We're celebrating 25 years and looking to the future

Originally called West Oxfordshire Housing, Cottsway was formed on 26 March 2001 when we took transfer of 3,643 homes from West Oxfordshire District Council. The Large-Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) happened after the council consulted its tenants on the future ownership of its then housing stock and they voted in favour of a transfer

Since then, we have continued to work closely with the council as the local housing and planning authority, as well as with customers and other partners and stakeholders to invest in existing homes and communities, while developing more new affordable homes to help meet a growing demand.

We have delivered more than 2,300 additional homes and will soon be taking handover of our 6,000th property. Now with around 65% more homes than it began, we remain the largest social housing provider in West Oxfordshire, with around 24% of our homes now outside the district in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.

To celebrate our 25th anniversary, we're organising a series of events and initiatives reflecting our commitment to partnership working, and creating opportunities for customers and communities, and sustainability:

• An additional £25,000 has been added to our Community Fund this year to support more local projects that benefit customers and neighbourhoods, with a focus on helping people learn new skills, improve wellbeing, and strengthen community connections.
• We will donate 25 new trees to a local community, enhancing green spaces and supporting biodiversity.
• A stakeholder event will be held later this month at our current largest latest housing scheme in West Oxfordshire, which is nearing completion.

We now serve over 13,000 customers and provide homes for social rent as a preference, where the situation allows - more than three quarters of our rented homes are for social rent, which is around half the cost (50- 60%) of renting on the open market. Where social rent is not feasible, homes are provided for affordable rent or shared ownership - with affordable rent about 20% cheaper than private rents.

We invest over £10m per year in existing homes, with health and safety the priority. In more recent years, net zero has become a focus and we have been successful in securing government funding, coupled with our own investment, to retrofit older properties to increase energy efficiency ratings and support customers in the face of increasing energy costs.

With V1 for viability and G1 for Governance ratings from the Regulator of Social Housing, compliance with national health and safety standards, some of the highest customer satisfaction rates including 85% overall customer satisfaction, we have a genuine commitment to listening to our customers and making a positive difference to both the people and communities we serve by adding social value.

Andrew Hall, who will stand down as our Board Chair at the end of this month when he completes his 7-year term with Cottsway, said: "Reaching our 25th anniversary is a proud moment for everyone connected to Cottsway. It’s an opportunity to reflect on what we’ve achieved together and, just as importantly, to look ahead. 

“I will leave Cottsway knowing that it is in a strong, robust position and on track to deliver targets set out in its Corporate Plan with three key focus areas - most importantly ‘People’ and ‘Homes’, but also ‘Business strength’ which enables Cottsway to continue investing in current homes so that they are to the high standard customers expect and deserve, but also in a good position to continue providing more homes in the future.

“I would like to thank everyone who has played a role in Cottsway over the past two and a half decades and especially to our customers, for telling us when we get things right or when we could be doing things better so that we can take action to improve, because their views are what matter the most.”

Our Corporate Plan 2023-2028 includes targets to invest more than £150 million to deliver 833 new homes, and approximately £63 million on improving the quality, safety, and energy efficiency of existing properties, over the 3-year period.

More information about our anniversary activities will be published on this website.