Kingdom Housing Association tenants, members and guests gathered at Carnegie Conference Centre in Dunfermline for the AGM.

Attendees learned about the £85 million Private Placement loan secured, the £51 million invested in new homes during 2018/19 and the groundbreaking homelessness and employment project, The Naumann Initiative.

Guests also heard from councillor Judy Hamilton, convener of the Community & Housing Services Committee, as she talked about the partnership working with Fife Council.

Attendees also heard from Craig Sanderson, former chief executive of The Link Group, talking about the creation and early years of Kingdom.

Laurie Naumann, vice-chair and founding member of Kingdom Housing Association, spoke about the changes at Kingdom since its inception in 1979 and Bill Banks, Kingdom Group chief executive, gave a brief presentation on Kingdom’s 40-year history.

Bill Banks said: “Kingdom has grown significantly since it was established. The first project was a 16 unit project in Dunfermline and the organisation has gone on to provide more than 5,000 new affordable homes for Kingdom and our partners. Kingdom is now a relatively large employer, with over 425 staff across the Kingdom Group, and is an accredited Living Wage Employer.”

Bill added: “Whilst our core objectives relate to the provision, management and maintenance of affordable housing, Kingdom’s mission is to provide more than a home and this has been achieved through a diverse range of services and projects we have provided over the years, including support and care, small repairs services, care and repair, advice and assistance services to tenants and employability services. Kingdom’s success is due to the many Board members, staff and partners who have worked to deliver on Kingdom’s objectives over the years and everyone who has been involved should feel very proud of their contributions and achievements to date.”

Discussing Kingdom’s future plans, Freya Lees, Kingdom’s chair, said: “We are continually looking at ways to improve our services to customers and our communities and for many years we have worked collaboratively with other partners. I am pleased to announce that Kingdom Housing Association and Ore Valley Housing Association have entered into early discussions to establish if a closer working arrangement could deliver mutual benefits for both organisations and our tenants. It’s still early days, however, we have appointed advisors to assist us in considering the options which may range from closer working, such as sharing services, through to a more formal constitutional partnership.”

She added: “We also have a long relationship of joint working with Fairfield Housing Co-operative, in Perth and Fairfield and Kingdom have agreed to explore a shared services collaborative partnership, building on the current and historic partnership arrangements”