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Balancing investment in property and place
Although fewer homes will be built, our refurbishment of 34 disused garage sites shows our commitment to great communities, writes Jo Savage, chief executive of Greatwell Homes and a board member at PlaceShapers
Jo Savage is chief executive of Greatwell Homes
Balancing investment in property and place #UKhousingAlthough fewer homes will be built, our refurbishment of 34 disused garage sites shows our commitment to great communities, writes Jo Savage of Greatwell Homes #UKhousingFor us, the ribbon-cutting event for the refurbishment of 34 disused garage sites into new parking – marked by the attendance of Gen Kitchen, MP for Wellingborough and Rushden – was a proud moment.
On the surface, it seemed a straightforward celebration of a simple infrastructure project. But I believe it demonstrated our commitment to customer pride and safety, as well as truly listening to what matters most.
As a stock-transfer organisation and member of PlaceShapers, community investment isn’t a ‘nice to have’, it’s core to our vision of great communities where people live well. We’re committed to providing more than bricks and mortar, and our Live Proud strategy – part of the Live Greatwell+ 2025-28 corporate plan – sets out how we’ll do just that.
The question was never if we would invest in place – only what, when and how much?
To answer this, we listened. Since 2017, feedback has consistently shown that this matters to customers. With garages underused and often attracting anti-social behaviour (ASB), while parking remained scarce, it made sense to act. What began as an asset management project quickly became a response to lived experience.
While not our only neighbourhood-focused project, it was and remains our largest to date. This gave us an opportunity to bring our promises of partnership working with customers to life and evidence the impact that genuine co-creation can have at scale.
So far, we’ve repurposed 15 disused garage sites at a cost of £1.4m and plan to repurpose 19 more in phase two. For context, £1.4m is the equivalent to building approximately 16 new homes. Yet, our board made a deliberate choice to prioritise this project, knowing it would mean a slightly less robust development pipeline.
Our existing development programme will still enable us to build 87 new homes across the life of the Live Greatwell+ plan, including a new extra-care scheme. But we believe that balancing investment in existing neighbourhoods alongside this is essential and that, ultimately, the value it will create will justify the cost.
One of the compelling arguments for the investment was its long-term cost efficiency. Maintaining disused garages would continue to cost us while providing minimal or negative value to customers.
By contrast, repurposing them not only reduces future maintenance liabilities but enhances the environment. For example, we’ll save £339,000 from the garages we demolish by not having to replace doors in the long term. We also anticipate avoiding costs from potential ASB-related damage or repairs.
But this isn’t just about cost-saving. It’s about putting money where it makes a visible, lasting difference.
Across the 15 sites completed so far, we’ve created a total of 120 parking spaces, and the project has impacted 300 households directly, with more households benefitting in the next stages. In addition, since completion we’ve seen a measurable reduction in ASB reports in these areas, evidencing the investment’s broader social value.
“If a neighbourhood feels neglected, pride of place remains out of reach”
From positive responses to the scheme to date, we can already see it’s delivered a social return on investment of more than £100,000 – and we expect this figure to rise over time.
From 2023-24 to 2024-25, we saw an increase in each of the regulatory tenant satisfaction measures. Most notably, satisfaction with how we make a positive contribution to neighbourhoods rose from 62% to 70%. And satisfaction with how we listen to customers’ views and act on them increased from 67% to 71%. While we can’t attribute these results solely to the garage programme, qualitative feedback suggests it played a significant part.
Statistics aside, anyone walking around these estates before and after would struggle to dispute the difference it’s made.
We’ll continue to invest in our homes with new kitchens, bathrooms and energy efficiency measures. But if a neighbourhood feels neglected, pride of place remains out of reach.
That’s why, while this project wasn’t the only response we could have made to customers’ feedback, we believe it was the right one. Because when people feel seen, heard and valued, that’s when communities thrive.
Jo Savage, chief executive, Greatwell Homes, and board member, PlaceShapers
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