Impact Housing (A Trading Name Of The Riverside Group Ltd)

In 1975 a group of residents protested against plans to knock their homes down. As a result a Housing Action Area was set up & Impact was born. That strong tenant & community emphasis has continued ever since. We have 3,000 properties in Cumbria & have our 1st schemes in Lancaster. Our stock is affordable, in high demand & is in good condition. As well as general needs rented housing, we own various schemes for 1st time buyers & those who need extra support- we are Cumbria’s biggest landlord of supported housing, with nearly 400 properties & bedspaces. Our biggest concentration of housing is in Allerdale, we own over 1200 properties, 700 are on the Salterbeck Estate which we took on as a stock transfer. We run both of Cumbria’s Foyers for young people, in Penrith & Kendal. & have jointly developed a 3rd Foyer in Whitehaven with the Howgill Centre. As a community based & charitable housing association, we haven't chased growth in properties, but have sought to provide a wider range of services for our local communities. E.g. we own extra care elderly schemes in South Lakes & Brampton, where we house & support elderly people with dementia and other long term problems. We offer a wide range of other services. Our recycling & 2nd hand furniture stores have been operating since 2000. We have various support projects for particular groups, e.g. youth groups & our Domestic Violence service, covering Cumbria & North Lancs. We have nearly 300 staff & volunteers & a turnover of £16m, £11m from rents & the rest from a wide range of funding sources, both contracts & charitable. 2015/2016 has seen significant cuts in our budgets as services are withdrawn or cut back. At the same time, Government want us to shift our priorities to housebuilding for 1st time buyers. Moving through our 5th decade, we are keen to make best use of our resources to meet local needs & we are always keen to talk to Government and other funding bodies about what we can do to help.