East Kilbride Housing Association

About us

East Kilbride takes its name from an Irish saint named St Bride (or Brigit).  These days it is most commonly known as ‘EK’. Perhaps
unkindly in some quarters it is also known as ‘Polo Mint City’,
because of the 50-odd roundabouts contained in the town.

About the town

East Kilbride is in the South Lanarkshire local authority area and lies on high ground on the south side of the Cathkin Braes, about 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Glasgow city centre and close to the boundary with East Renfrewshire. The town is enclosed by the White Cart River to the west and the Rotten Calder to the east, the latter flowing northwards to join the River Clyde near Cambuslang.

East Kilbride grew from a small village of around 900 inhabitants in 1930 to become Scotland’s first new town on 6 May 1947 with currently around 76,500 residents.

About the Association

In the early 1990s the East Kilbride Development Corporation was required to transfer its housing stock to the local authority.  However, local residents were keen that at least some of the housing stock in East Kilbride was owned and controlled locally, resulting in The East Kilbride Housing Association being formed in 1994.

325 houses and flats were transferred to the Association from the Development Corporation. 195 of these were new build homes and 130 were older properties
transferred individually as they became vacant. In 1995 we embarked on a substantial improvement programme to ensure that all of our tenants have safe, secure and well
insulated homes. All of our 564 homes meet or go beyond the Scottish Housing Quality Standard and the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH 1). We are working to ensure all of our properties meet EESSH 2 by 2032.

More information about EESH:

About our properties

We have a total of 613 properties and more development opportunities are in the pipeline.  We also work in partnership with a number of voluntary and statutory
agencies to provide accommodation with support for people with particular needs.

your-home-1

About the Management Board

The Association is run by a Management Board, which is made up of a cross section of local people committed to ensuring that a wide range of housing is locally available.

Find out more about the work of the Board and how you can get involved here.

About our business plan

Our vision is – to provide the best housing and services in a safe, evolving and connected East Kilbride.

“Our mission is to serve community needs in a thriving East Kilbride by
providing quality affordable homes and related safe and accessible services.”

Our Values:

Empowering – we facilitate the participation and development of residents, Board Members, employees, and collaborators.

Kind – we operate a culture of kindness, openness, trust, honesty and respect and we embed it in all our interactions.

Holistic – we operate a person-centred collaborative, forward thinking, ‘one team’
approach for the benefit of the whole of East Kilbride.

Agile – we anticipate and respond innovatively to opportunities which are cost
effective and enhance the services we provide.

Our Strategic Objectives:

  • To secure EKHA’s financial viability and long-term future by operating efficient, effective, and accountable financial management;
  • To maintain a broad membership base and actively support tenant and community involvement in the running of EKHA;
  • To pursue opportunities to develop and expand activities which are financially viable, support our mission statement and are compatible with our Rules;
  • To increase the provision of varied housing tenures, in partnership with other agencies where necessary;
  • To ensure that the fabric of our existing stock and design standards of any future stock supports independent living and meets tenants’ aspirations;
  • To provide caring, cost effective and high-quality services which put customers at the heart of everything we do;
  • To continually assess and increase the range of services offered to our customers;
  • To explore cost effective sustainable energy options to provide lower cost energy bills and reduce carbon emissions;
  • To improve and expand the opportunities for residents to participate in our activities at appropriate levels;
  • To ensure our people have the necessary skills, experience, knowledge, and training to successfully lead and manage EKHA.

All well-run organisations need some direction, and one way to set the direction is by producing a Business Plan.

The Business Plan is simply a blueprint for the way an organisation is run, both day-to-day and over the long term. The plan is our main strategic planning tool and puts
forward the Board’s plans for the direction we will take over the course of the next three years. It outlines our history, our vision, mission, our core values and our current strategic priorities, as well as an analysis of some of the risks and challenges, including internal and external factors that we are facing. The Business Plan also covers our
operational plan, covering the same period, and provides the detail of how the strategic plan will be delivered on a day-to-day basis, and the resources required to deliver it.

The EKHA Business Plan is regularly reviewed with the involvement of the Board, staff and key stakeholders.

You can read the Business Plan here: EKHA Business Plan