News
NRG Resident Involvement Awards 2009
Each year, the NRG presents an award of £1000 to a resident or resident group in each member organisation for their achievements. Anyone can make a nomination, completing an application form with strict criteria, which is then considered by the NRG. This year's winners are as follows:
MHT: Mary Burt, chosen for her exhaustive membership of various committees and focus groups has chosen to allocate funds to the Four Closes Resident Association who have arranged to construct and plant containers in communal areas on their estate at Roundshaw.
Spirita: Michael Barron for his continued work with sustainability and repairs, as a member of the Repairs Operation Core Group, regularly feeding back residents’ concerns to improve service and satisfaction. Mike chose to buy projection and cinema equipment which can be used across various estates in the area.
Clapham Park Homes: Victoria Robinson of The Women’s Group allied to the Clapham Park Project was awarded for work in bringing women from diverse groups together to improve skills and boost confidence through events and workshops.
Granta: Terri-Lee Lewis for her work for the ‘Café’ community project for Cambourne residents. Terri has chosen to update the kitchen area in the community centre.
MST: Daniel Happi (TBC)
Social housing registrations up by 2,000
More than 2,000 extra social homes were registered between February and April than in the same period last year, according to the latest National House Building Council statistics. Figures show there were 10,512 registrations for social homes in the UK, an increase of 27 per cent on 2009.
Read more
TSA sheds £2.7m to avoid quango axe
The Tenant Services Authority is slashing a further 10 per cent from its budget in an attempt to persuade the new government to keep it. This comes as housing minister, Greg Shapps, said he would be looking "very closely" at the TSA. He described the regulator as a "quango too far" and said its funding could be better spent elsewhere.
Read more
Residents decide how to improve their communities
Residents will take charge of Thames Valley Housing's newly launched Community Involvement Programme and decide how their communities should benefit from it. Read more.
Warning on 'chronic' lack of housing
England and Wales face a 'chronic' shortage of housing as building figures drop to the lowest level since 1923, campaigners have warned. Read more.
Choice based lettings 'cuts segretation'
Choice based lettings schemes have helped reduce ethinic segregation, according to Communities and Local Government department research. Read more.
Tenants asked to lock dogs away
A housing association has asked tenants to lock dogs away when housing officers visit after a member of its staff was attacked by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Read more.
National Housing Federation brands rent cuts policy 'economically inept'
The NHF has lashed out at the housing minister, claiming planed rent cuts could cost 4,000 new homes a year. Read more.
TPAS Conference
The NRG hosted a stand at the recent TPAS Conference, held from 31 July to 3 August in Birmingham. Sheree Russell, MHP Board member attended as did Richard Hewgill, Granta and Clapham Park Homes Board member who congratulated the NRG on their presence at the conference, praising their literature and the raising of their profile.
NRG members were able to share their resident involvement stories with other residents and share best practice.
Language barriers '"cause overcharging"
Black and minority ethnic tenants are being overcharged for services by social landlords because of "language barriers", a new report warns. Read more
Praise for resident inspectors
Having completed the first year of inspections, the inspectors spoke at a "Stairways to Excellence" conference held in London and Leeds and received praise from the TSA and audience for their thorough and imaginative approach.
New Gas Management System goes live
Since the revision of the Gas Policy and Guidance Notes, back-office changes have been fully implemented and workshop sessions undertaken to imbed new working practices. Changes have already delivered improvements and have been well received.
New Equality & Diversity Strategy and Action Plan
This has now been agreed by the MHP Board. It clairifes how MHP intends to comply and suprass the statutory and regulatory requirements placed upon it to meet its equality and diversity objectives, aims and actions in respect of equality and diversity. Download
Court to rule on social landlord status
London’s Court of Appeal has been asked to decide whether registered social landlords are ‘public bodies’, and susceptible to claims under the Human Rights Act. More
Tenant Services Authority's "National Conversation" with residents
The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) has been holding a ‘National Conversation’ with residents and landlords for the last number of months.. This feedback will go towards developing new standards to improve services for tenants and inform the future of social housing. Full report
The TSA are inviting you to hold local 'conversations' on what the standards should be / or getting them right. Resource packs are available.
MHT wins leadership award
At the Homes and Communities Academy awards, MHT and L&Q won Leadership of place 'Developing strong local partnerships for better homes and communities' for Green Horizons at Edmonton. See the HCA newsletter for more information.
New Equality Bill will impact on the Housing sector
The Equality Bill published by the Government this week is likely to have a major impact on housing organisations when the legislation comes into force in April 2010. The legislation will place new duties on public bodies, which are likely to form part of the regulatory and inspection framework, as well as service provision and community engagement.
The new legislation will draw together nine current pieces of legislation and will affect bodies in England, Scotland and Wales. It will cement the rights of many groups of people who rely heavily on the social housing such as disabled people, older age groups and black and minority ethnic groups. However, the new legislation will require public bodies to consider and plan more effectively for the diverse needs of their communities on issues such as sexual orientation, religion or belief. More.
Housing Associations to note change to Gas Safety law - CORGI no longer registered to conduct gas safety checks
The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) has asked housing associations to note a major change in gas safety.
The change which came into effect on 1 April 2009 now means that all gas engineers must be on the new Gas Safe Register to lawfully carry out gas work. The Gas Safe Register replaces the CORGI gas registration which ended in Great Britain and Isle of Man on 31 March and no longer applies to gas safety law. More.
Tenants want more involvement in housing management
The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) report "Understanding Tenant Involvement" (27 March 2009) explores the attitudes that social housing tenants have towards involvement in housing management and decision making. Tenants want more involvement in housing management but some barriers mean this might not happen, according to the report. More
Clapham Park Homes awarded £13 million
The Homes and Communities Agency has handed out £13 million to Clapham Park Homes, ensuring its investment in affordable homes. The Agency also awarded Hale Village regeneration scheme in Haringey £3 million.
TPAS Annual Conference 2009 - Hilton Birmingham Metropole
Friday 31 July – Sunday 2 August
Also featuring - The Connecting People 2009 Awards
Please contact the conference team on 0161 868 3540 or email
Reports
Presentation by James Warne, Maintenance Manager for MHT London
James outlines outlining the Kitchen Replacement plans as part of the Decent Homes Programme. More