Our Vision
Our vision, shared by all at Mercian, is to 'help develop communities people take pride in.' We believe we will achieve this by:
- enabling individuals and families to achieve their housing needs and aspirations
- delivering excellent services and quality homes that provide our customers with choices to meet their lifestyles, making a real difference to the local communities in which we work
- providing our staff with a stimulating and rewarding work environment in which they can help to achieve the Association’s social purpose.
Our Purpose
Our purpose can be described as follows:
- Mercian is a people-focused Association that respects diversity.
- Mercian provides high quality mixed-tenure homes and home ownership initiatives developed to create choice for people whose options in the housing market are limited.
- Mercian thus seeks to build a sense of ownership and pride in homes and neighbourhoods.
- Over the long term Mercian will invest time and resources to work with residents and partner agencies to create safe communities, to build employability, to open up access to services and to ensure a sustainable local environment.
Our Values
To carry out this mission in a spirit which demonstrates:
- An over-riding sense of social purpose, awareness and inclusivity.
- Responsiveness to changing needs and emerging opportunity.
- Willingness to “go the extra mile” – service with a human face.
- An innovative approach to both business and technical development.
- Professionalism and continually aspiring to excellence.
Mercian is a versatile and vibrant agent of social investment and change in the West Midlands. We are a people focussed organisation that respects diversity and provides excellent homes and services to meet needs of local communities.
Working in partnership with others, Mercian develops high quality mixed tenure homes and home ownership initiatives to create choice for people whose options in the housing market are limited, building a sense of pride and ownership in homes and neighbourhoods.
Over the long term Mercian will invest time and resources to work with residents and partner agencies to create safe communities, to build employability, to open up access to services and to ensure a sustainable local environment.
As a not for profit, social business any surpluses we make are reinvested for the benefit of our present and future customers as well as local communities.
The people who live in a neighbourhood or community know best what needs to be done to improve services and improve people’s lives. Tenants and home owners are therefore at the heart of our operations.
Our Strategic Objectives
Mercian will deliver its vision and values through five strategic objectives: the delivery of Excellent Services; the Regeneration of Neighbourhoods; Community Investment; through the provision of Affordable and Sustainable Home Ownership; and through the continuing assurance of long term Financial Viability. By March 2014 Mercian will be recognised as:
A provider of Excellent Services and our performance will demonstrate:
- A recognition by its tenants and leaseholder that Mercian is an excellent landlord demonstrated by consistently high scores on customer feedback surveys
- Delivering top-quartile performance
- Delivering sector standards that typify excellent organisations
- Delivering value for money services
A contributor to the Regeneration of Neighbourhoods in which it has a significant stock presence typified by:
- Delivery of development solutions supporting the overall regional housing priorities
- Partnership working to achieve regeneration solutions which go beyond housing
- Assets concentrated in such a way as to support the strategy
- Increasing our critical mass in the central growth area of the West Midlands to at least 7000 homes in 5 years
An Investor in Communities working in partnership with others to:
- Provide services beyond housing to our residents to support choice and lifestyle aspirations
- Provide opportunities of access to employment an training
- Provide affordable financial services and products
A leader in the provision of Affordable and Sustainable Home Ownership:
- Recognised within the sector for the range and volume of solutions provided
- Affordable regeneration solutions and support to low income home owners through ART Homes
- Developing and providing innovative and sustainable low cost home ownership products
Maintaining Financial Viability:
- With a focus on robust financial and budgetary control
- A lean cost structure
- Resources to invest in tenants home and services
- Maintaining a strong asset base to support future strategic development
Mercian currently owns over 3,400 homes and provides services to around 10,000 people and families across the West Midlands region. Majority of our homes are located in the local authorities of Birmingham, Walsall and Coventry. View a map of our locations.
We employ over 100 highly qualified staff who aim to deliver best service to all of our customers. Everyone at Mercian is committed to ensuring that our customers are well served, satisfied with our services and listened to.
We take our residents’ views seriously and for many years have involved and encouraged our customers to take an active part and influence the way we provide our services. Our Board of Management includes our tenants and we have an active Residents Forum. Click thorugh to our Tenant Involvement, Home Owners Involvement and Community Investment sections to read more about our customer involvement initiatives.
Mercian has two subsidiary companies, ART Homes providing subsidised loans and equity release products for repair, improvement and re-location to help people achieve Decent Homes standards and Zenith Development to deliver our development programme of new-build affordable homes.
Mercian is a registered housing association or registered social landlord (RSL). We are registered under charitable rules with the Registrar of Friendly Societies (16836R) and with the Housing Corporation (L0942).