Poplar HARCA (Housing and Regeneration Community Association) is a

housing association In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost " social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budget surplus is used to maintain existing housing and to help fi ...

in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have univ ...

, England. It is the landlord of about 9,000 homes in the

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the ...

area, a quarter of which have been sold

leasehold A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a l ...

; the remainder are let on

assured tenancies An assured tenancy is a legal category of residential tenancy to an individual (or individuals jointly) in English land law. Statute affords a tenant under an assured tenancy a degree of security of tenure. A tenant under an assured tenancy may ...

at subsidised rent levels. The association focuses on community regeneration as part of its core mission, with a Neighbourhood Centre on each estate. It is part of the Placeshapers network of housing associations and works on improving infrastructure, services, activities, employment, health and education in the area.

History

Poplar HARCA was set up by the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...

to regenerate the area, especially certain council estates whose residents voted to transfer to the new body. Parts of seven estates (about 4,500 homes) transferred to Poplar HARCA in March and December 1998. The following year, tenants on further estates voted to remain with the council. However, after a lengthy consultation of all council estates in Tower Hamlets begun in 2002, several more estates in Poplar did transfer between 2005 and 2007. The final ballots were on several estates in East India ward, with a 78% majority in favour of transfer in 2006, including the iconic Balfron Tower; and Coventry Cross Estate with 65% in 2007.

Reshaping Poplar

Poplar HARCA has refurbished all its existing housing stock and brought it up to standard. Its "Reshaping Poplar" agenda is a twelve-year plan to update, improve and replace this housing, developing hundreds of new homes, alongside parks, health and education facilities.

John Denham John Denham may refer to: * John Denham (died 1556 or later), English MP for Shaftesbury * John Denham (judge), (1559–1639), father of the poet below, and one of the Ship Money judges * John Denham (poet) (1615–1669), English poet * John Den ...

, Secretary of State for

Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government i ...

, met residents to discuss the plans in September 2009. In 2012 Poplar HARCA and

Willmott Dixon Willmott Dixon is a privately owned contracting, residential development and property support business. History The company was founded in 1852, by John Willmott.Aberfeldy Estate Aberfeldy Village is an urban village in a part of Poplar that was once part of Bromley in London, England, which is in the process of being redeveloped in a joint venture between Poplar HARCA and Willmott Dixon. It was known as the Aberfeld ...

. The plans include the demolition of nearly 300 homes and their replacement with 1,100 new homes and improved amenities to be provided over twelve years. Of the 1,100 new homes built, 986 will be at market rates, 20 at intermediate rent, and 170 at social rent.

Management

The constitution allows for twelve

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a t ...

members including seven resident directors (tenants or leaseholders), one local

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

and up to four independent members. As of November 2015, the

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

is Steve Stride, the

Chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vari ...

of the Board is Dr Paul Brickell, and the Vice-Chair is Rev. James Olanipekun, a resident. Poplar HARCA has also formally incorporated

youth empowerment Youth empowerment is a process where children and young people are encouraged to take charge of their lives. They do this by addressing their situation and then take action in order to improve their access to resources and transform their consciou ...

into its management structure. Its Youth Empowerment Board is formally represented in the

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system ( family, tribe, formal or informal organization, a territory or across territories). It is done by the g ...

of the association. The Audit Commission's last inspection in 2007 awarded Poplar HARCA two stars out of three, with "promising prospects for improvement". Poplar Harca's Community and Neighbourhoods team (CaN), often in partnership with other associations, work on projects that help residents to find new jobs, empower them to improve their local area or develop and improve their physical, mental, emotional, social and educational wellbeing.

