The chief executive of Manningham Housing Association (MHA) has spoken of his hopes for 2026 as the BME organisation gets ready in September to celebrate 40 years of delivering homes and services to communities in Bradford and Keighley.
In a New Year message, Lee Bloomfield reflected on another 12 months of achievement for MHA in 2025.
He said:
“We found out just before Christmas that we have retained the highest possible grades of G1 and V1 from the Regulator of Social Housing followin
g our annual stability check. That is great news for us, as we are investing more than ever in our stock as well as bringing forward new homes.
“Earlier in the year, we were excited to deliver 24 new properties for social rent at Victoria Road in Eccleshill with an investment of £5 million in partnership with Zentra Group, Homes England and Bradford Council. These homes represent another significant step forward in our mission to provide high-quality, affordable housing solutions for the local communities we exist to serve.
“Being named Landlord of the Year at the 2025 Northern Housing Awards was a proud moment for the team, with Tausif Mohammed deservedly winning Tenant of the Year. We were also recognised with a Highly Commended status at the Housing Executive Awards for our work on digital innovation and community involvement.
“And following a week-long assessment, we retained both the Customer Service Excellence quality mark and the global Standard for Diversity and Inclusion in HR Management, known as ISO 30415, after becoming the first housing association in the world to be awarded the accolade in 2023.”
The MHA chief executive said he expects 2026 to be a particularly momentous year for the association.
He continued:
“Our focus for the next 12 months will be to further increase the number of new homes we can offer to those in greatest need in Bradford district.
“With support from our valued partners, we are determined to lead from the front in providing as many additional affordable properties as we can through a blend of construction and acquisition. The present Government has set a challenging target of building 1.5 million new homes by 2029. We want to play our part in fulfilling this ambition with residents in Bradford and Keighley at the head of the queue.”
And Mr Bloomfield said he believes the year ahead presents the opportunity for the organisation to look back with pride on what it has achieved over the past four decades and put the foundations in place to ensure the next 40 years deliver even more.
To assist in this endeavour, he revealed that MHA’s Corporate Strategy is about to be refreshed.
He said:
“Our current strategy, published in 2023, centres on four overarching objectives: providing more affordable homes; looking after our existing homes and tenants, community investment and partnership, and tackling inequalities in the BME community.
“The new strategy – effectively a roadmap for the next three years – will have a renewed focus on growth, community involvement and customer scrutiny, digital transformation and innovation, environmental sustainability and people, and culture and inclusion.”
He added:
“MHA was established in 1986 after research highlighted that the housing needs of the South Asian community in Bradford were not being addressed. Since then, we have grown from an organisation with two properties to one with more than 1,400 homes and over 6,000 residents.
“Since the outset, we have sought to remain true to our founding principles and to do the very best we can to deliver for the individuals, families and communities who need us most. We will never stray from those objectives.”