About us
Serving local people for over 30 years
bpha began life in 1990 with the transfer of 7,300 homes from Bedford Borough Council. We were one of the first stock transfers in England and are proud of our history in providing homes for local residents. We have grown to be a housing association with nearly 20,000 homes. We continue to have a strong presence in Bedford and are now equally proud to serve local communities from Cambridge to Oxford.
We have a strong track record of working with customers, and developing an understanding of local people’s needs. Our local presence and focus on our core areas also means that we have strong partnerships with local authorities, other public services and the voluntary sector. We were a key partner in the launch of ‘Bedford Giving’ and we operate community hubs across our geography.
Our Vision
‘Quality homes. Connected communities’.
Our vision underpins our commitment to provide and maintain safe, sustainable, efficient, high standard homes for local people.
We also aim to play a positive role in helping to connect local people within neighbourhoods, with local services, with bpha and to provide opportunities through working with local partners.
We are committed to delivering our four strategic commitments:
We will deliver quality and value to customers
We will help make places and build local communities
We will create a sustainable future
We will put people at the heart of bpha
We take responsibility
We are better together
We show empathy
We are ambitious
Environment and sustainability
The effects of climate change are becoming increasingly apparent, and we recognise the need for action. As an employer, landlord and developer of homes we are committed to reducing our environmental impact for the benefit of our customers, our employees, and the communities in which we operate.
The government is committed to delivering a zero carbon economy by 2050 and this will have far reaching implications for housing associations. It is estimated that the residential sector is responsible for around 20% of the UK’s carbon emissions and for organisations like bpha we have a key role to play.
To help us manage our aims over the next four years, we have updated our Environment Strategy which sets out our targets and goals in the following three key areas:
- Reduce the carbon footprint of our homes
- Protect our green spaces and increase biodiversity
- Manage and reduce water use.
We have committed to ensuring that our new homes will be energy efficient, economic to run and future proofed to allow for emerging technologies. As well as looking at existing green spaces we will work with local partner organisations in our communities to deliver green space and environmental improvement projects.
We will also support our customers in reducing their water consumption through education as well as installing water efficient fixtures that suit customer requirements as part of our planned bathroom replacement programme.
Gender pay statement
bpha and other organisations employing more than 250 employees are required to publish a gender pay statement on their website. The 2024 statement (for April 2023 data) has been published and can viewed by clicking on the button below.
Corporate strategy
Our Corporate Strategy, sets out the priorities for 2024-2029 that will help us deliver the services that existing and future customers, and the wider community needs.
The Strategy has been developed in consultation with colleagues and customers, and is informed by the challenges of the last five years, including the Covid pandemic, Brexit, the cost of living crisis and war in Europe.
It focusses on four commitments, outlining how we plan to achieve each one, and how we’ll measure progress.
- Deliver quality and value to customers
- Help make places and build local communities
- Create a sustainable future
- Put people at the heart of bpha
You can read the strategy below, or watch a short video that tells you more about it.
