOTES - Please use this space to add your notes, thoughts or sketches.

CONTACT DETAILS

Registered Oce

171 York Road, Belfast, BT15 3HB

Telephone

(028) 9077 3330

Out of Hours Repairs Line

0330 1230 341

E-mail

info@groveha.org.uk

Website

www.groveha.org.uk

Grove Community

HOUSING ASSOCIATION