Welcome to this year’s annual report, which sets out how Watford Community Housing performed throughout 2025/26.

In June 2026 we merged with Thrive Homes to become Chime Housing, a brand new Community Gateway housing association, so this will be our last annual report as Watford Community Housing. You can find out more about the merger here.

This annual report gives you an overview of what we did across the year, including welcoming new customers from Notting Hill Genesis, retaining our G1, V1 and C1 ratings from the Regulator of Social Housing, as well as a reminder of how we came to form Chime Housing.

A message from the Chair & Vice-Chair of our Gateway Membership Team (GMT)

Over the last year, the Gateway Membership Team (GMT) have continued to empower and champion residents, driving the changes that matter most to you.

We worked closely with Watford Community Housing and other residents throughout the year, and we are very pleased with what we’ve managed to achieve together.

One of the key projects was the merger with Thrive Homes. We are pleased that residents were given a meaningful voice during the merger period and that we were able to help shape the new organisation. The 10-week consultation period and branding workshop meant we could engage with staff and emphasise what matters most to us.

Our feedback was used to set the priorities for Chime Housing – with promises including an improved repairs service, more customer-facing staff and more ways to engage and get involved. We believe that this merger will help the organisation do more and make sure that it has residents’ best interests at heart. 

As well as the merger, we have continued to help host Tenant Question Times and scrutiny sessions throughout the year. These saw residents given an opportunity to speak directly to senior staff and share their experiences. You can read about the positive changes we have seen as a result of these here.

We were proud to have played a role in key policy changes and taken part in nationwide social housing conversations and training, to make sure we had up-to-date knowledge on the key issues affecting residents. 

Watford Community Housing has achieved a lot, but there is always room for improvement too. Now that it has come together with Thrive Homes to form Chime Housing, we’re looking forward to working with former Thrive customers to make sure we are truly representing our fellow residents from across both the old organisations. 

We would like to thank our fellow GMT members and every resident who has worked with us in any way this year to keep improving services for residents.

Hind El Khoumssi (GMT Chair) & Lynn Wheeler (GMT Vice-Chair)