Some HAs have got together to make a pitch  for a new borrowing scheme for sub-market housing, to government officials looking for potential solutions to the housing crisis by a group made up of Peabody, Clarion, Network, Great Places and Aster.

The proposal is for the government to use its cheap borrowing costs to invest £100bn over the next 10 years in housing priced between 80% and 90% of market cost.

Here is the report they got the idea from and some commentary from ResPublica’s website:

National-Housing-Fund-1

Launched on 14 July, ResPublica’s new report A National Housing Fund to Build Homes We Need offers a radical way forward in tackling the current housing crisis and outlines the economic and social case for a new government investment in housebuilding. The report’s proposals offer a solution behind which all parties can unite to address one of our urgent national policy priorities and get the housing market working for the many.

In this timely follow up report to last year’s Going to Scale, the report presents new research on the potential of a National Housing Fund. The authors show that the Fund would significantly boost housing supply by utilising government’s ability to borrow money at historically low rates, and housing associations’ expertise in letting and managing properties.

Supported by new analysis and modelling, the report details the substantial economic and social benefits that a National Housing Fund would deliver. The report finds that, in ensuring at least 40,000 more homes are built a year, the Fund would boost public finances, create new jobs around the country, boost small developers, and grow construction capacity through repeated investment over 10 years. This new research on the impact of the Fund finds that:

●     Ensure a minimum of 40,000 homes to be built annually

●     Boost public finances by £3.4 billion

●     Create 180,000 new jobs in the construction sector

●     Boost SME growth through certainty of purchase

●     Create a financial instrument so that debt does not contribute to the deficit

●     Support the wider construction industry through repeat investment

For the economic analysis which underpins this report, see this paper from JLL.

In their campaign for greater safety, Inside hosuing has shared some previous reports into disasters, as we await the outcome/advice from the Grenfell Tower fire.

Thanks for sharing Inside Housing:

They say

“The Lakanal House inquest produced 50 days of evidence, and four specific sets of recommendations to the London Fire Brigade, Southwark Council, the Fire Sector Federation and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

The links below may be useful, but it is worrying that Inside Housing covered some of these same issues back in 2013!

• Lakanal House coroner’s inquest
• Shirley Towers coroner’s letter
• Inside Housing’s feature on coroners’ ‘rule 43’ reports “

MPs are set to debate a bill which would make it easier for tenants to force landlords into fixing health and safety hazards, accoridng to Inside Housing

“The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation and Liability for Housing Standards) Bill 2017/19 will have its second reading in parliament on 19 January.

It was put forward as a private members’ bill in July by Karen Buck, Labour MP for Westminster North and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid.

Ms Buck previously tabled the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill 2015/16, which was blocked by Conservative MPs.

The new legislation would build on that bill, extending it to social housing tenants as well as those in the private rented sector.”

Here are this years winners and runners up:

Here is a useful article from 24 housing on harder to reach customers

There may be something useful in here for you:

The article has been copied over from some work with Hannah Bailey has done with the Coalfields trust

“What started as an intervention with a practical outcome in mind, has exposed complex problems that may help to explain why some are harder to engage.

They attend digital interventions and pop out at the other end with an e-mail address, but still bereft of digital comprehension that is second nature to the digitally confident.

This short blog attempts to explore some of the possible reasons why.

Identity

There are established problems with low income groups and identity – anyone who has tried to support a Universal Credit claimant prove theirs knows this first hand.

For low income groups, proving your identity is hard. The online world is the opposite; digital identities are set up in seconds and result in new problems of identity management, curation and so on.

For a group who struggle to evidence their real world existence, adapting to a new culture of identit(ies) management is a huge step. Digital interventions that do not engage with this topic loose a key reference point in understanding a digital world.

Digital grammar

Anyone who has studied language has experienced the challenge of understanding new grammar rules; you need a high level of mastery to be able to explain just why one language’s rules are so different to another.

The digital world has its own rules; the lack of spaces in email and website addresses; the hidden hierarchy of search terms; why do you need to try several search terms for the same type of job? Surely a Cleaner is a Cleaner?

Digital skills interventions do touch upon these topics but tends not to explicitly explore them.

Digital geography

The digital world lacks tangible reference points and is as confusing as trying to navigate a foreign city without a map or language skills.

Some job club attendees would sign into their email accounts, and get frustrated at also having to sign into job search websites using their email address, as they thought they’d already signed in to ‘the internet’ when they did so with the email account.

It is an ongoing challenge to furnish this group with the ability to navigate the digital world independently.

