Corporate information
We are a registered housing provider with most of our homes based in West Oxfordshire, as well as in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire. We own almost 5,800 homes for rent and low-cost home ownership, have a turnover of more than £45 million with an asset base worth over £450 million (as of April 2025).
Corporate information
We are a registered housing provider with most of our homes based in West Oxfordshire, as well as in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire. We own almost 5,800 homes for rent and low-cost home ownership, have a turnover of more than £45 million with an asset base worth over £450 million (as of April 2025).
Most of our homes are rented, with the other 10% shared ownership. Almost all are traditionally built and most of our rented homes are either houses or bungalows, with around a quarter being low-rise flats or maisonettes.
We have some of the strongest financial and governance ratings in the sector, a robust development programme and we are committed to doing more to help people in housing need while maintaining our existing homes to a safe, decent standard. We aim to grow by an average of 150-200 new homes per annum.
We are guided in everything we do by our purpose:
‘Together we are turning houses into homes, growing and building stronger communities and making a positive difference to people’s lives.’
We are driven by our values. We:
- are open and transparent about how we do business
- are here for the long term
- see Cottsway as a partnership between customers and staff and key stakeholders
- will do all we can to provide our customers with decent homes from which they can enhance their lives
- are part of, and value, the communities in which we work.
To convey our values in our behaviours and communication, we will be:
- Positive: always seeking a way forward and being honest about any problems.
- Personal: talking openly and directly to our customers, staff, and stakeholders as friendly, equal individuals.
- Plain-speaking: using clear, everyday language and simple ways to get our message across, so everyone can understand and engage with us.
- Professional: taking real pride in what we achieve, without being stuffy, formal, or officious
Our staff undergo training, and we are constantly reinforcing these behaviours.
As a minimum, we will comply with all legislation and regulation and, where practical, aim for best practice in the areas of:
- Health and safety and wellbeing
- Equality, diversity, and inclusion
- Value for Money
- Green agenda and zero carbon
- Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting (ESG)
We have a policy for each of these key principles setting out our approach.
Our Corporate Plan and supporting strategies
Our Corporate Plan 2023-28 sets out our future plans and key corporate objectives over the 5-year period.
It builds upon our previous Corporate Plan and demonstrates a continued commitment to delivering services while ensuring value for money, with targets being the base position we aim to achieve whilst always looking for solutions that will enhance service provision and homes. We are focusing on three key areas:
- People
- Homes
- Business strength
Our People, Homes and Business strength strategies
We have three strategies to support our key areas of focus, approved by our Board in Summer 2024. Action plans are in place to help us deliver the objectives.
Our Corporate Leadership Team, made up of our Executive Team and Heads of Service from across the business, continually monitor and review these 3 strategies and action plans and our Board is updated annually on progress.
People are central to our success whether they are customers, staff, or stakeholders - without their support and satisfaction we will not succeed. Providing efficient and effective routes for our customers to interact with us will help underpin delivery of services in a constantly changing world. Our aim is to continue our digital journey and to make more services and information available for our customers, and to enable our staff to work as flexibly and effectively as possible
The properties we build and maintain are key to the well-being of our customers and their families. Energy efficiency and safety are at the forefront of our plans to ensure we support our customers as much as possible in this difficult economic climate. We will continue to work with our local authority partners to ensure we deliver the right properties to meet the needs of their areas.
Making sure we are financially strong and delivering value for money is critical to us being able to serve our customers and maintain our homes properly. To ensure this happens we will set ourselves targets to support long-term growth, alongside delivery of efficient and effective day-to-day operations.
Our Annual Report and financial statements
At the end of each financial year, we produce an Annual Report setting out some of our activities, achievements, Tenant Satisfaction Measure (TSM) results along with detailed financial statements.
Our latest Annual Report, financial statements and other documents, including our Customer Charter which sets out our service standards can be found on our publications webpage: