2024 marks 30 years since the biggest large-scale voluntary stock transfer of social housing in the Northwest, which led to the creation of New Progress Housing Association, known today as Progress Housing Group.
In 1994, tenants of South Ribble Borough Council voted to transfer its 3,500 homes to the newly formed New Progress Housing Association, a significant milestone for the borough. This action helped shape the thriving communities and deliver the high-quality affordable homes that we provide today.
We currently own and manage nearly 12,000 properties across the UK. We also provide an award-winning telecare emergency personal alarm service, Progress Lifeline, which enables over 60,000 people across Lancashire and parts of the UK to live safely and independently in their own homes.
Progress Living is the Group’s keyworker accommodation project. It has over 500 apartments and homes and is located at each main hospital site of United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
Key Unlocking Futures, the Group’s charitable arm, supports over 7,000 individuals and families each year, including providing support at our homelessness schemes and refuges for women and children who need to escape domestic abuse.
Our supported living business stream, RWP, is one of the largest providers of high-quality supported living for people with a learning disability, autistic people and those with a mental health condition in the UK. It has landlord responsibilities for over 4,000 supported living properties across the UK.
We are celebrating 30 years of Progress Housing Group through several initiatives, including supporting tenant, community and charitable events, as well as releasing a series of short films, telling the story of tenants, customers, communities and colleagues and their relationship and memories of our 30-year timeline.
Take a look at the 30-year legacy of Progress Housing Group. We are proud of our journey and the pivotal moments that have shaped us into what we are today!
We are so proud of how far we have come in 30 years and the key role the organisation has played in providing high-quality, affordable homes, working with partner agencies to create sustainable and positive communities. We have made a difference for so many people.
The hard work of our colleagues has enabled us to fulfil all the promises we made to tenants at the time of the stock transfer in 1994. We have continued to build on this to create places where people are proud to live and work. Putting people at the heart of what we do has always been, and will continue to be, our priority and our purpose. We do this because we believe everyone has the right to a decent home and to live their best life.
Jacqui De-Rose, Group Chief Executive
Highlights from our history
1994
In 1994, tenants of South Ribble Borough Council vote to transfer its 3,500 homes to the newly formed New Progress Housing Association. New Progress Housing Association refurbishes the homes over a five-year period at the cost of £6 million. Work starts on the first phase of 20 homes on 13 June 1994 and on 20 January 1995, they are handed back to tenants.
1995
We achieve ISO 9002 certification for the first time.
Building work starts at Sumner House, the new home of New Progress Housing Association's headquarters.
1996
We gain ‘Investors in People’ and ‘Positive about Disabled People’ accreditations.
6 families move into new homes on Thurston Road in Leyland (pictured).
We move into new offices at Sumner House, 21 King Street, Leyland.
Tuson House, one of our independent living schemes, in Penwortham, celebrates its 20 year anniversary.
1997
Monthly tenant training days begin on various topics including information technology.
Our repairs section receives 12,350 repair requests during the year whilst 93% of responsive repairs are completed within the target time.
1998
Progress Care Housing Association forms as a specialist provider of supported housing for people with a range of support needs, from learning disabilities to mental health.
Penwortham Community Centre opens in Kingsfold.
We invest over £100,000 in environmental improvement works.
New Progress Housing Association starts the manufacture of its own windows.
We take part in National Housing Week.
1999
Work starts in spring on the new-build development of Clare House, our first women’s refuge.
Fylde Borough Council tenants vote for housing stock to be transferred to form New Fylde Housing.
2000
On 2 October the stock transfer of New Fylde Housing takes place from Fylde Borough Council.
In November, a Customer Services Team of just 5 people is set up at Sumner House in Leyland.
2001
The £7 million regeneration of the Wade Hall estate in Leyland is completed.
2002
Our control centre receives 37,408 calls.
2003
We purchase the Bob Thompson company to form our own electrical contracting division.
Work completes on a £163,000 project to put the latest energy-saving technology into 70-year-old houses in Leyland, Lancashire.
2004
New Progress Housing Association celebrates its 10th anniversary.
We support the St Catherine’s Symphony at the Tower which raises a record £50,000.
CEO Russell Atkinson retires, and Jacqui De-Rose is appointed as the new Group Chief Executive and still holds this position today.
We welcome four new tenants who had lived in Gorse Hill Hospital for 20 years into their new supported living home. They are the first group of 36 people who will move into 9 new homes within the community for people with a learning disability.
2005
Foundations, a £2.3 million purpose-built housing scheme for people experiencing homelessness, and The Bridge in Chorley open.
Our first estate caretaker is appointed for the Wade Hall estate in Leyland and due to the success of the service, is extended to cover more areas.
We install ground-source heat pumps – a first for the North West.
Hennel House in Walton-le-Dale, Preston, gets a major facelift, transforming the community centre.
We are awarded more than £170,000 government grant to make our houses more energy efficient.
Work starts on an exciting £800,000 project for a state-of-the-art community centre and shops, and children’s centre with a day nursery on Wade Hall.
