Starting in April, the seven-year contract covers repairs, refurbishment of empty properties (voids), gas servicing and repair, planned maintenance and an all trades emergency call out service.

Roalco will be covering Home Group’s South East of England area, including Harlow, Stevenage, Chelmsford, Eastcote (Greater North London), Croydon, and Eastbourne.

The contract also covers Home Group’s Stonham division, England’s largest provider of housing and support for vulnerable and socially excluded people, for the whole of South East England.

Alan Potter, Roalco’s managing director said: “Partnering with Home Group is a major step forward for us.

“It is the result of a lot of hard work by the teams in both companies. We are proud that as part of the contract, Roalco will be enhancing sustainability in local communities through our commitment to provide local jobs and training. This will include apprenticeships and sponsorship of university placements.

“In addition, we will be commissioning a fully interfaced IT system between Home and Roalco to enable us to deliver an exemplary service to Home Group’s clients.”

Steve Errington, Home Group’s Senior Procurement Manager said: “Our partnership with Roalco is one of a suite of contracts that we have awarded that we see as pioneering a new approach to building maintenance in the social housing sector. We welcome the opportunity to work with Roalco who have for many years been committed to innovation in this challenging sector”