TCW at the Northern Housing Awards 2022

The First In-Person Northern Housing Awards in Three Years

On Tuesday 17th May 2022, around 700 housing professionals from across the north gathered at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester — and for one evening it was housing, rather than football, that was the cause for celebration.

It was the first in-person Northern Housing Awards in three years, and the room was electric: full of people who work in housing because they care about what a home actually does for the person living in it.

Twenty-five awards were up for grabs, recognising everything from homelessness support and employee wellbeing to retrofit and modern methods of construction.

Comedian Justin Moorhouse provided the laughs, funk cover band The Midnight Cats kept people dancing into the small hours, and attendees raised £5,120 for the evening's chosen charity, Oasis Community Housing.

Best Repairs and Maintenance Team, Sponsored by TCW

The category sponsored by TCW — Best Repairs and Maintenance Team — was won by believe housing, the County Durham-based housing association, for its 210-strong Property Repairs Team.

Ryan Dempsey, Chief Executive of TCW, presented the trophy on stage — and, by his own account, made it off again in one piece.

Congratulations to believe housing, and to every other winner and finalist of 2022. With that many worthy entries, it must have been a very difficult job for this year's judges.

Why We Sponsor a Repairs Category

Repairs and maintenance teams are the people who make sure a home is genuinely safe to live in — the gas engineer, the electrician, the plasterer, the joiner.

They also generate most of the evidence that proves it: certificates, test results, sign-offs and dates. When that information is complete and searchable, a landlord can see the real condition of their stock. When it is not, risk hides in the gaps.

Sponsoring the category is a small way of recognising the teams doing that work every day, who often receive a fraction of the attention given to the flashier parts of a housing organisation.

A Difficult Job for the Judges

Every finalist in 2022 was worthy of the shortlist, and that made the judges' task a hard one — which is itself a good sign for northern housing.

The passion and dedication in the room for housing in the North was obvious from the first drink to the last dance.

What the Awards Recognise

The Northern Housing Awards were launched in 2018 with a simple mission: to shine a light on the individuals and organisations working to improve homes and communities in the north.

From housing associations to local authorities, contractors to suppliers, the entries covered the whole supply chain — the same breadth of organisations TCW works with every day.

The Morning After

Not everyone took home a trophy, but the champagne still flowed and the celebrations carried on well past midnight.

To believe housing, and to every other winner and finalist: congratulations. The full list of 2022 winners is published on the Housing Digital website.