It was a common to resolve one problem only for another to emerge, such as CAPTCHA, pop up adverts, and so on. These problems had the impact of a brick wall, with progress and confidence just stopping.

Concluding remarks

It is established that the digital revolution is changing culture and society faster than we can adapt to it confidently.

There is more association of digital exclusion with social exclusion.

However our time working in the job clubs is exposing just how big a gulf exists between the digitally confident and excluded; an intervention measured in hours rather than months is not working for a hard core group left behind by the digital revolution.

It is suggested hard digital exclusion may be better approached like learning language and culture; if the past is a foreign country then a digital future is too.”

Thanks to Plus Dane for hosting

1           Presentation and discussion

A new approach to involvement at Wythenshawe Community Housing Group – Dean Slavin, Housing Manager at WCHG

In reviewing their approach to involvement, WCHG have combined community insight and digital methods with face to face contact. Dean will take us through the changes in their approach and their reasoning and some hints and tips for achieving.

Followed by discussion/Q&A/ sharing of information on approaches.

Here is the presentation from Dean:

WCHG Snet 3rd October 2017

The WCHG fits with the Councils strategy “our Manchester”

WCHG asked:

What can you do to support your community?

What can we do to help you with this?

WCHG chose Benchhill as a pilot for a new way of engaging in neighbourhoods – this was a Manchester pilot and is now being rolled out across their stock at WCHG.

Dean is also engaged in lessons learnt from that pilot in other parts of Manchester as part of devolution.

Staff are now working with other agencies at Benchill – they are getting to hear what others are doing and are better informed to make links with and for the community – they have a strong partnership and funding for this.

It started with a huge door knock – over 1000 homes

Met a Mum’s group – had a conversation, they did not want formal meetings they wanted something more action orientated which they could pace and lead.

They went out with staff to ask:

Tell us about your area and what is worrying you?

Neighbourhood plans have been built on that, including actions on off-road bikes.

The residents came up with the plan, WCHG supported the plan’s delivery.

Love (living in) Benchill – took hold

New involvement structure

Tenants went to Trafford hall with staff for 2 days to learn from this and decide how to replicate the best bits for the wider neighbourhood offer.

Staff from across the business attended to get a better understanding.

They decided to have a 2-year strategy

Get it in place in year one

Refine it in year two

TARA’s

Were 12 TARAs, now there are 5

WCHG looked at what TARs were achieving for themselves and for WCHG

£250 and other support with funding applications for local grants are given.

Most did not take part estate walkabouts, clean-up days, door knocking to find out what their community needed.

This is what is in the new requirements and constitution.

NB

Before WCHG did anything – they checked out their plans with local politicians so they were on side with changes to funding requirements for TARAs/Community associations

Dean is going to send through the new resident involvement strategy and new TARA constitution/charter – which will appear here when it comes in

North Moor TARA

The tenants asked to book and hire the local café for a morning – they invited other resident for a breakfast sarnie and coffee and to come in and chat to them

They asked about local priorities- this is being sued as the model for the new TARAs.

They have a constitution which is just half a side of A4.

WCHG were keen to hear the everyday voice of tenants and to capture that voice

They want to make use of street reps and social media and surveys and events to capture information and find quick wins.

2. Presentation and Discussion – new data protection requirements

Clare Sanderson, Director at IG Solutions, Liverpool Limited

The GDPR will impact on tenant engagement in Mystery shopping, call auditing and other direct contact.

Clare shared information about the new requirements and participated in Q&A.

This took up a great amount of the meeting.

Here is the presentation, if you follow the notes slides – you will see the detail of what was discussed there.

(The presentation has been split – it had lots of pics – bu the content and notes slides remain 3 pics removed only for Clare 2)

Clare Sanderson GDPR with notes 1

Clare (2) – some pics removed due to size of dcument

Clare – Cyber security

Clare – steps to GDPR prep

Some of the main points were:

• Holding and sharing data – only if you have permission to do this and no comment is not consent – you need real consent to share
• You have to let tenants know what you hold and what it is used for
• Inform the Info commissioner within 72 hours is you breach – or the circumstances could be worse
• Need to do a privacy impact assessment
• Tenants will need to opt out or opt in
• Ideally tenants need to sign up – I give you permission to use my data for ……
• Consent must be in plain English, specific and there is a special version for children – you have the right to be forgotten as a tenant but not completely as some data must be held to manager the tenant
• You need to be able to demonstrate consent – pref. give everyone a leaflet and ways to withdraw from some of the usage of data
• This might impact on text messages too – does not need to be e mail and paper only

Clare took away a few things to look, the answers will appear here when they come in:

3. Government Leaseholder Consultation – Yvonne

The government is currently consulting on the power of recognised resident groups to request information from/about other residents. Consultation closes on 19^th September.

