Leicester residents celebrate 30-year anniversary with local housing association – In Your Area

Mr Abhilash Gupta and Mrs Indu Gupta. Pic: Nick Linnett

Leicester residents have celebrated 30 years working with a local housing association.

Around 710 residents live in co-operative housing managed by the Bede Island Road-based PA Housing. They work together to meet the community's affordable and sustainable housing needs.

The homes in the co-ops, 119 at Ross Walk and 117 at Maynard, are jointly owned by residents, meaning that each individual has a vote on decisions that affect their homes and neighbourhoods.

Kishor Jadavji, Chair of Ross Walk co-op, said: "Ross Walk Housing Cooperative has shared a fantastic relationship with PA Housing over 30 years.

"The staff are very professional and hardworking. PA Housing provides a great service and continuously seek ways of maintaining high standards for our tenant members."

The co-ops were set up over 40 years ago to prevent housing demolition and responded to the needs of Asian communities leaving East Africa to settle in the East Midlands.

Thirty years ago, PA Housing took over the management of buildings and services at the co-ops in Maynard Road and Ross Walk.

Mr Abhilash Gupta is a resident of the Ross Walk co-op, who has lived in his home for 39 years.

He said: "They say, 'necessity is the mother of invention', and that is what you see in the formation of these co-ops and the management.

When PA took over as managing agent, Maynard Co-operative Housing Association struggled financially, its housing stock was in poor condition, and committee meetings were not well attended.

Alam Navsa became Chair of the co-op in 1995, and, working with PA, the provider has improved.

Imtiaz Vohra, Co-ops Service Manager at PA Housing, said: "The co-ops are important to PA Housing because they are an alternative way of living that is personal and tailored to the communities.

"The history of these particular co-ops sees BME communities seeking safe spaces and finding empowerment to lead their own living arrangements, which chimes with the values of our organisation and colleagues."

"You can tell in the way people take care of the neighbourhood, and everybody wants to move in here now!"

Mrs Fatima Dakri said: "PA Housing makes the co-op's annual general meeting an event everyone wants to attend - there is real transparency in where the money that goes into the co-op is spent.

"It is something you do not get when you live in a council flat as we did before then it is just a house."

Over the last three decades, PA Housing has worked with the co-ops on financial management, home repairs and community safety.

The housing association said it continues to adapt its work with the co-ops and hopes to return to face-to-face events soon, starting with a celebration for its 30th anniversary.

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Leicester residents celebrate 30-year anniversary with local housing association - In Your Area