Whitefriars Housing Group

Whitefriars Housing Group Ltd is a housing association managing about 18,000 homes in Coventry, England. Constituted as a charitable industrial and provident society, it is Coventry's largest social landlord.

In December 2008 it became part of the West Mercia Housing Group, based in Bromsgrove, which includes Harden Housing Association, Kemble Housing and Nexus Housing, and manages homes across the West Midlands, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Whitefriars Housing Group was established in September 2000 to receive 20,200 properties from Coventry City Council's housing department in 2000, 481 of which were hostel units. When first created, it consisted of three companies: Whitefriars Services Ltd., Whitefriars Homes North Ltd., and Whitefriars Homes South Ltd. These were amalgamated into Whitefriars Housing Group Ltd in May 2006.

The name 'Whitefriars' (and also Greyfriars) comes from a Coventry monastery of the same name founded in around 1342, and gradually expanded as charitable donations and funding became available. The 'friars' survived by providing shelter to the needy and passing travellers.

The group has demolished over 4,000 former council properties that were mostly vacant and beyond economical repair. This demolition included several blocks of Wimpey no-fines constructed flats built in the 1950s in the Wood End area, including rows of garages damaged or vandalised beyond repair. Some 8-storey flats constructed in the 1950s in the Hillfields area and traditional but poorly maintained brick built houses in the Stoke Heath area of Valley Road, Meadway and Hillside have also been demolished.

In 2003, the first newly built properties by the group were completed and opened in Tile Hill. This was continued with the granting of planning permission for a further 31 units of bungalow housing for elderly people in the city. The group is now working with their partners Wates to provide 269 properties for rent and open market sale in Valley Road, Meadway and Hillside area.

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