Yvonne Presented the information which generally discussed how we would approach being approached by tenants asking for other tenants – leaseholders data who lived in their block.

We decided to discuss leaseholder consultation at a future meeting when the information from this consultation has been made more, in the meantime we will look at the different ways in which leaseholders get engaged at the next meeting

 DCLG Consultation Leasehold TAs

s130_HPAct_consultation

On the couch

4           Leeds CC Digital use – questionnaire

Ian asked everyone to write down some quick examples of what ‘digital’ innovation they are progressing in their organisations – doesn’t have to be ‘involvement’ related, anything about worker smarter as an organisation and offering something more to tenants

He had an IT challenge session coming up in Leeds, trying to outline the vision for all matters digital, and would love to be politely disruptive by sharing how others are innovating.

Leeds are also doing some academic research with the Barnsley Academic research unit on involvement.

5. The new Value for money standards – new tenant engagement requirements

The draft new standard is out to consultation until xmas

It is metric based and suggests purely financial management.

It is likely that the final new standard will be available from April 2018.

VFM in tenant involvement will be covered within the involvement standard

6. Best practice sharing – post Grenfell

                            This had been a major item at the previous meeting

Ian has been invited to a meeting at Trafford Hall

He was suspicious about – it was a paid conference

To set up a High-Rise board –   YD to circulate

Leeds are reviewing the need for Electronic Notice boards in their blocks

– similar to that provided by Adactus

Most landlords have been swapping or removing door mats

and other tenant items in the communal areas

Some are looking at Estate or block champions – Trafford Housing trust

Others are looking at rendering plastic piles which will melt in a fire

Yvonne will circulate information on the NHC conferences – there may be opportunities to support this for members as NHC are looking for facilitators – YD to find out more – not required – NTOs are doing this for CLG and conversation is more general and not H&S based.

YD mentioned the 29^th Nov Tenant Panel conference with the NHC which will be based on scrutiny, Tenants Panel and actions taken post Grenfell

7                  Task and Finish Groups

Tracy Jagger at Habinteg is considering task and finish groups and   mystery shopping, she asked the group to send her terms of reference / guidance on this.

WHA to send Mystery shopping guidance – see below – scan copy only available

Yvonne will also dig out some information for Tracy.

We discussed the movement to a more task and finish approach and decided to speak about this at the next meeting from a social media perspective

2.30                   Close

                           Future meeting dates:

Thursday 18^th January 2018 – Connect HA in Dewsbury – opposite the train station

 For the next agenda

• Community investment
• Social media – emerging practices
• Leaseholder consultation

Suggestions for this or future agendas include

• Rant and Rave tool for Customer Insight – Together Group – can’t do Jan – will do April – dates to be confirmed
• HACT – new tenant satisfaction/insight tool to be invited

Food bank referrals have surged by up to 179% in a London borough where the government’s full-service Universal Credit has been piloted.
Pecan, a foodbank which operates in Southwark, has said it has seen a 179% increase in referrals among families with children and a 94% increase in overall referrals between 2016 and 2017, which they said is mainly due to welfare reform and Universal Credit.

The figures were published to coincide with a report by thinktank the Smith Institute analysing the impact Universal Credit has had in two London boroughs – Southwark and Croydon. It was jointly commissioned by Southwark Council, Croydon Council and Peabody.

Reported on a survey of housing associations by Inside Housing-  landlords are handing out food parcels to tenants on Universal Credit and helping them pay gas and electricity bills.

Inside Housing went on to say:

“”Southwark Council’s local welfare fund said there has been a 34% increase in the number of food parcels issued in the first three months of 2017 compared to 2016.

The Smith Institute report found delayed Universal Credit payments have “put many into debt and rent arrears, causing considerable stress to individuals”.

It found that those taking part in the study had “almost universally experienced financial hardship as a result of transitioning onto UC [Universal Credit], notably as a result of the significant delays to payment”.

The report’s authors interviewed 36 people on Universal Credit and analysed the rent accounts of 775 tenants.

Anecdotal evidence also revealed people waiting for their first Universal Credit payment are reluctant to take advance payment loans from the government.

One claimant said he knew he could get an advance payment “but I didn’t want to take it because I don’t like owing people money”.”