2006
Progress Living, our £22 million keyworker accommodation project in Lincolnshire, opens doors to doctors in training, nurses, consultants and medical students.
Our telecare service, which provides independent living solutions through the use of assistive technology, launches.
We launch our shared ownership scheme – our new affordable home initiative – at Buckshaw Village.
We launch Progress Plus, our new heating breakdown and maintenance service.
We sign up for the Respect Standard for Housing Management, which aims to tackle anti-social behaviour and create a culture of respect. In the same year, we obtained our first Do-It-Yourself Possession Order, saving the organisation and its tenants an estimated £4,500 in legal costs.
In our latest Housing Corporation Assessment, we achieve four green lights, demonstrating that we have successfully met or exceeded the standards set across all 4 key performance areas.
2007
We partner with other housing associations in Lancashire to launch the Select Move choice-based lettings scheme.
Work starts on a housing development to provide 8 high-quality bungalows for people over 55 in Hutton.
The Mayor of South Ribble unveils a community artwork to mark the official opening of ‘The Place’, Leyland’s new £800 000 community centre.
Progress Care Housing Association launch an innovative shared ownership scheme - the first scheme of its kind in the UK for people with a learning disability.
Leeds City Council announces Progress Care Housing Association as the preferred bidder for a £65 million Independent Living Project for 350 adults and 8 young people with a learning disability and mental health needs.
New Progress Housing Association partners up with Lancashire County Council to deliver its lifeline and telecare services across the county.
2008
The first tenant moves into Leeds Independent Living Accommodation (LiLAC) homes in Leeds, for people with learning disabilities and mental health needs.
The new Wade Hall community centre, The Place, and shop units open.
New Progress Housing Association wins the ‘What We Are Proud Of’ award for its Foundations/Inn2 homelessness scheme in Preston.
We join forces with local building merchants, C & W Berry, to enhance our property maintenance service.
2009
We welcome New Fylde Housing to the Group, and we celebrate 15 years of Progress Housing Group.
We launch a £1.5 million fund for community investment activities. The Community Investment Panel is introduced to oversee the investment in community projects and activities over 5 years.
2010
A £10 million regeneration project of 111 new homes at the Heyhouses estate in Lytham St Annes completes and wins the sustainability award at the Northwest Constructing Excellence Awards.
Our 24-hour Control Centre monitors 10,000 emergency and alarm connections.
The Scrutiny Panel (now known as Tenant’s Voice) is set up.
Clare House Women’s Refuge celebrates its 10th anniversary.
2011
The first Group-wide tenant conference is held with more than 200 people attending.
The final homes complete in the award-winning £60 million Leeds Independent Living Accommodation (LiLAC) project, providing 315 units of supported housing.
Progress Living hands over the keys to its 10,000th tenant.
New Fylde Housing is selected from more than 250 entries in the 2011 UK Housing Awards for its regeneration of the Heyhouses estate in Lytham St Annes.
2012
New Fylde Housing converts to a charitable ‘Industrial and Provident Society’, providing more freedom to fundraise and receive donations.
New Progress Housing Association is only the 12th organisation in the country to achieve the Telecare Services Association’s (TSA) highest award, the Platinum Standard, for its Lifeline services (known now as Progress Lifeline).
Progress Care announces the findings of its groundbreaking independent living research project.
Residents in our Broadfield community celebrate the opening of the new community centre, The Base (pictured).
Progress Housing Group secures over £4.8 million from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to deliver 205 new affordable homes over the next 4 years.
Our Jubilee Court sheltered scheme in Leyland celebrate the scheme's 35 year anniversary.
2013
Our Progress Futures initiative is re-launched, providing employment and skills support to tenants.
A 24-hour response service pilots across Fylde and Wyre to help Progress Lifeline customers who have fallen in their homes and are uninjured.
We secure funding from the Department of Work and Pension’s Digital Deal programme for our Digital Futures project.
Progress Care Housing Association is shortlisted for a prestigious Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) award for its unique research programme into supported living for tenants with learning disabilities and mental health needs.
2014
We welcome homeless charity Key into the Group to help maintain and expand services to support young people facing homelessness.
Our scheme to create affordable housing for local people at St George’s Place development in Kirkham is recognised as one of the top 50 affordable housing developments in the UK. We are held up as one of the UK’s top 50 developing housing associations.
Our innovative health and well-being toolkit, which enables tenants with a learning disability and/or long-term mental health condition to improve their overall health and wellbeing, is recognised at the 3rd Sector Care Awards.
We secure £2.1 million from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to deliver 80 high-quality, efficient and affordable homes across Lancashire.
8 homes in Salwick, Preston, benefit from the installation of a new energy-efficient heating system, thanks to funding secured from ‘The Energy Savings Trust.
Progress Housing Group is ranked in the top third of housing associations for its digital media presence.
As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we retire our New Progress Housing Association, Progress Care Housing Association and New Fylde Housing brands and begin to trade as one team and entity, Progress Housing Group.
2015
We take on the management of Chorley Women’s Refuge, the resettlement services for South Ribble and Chorley and the running of Parker House supported housing scheme in Chorley, for young people experiencing homelessness.