Awards

* Winner of the 2016 Guardian Public Service Award for Transformation. * In October 2016, the Accents Team were awarded ‘Innovation of the Year’ by 24 Housing for their Open Poplar project which identifies and then fills underused space in the area. * Accents project manager Francesca Colloca won the 2016 Women in Housing Award for 'most effective project in improving the lives of women or communities' in recognition for her work on the Chrisp Street Exchange Programme. * In 2016, Poplar HARCA ranked 4th in Inside Housing's Innovation Index, recognising the ideas and creativity of staff. * 2015 winner of the UK Housing Award for ‘Outstanding Landlord of the Year’. * In 2015, it won a BALI National Landscape Award in the Hard Landscaping category for its approach to regeneration on the Brownfield Estate. * Poplar HARCA's Energy Champion Project was recognised for its innovative, resident led approach in receiving the Greener Living Award at the 2015 Community Impact Awards. * In April 2014, Chief Executive Steve Stride was featured in 24Housing magazine's '2014 Power Player Top 50' list, at number nine. * In 2014, resident Tom Gleed won Green Tenant of the Year at the Sustainable Housing Awards for developing Brownfield Community Garden into a thriving sustainable space. * The Brownfield Estate Board won the 2015 Social Landlords Crime and Nuisance Group Anti-Social Behaviour (SLCNG ASB) Resident and Community Award for its work in building a safe and cohesive community. * In 2013, it won the Sustainable City Awards in the ‘Greening the Third Sector’ category for demonstrating excellence in sustainable development. * Poplar HARCA was voted Social Housing Provider of the year at the Sustainable Housing Awards 2013. * Finalist at the UK Housing Awards 2013 for Community-Led Initiative of the Year. This was for the Poplar and Bow Network. * It won two awards at the Sustainable Housing Awards 2012: Partnership of the year for the Eco Homes project and the Transformation Award for the redevelopment of Leopold Park. * Poplar HARCA won the ASB ActionNet Award 2011, for innovative legal action to deal with "neighbours from hell". * It won the Tenant Empowerment Team of the Year Award at the

Chartered Institute of Housing The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) is the professional body for those working in the housing profession in the United Kingdom. It has a royal charter, gained in 1984. Currently CIH has over 17,000 members, mostly in the UK but also oversea ...

's Housing Heroes Awards 2010. * It won ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

's'' Public Services Award 2009 in the Housing and Regeneration category, for its Family Intervention Project.We are family: Poplar's Family Intervention Project is giving minor offenders a chance to get back on track
''The Guardian'', 25 Nov 2009 * Community Safety Manager, Sarah Castro, was awarded an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

in the

2009 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2009 were announced on 31 December 2008 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis,Saint Christopher. to ...

list. This was for her work tackling

anti-social behaviour Antisocial behavior is a behavior that is defined as the violation of the rights of others by committing crime, such as stealing and physical attack in addition to other behaviors such as lying and manipulation. It is considered to be disrupti ...

in Poplar and Tower Hamlets. * Poplar HARCA's chair from 2002 to 2009, Christine Searle MBE, was named one of the 25 most influential people in social housing by ''Inside Housing'' magazine in March 2009. She was one of the founder resident directors of Poplar HARCA, and her MBE was awarded in June 2004 in recognition of her community work. * Winner of the

Housing Corporation The Housing Corporation was the non-departmental public body that funded new affordable housing and regulated housing associations in England. It was established by the Housing Act 1964. On 1 December 2008, its functions were transferred to two n ...

's 2007 Gold Award for Empowering Communities * Finalist of Inbiz

National Housing Federation The National Housing Federation (NHF) is a trade association for member social housing providers in England. Function The National Housing Federation (NHF) is a trade or industry body representing providers of social housing in England. The Fede ...

2006 Housing Awards - Best Neighbour * In partnership with Lincoln Area Regeneration Group, 2006 Green Pennant awarded for Chiltern Green * In partnership with Lincoln Area Regeneration Group, Highly Commended in

2004 UK Housing Award for Best Led Community Initiative - Chiltern Green * 2001 Commendation for Best in Community Regeneration - BURA Charitable Trust * In partnership with Countryside plc, Burdett Estate renewal was voted Best Partnership Development in the 2001 ''What House?'' Awards

External links

Poplar HARCA
official website
2007 Statistics
at the

Tenant Services Authority The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) was the operating name of the ''Office for Tenants and Social Landlords'', the former regulatory agency of registered providers of social housing in England. On 1 December 2008 the TSA first took over the reg ...

website
Teviot Estate in pictures
at BBC News website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poplar Harca Housing associations based in England Housing in London Housing organisations based in London Organisations based in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Charities based in London