Hear her voice at work

Hear her voice at work

by Gaynor Darby, Director, Asset Management, Civitas Investment Management

I have worked in social housing for over 30 years both operationally and strategically, so can confidently state that I have seen and managed practically all aspects of service delivery in whatever shape or form. Although methods and processes change, or new regulation or legislation comes into play, the foundations for housing remain the same - we are providing safe, decent homes for people to live in and for people who rely on us to deliver on this promise. Despite my years in the sector, I still love working in housing and remain a passionate advocate.

I joined Civitas in 2022 to be part of the Asset Management Team. This team serves a crucial role to work closely with our partners to ensure our assets remain safe and decent homes for vulnerable people to live in. Civitas has assets all over the country, and an essential part of the teams’ role involves establishing and maintaining relationships with all our partners, to support our understanding of service delivery at each level and to ensure our properties meet the requirements. We work in partnership with our partners offering support and advice in line with best practice, we offer our expertise and knowledge, whilst monitoring and maintaining oversight of the portfolio. Our expertise ranges from simple insurance queries to in-depth advice on local authority commissioning strategy or housing benefit regulation.

Civitas provides homes for the most vulnerable people in society, many with significant and complex needs. At the start of my career some of them would have faced a life living in institutions or would never have left the parental home, but today with new legislation and investors such as Civitas, there are more positive options available. I strongly believe that the right home provides a positive outcome, and it is not only a ‘roof over your head’ but has far reaching affects on health and well-being which is why I feel so proud of what I do at Civitas.

I am a little traditional in that I consider ‘housing’ is one of those things that you need to ‘see, hear and feel’ and my favourite part of my job remains visiting properties and seeing how they benefit the individuals and improve their outcomes. When I visit our assets, this gives me the opportunity to not only view and assess the property and the surrounding environment but to speak to the care providers and see how the individual living there is benefitting and thriving in their own home.