We complete several housing developments including Calico Close in Bamber Bridge (pictured), St Annes, Preston, Chorley and Weeton.
We celebrate 10 years of The Bridge in Chorley and Foundations in Preston.
Progress Lifeline’s innovative lifting service, in partnership with the North West Ambulance Service, expands across South Ribble and Chorley.
2 of our Lancashire developments are shortlisted in the 2015 Northern LABC Building Excellence Awards.
Porritt Place in St Annes and Atlas Court in Leyland are shortlisted for the ‘Best Social or Affordable New Housing Development’ award.
A new affordable home development in rural Weeton welcomes its new tenants.
2016
It is a proud moment as one of our tenants wins the 'Young Inspiring Tenant of the Year' award in the Northern Silver Screen Awards.
We are also shortlisted for the Building Healthy Communities category for our Walton’s Parade project in Preston. This initiative promotes healthy eating and wellbeing amongst our supported living scheme tenants with enduring mental health needs by building a community garden and vegetable patch.
Progress Futures helps 966 people on their journey into employment.
Progress Lifeline expands its services into East Lancashire, Lancaster and Morecambe.
Progress Housing Group and Artlink West Yorkshire complete the ‘Get Started’ 3-year £327,000 Big Lottery Fund Grant, Reaching Communities project in Leeds (pictured).
2017
Key Unlocking Futures, in partnership with Lancashire Mind, starts working with 50 schools in Lancashire to improve wellbeing. The Wellbeing Challenge intends to help schools to improve resilience and promote positive change.
Progress Living (pictured) celebrates its 10 year anniversary.
We back Inspire Youth Zone in Chorley with Founder Patron support.
We achieve the ‘Gold’ standard award in the prestigious annual scheme run by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).
2018
We partner with the Royal Town Planning Institute Award for Whyndyke Garden Village – one of the ten NHS England’s ‘Health New Towns’ which are designed to shape the health and wellbeing of communities.
We win the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS), Excellence in Tenant Engagement in Supported Housing award for how we involved tenants who have learning disability or mental health needs.
Former Manchester City legends go head-to-head with Progress Housing Group colleagues in a charity football match in aid of UK homelessness charity Shelter, raising £5,000.
We launch our house building company, Concert Living.
On 30 April 2018, the three existing housing association subsidiaries combine as one legal entity and became a single Charitable Registered Provider (CRP) – Progress Housing Association Limited.
2019
We celebrate our 25th anniversary by launching our match funded £25,000 challenge where colleagues help raise over £30,000 for charity.
South Ribble Women’s Refuge and Chorley Women’s Refuge join SafeNet Domestic Abuse and Support Services, to support women and children across the county with the creation of a new partnership, Lancashire Refuges.
We hold our first cultural exchange event, inviting people to celebrate the diversity in our communities.
We join with Together Housing Group and the Housing Diversity Network on a pilot scheme to recruit and mentor diverse board members on a traineeship.
2020
We mark 20 years since the opening of South Ribble Women’s Refuge, Clare House, which has provided a safe haven to over 1,000 women and children since its launch.
Nigel Wright is appointed as the Group’s new Chair.
The Group's homebuilding arm, Concert Homes, completes its first development at Edward Gardens in Bamber Bridge.
2021
We offer Kickstart placements to 28 young people aged 16-24.
We sponsor Lancashire's inclusive rugby club Typhoons RUFC.
Reside Housing Association joins Progress Housing Group to help create one of the UK's largest and leading supporting living accommodation providers.
We join South Ribble DFN Project SEARCH partnership programme as the host business to support young people with learning disabilities with workplace internships.
Our largest housing development of 68 new affordable homes completes in Cottam, Preston.
We take ownership of a plot of land in Lancaster to develop our first Extra Care scheme.
2022
We launch RWP, the Group’s new supported living business stream.
Key Unlocking Futures holds its first sleep out. Colleagues sleep outside overnight to raise money to support services for those facing crisis.
We provide funding of over £12,000 to Lancashire community interest company SHAPE Lancashire to provide fun activities for young people in Leyland over the next 3 years.
We achieve the Customer Service Excellence Quality Mark.
Our new supported living scheme, Annear Place, opens in Nottingham (pictured).
2023
We launch the Group’s 24/7 tenant support and wellbeing service
Work starts on our Lancaster Extra Care scheme (pictured) in Lancashire to provide 92 new homes, 76 of which will be for people requiring varying levels of care.
We are awarded Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Gold Medal.
We invest over £1.3 million to improve the energy efficiency of over 90 tenants' homes in Lancashire and Cumbria.
We achieve Investors in People silver accreditation.
2024
The Key's Base II community centre opens on the Broadfield estate in Leyland.
We achieve the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Gold Award and Gold Medal Award.
Our Brighter Futures programme wins Recruitment Campaign of the Year at the Housing Heroes awards.
We establish our first Tenant Committees as part of our ongoing commitment to putting tenants at the heart of our organisation.
We retain our G1 V1 rating, the highest grading awarded by the housing regulator.