The contract, which has an option to be extended by another two years, will see Willmott Dixon responsible for Home properties in the Central and North West regions of the country and includes delivering responsive repairs and voids maintenance along with planned works and gas inspections.

The North West contract starts in Spring 2012 and will see Willmott Dixon maintain 9,700 homes primarily across Cumbria and the Lake District at a value of £14m per year. The Central region also starts in Spring 2012 and covers 7,000 properties from North Yorkshire to Milton Keynes at £7m per year.

Willmott Dixon Partnerships managing director Mick Williamson said, “We are delighted to be given this opportunity to work with Home and achieve the unique Willmott Dixon approach outlined in our ‘Transformational Change’ paper published this year. This focuses on how an outsourced company can deliver a real step change in service as well as creating major legacy benefits through skills training, apprenticeship investment and community involvement.”

Home Group’s Director of Customer Service Property, Jim Preston added, “We are delighted that Willmott Dixon has won these contracts as part of our wider national procurement of new contractors across the country. We were very impressed with their innovative thoughts and ideas. We already have a close partnership with the company who are currently working with us to deliver some of our new build projects. We look forward to working with Willmott Dixon on this new and challenging project which will bring new and improved benefits to all of our customers.”

Home Group is a leading provider of affordable and supported housing for people in the UK. With its national headquarters in Gosforth, the company was originally set up by an act of Parliament during the depression in the 1930s and celebrates its 75th birthday this year.

Managing 51,000 homes and generating a healthy £350m turnover, the company is changing lives and opening doors to new opportunities for more than 70,000 people across the UK.

Willmott Dixon will work closely with Home to ensure year-on-year improvements in service performance, tenant satisfaction and value for money. This will come through investment in technology systems, training and people development.

This new contract award brings to over 150,000 the number of domestic properties that Willmott Dixon is responsible for. This includes over 60,000 properties for Europe’s biggest landlord, Birmingham City Council, in the north and south of the city.