The Government announced a further range of measures to improve building safety in Higher Risk Residential Buildings (HRRBs), which are now defined as buildings that are either over 18 metres high or over 6 stories.

Promoting the need for monitoring over the entire lifecycle of a building and the importance of tenant involvement, these measures will have a significant impact on those involved in both the construction and management of residential buildings.

The importance of a named Building Safety Manager is immense.

Read this very helpful summary of advice from our friends at ACS:

READ OUR BRIEFING IN FULL >

This was our first Zoom meeting.

We have agreed to meet 6 weekly for 2/2.5 hours, (instead of a 4 hours quarterly), until we get back to the new normal.

We spent the first hour discussing the latest Housemark survey and when the right time might be to complete a survey, including pros and cons.

The second part of the meeting was dedicated to life for engagement post CV19.

Here are the slides from Housemark:

Scrutiny group 29 April 2020

Here are my notes:

Housemark Notes 29Apr2020

We recorded the zoom for anyone who missed the meeting – which i sent out via  Dropbox link.

The recording was too big for this site. If you have lost your link -please let em know and i will resend it.

Life for involvement during and post CV19

Here are the notes on changes to roles for involvement officers and groups active on digital:

On the couch – Covid Notes S.net 29.4.20

A number of offers were made to share information by members during this discussion:

Self assessment templates – more on the drop box page:

TIES SA Template 202003.

Local offers consultation – Bury

02.120 Local Offers – final draft J Merrick

This is a useful collaboration on the activities within HAs:

CT-CEx-COVID-WhatsAppchat-summary-240320

Thanks to Campbell Tickell for pulling this together and to Inside Housing for sharing.

As a small HA Board member, it is useful to see that we are not behind the curve.

The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) has updated its advice to building owners and landlords on how to operate the waking watch fire safety measure during the coronavirus outbreak.

Here is the advice:

NFCC advice COVID-19 -25 March 20

The advice asks landlords to ensure that waking watch operatives adhere to Public Health England’s social distancing rules and asks landlords to consider installing communal fire alarms in blocks if waking watch staff numbers are reduced as a result of coronavirus.

Legislation  for social and private renters to take legal action for a wide range of disrepair came into force for existing periodic tenancies on 23rd March.The act came into force for new tenancies on 1 March 2019.

Tenants can insist landlords fix up to 29 listed HHSRS hazards, for example: damp and safety issues

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 adds hazards to requirements set out in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985:

HH&SRS Guidance

From the gov. website:

“The housing health and safety rating system (HHSRS) is a risk-based evaluation tool to help local authorities identify and protect against potential risks and hazards to health and safety from any deficiencies identified in dwellings. It was introduced under the Housing Act 2004 and applies to residential properties in England and Wales.

This assessment method focuses on the hazards that are present in housing. Tackling these hazards will make housing healthier and safer to live in.

This guidance is aimed at non-specialists, in particular private landlords, to help them understand the requirements under the Housing Act 2004 in relation to the HHSRS and help them identify the type of work that is needed on their properties to conform with the HHSRS.”

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New Risk Management advice has been issued by the Regulator of Social Housing relating to rents. This is in addition to report issued in October 2019.

The original annual report sets out the main risks facing the social housing sector and some of the actions registered providers should be taking to manage those risks.

Sector_Risk_Profile_2019

The ‘Setting rents for social housing – Addendum to Sector Risk Profile 2019’ published recently seeks to emphasise the importance of that return.

Setting_rents_for_social_housing_Addendum_to_Sector_Risk_Profile_2019

It supplements the section on rents and reiterates some of the themes set out in the addendum to the Sector Risk Profile 2018 on lease-based providers of specialised supported housing.

The note is primarily aimed at private registered providers of social housing but is also relevant to other stakeholders, including local authority registered providers in preparation for the new Rent Standard, which will take effect from 1 April 2020. It sets out what the sector can expect from the Regulator of Social Housing with regard to regulation of rent requirements in future.

Our friends at ACS have provided the following briefing to supplement the information provided by RSH:

“The ‘Setting rents for social housing – Addendum to Sector Risk Profile 2019’ published recently by RSH only seeks to emphasise the importance of that return:

READ OUR BRIEFING IN FULL >

Ask for beauty, refuse ugliness and promote stewardship – these are the recommendations of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission’s Living with Beauty report on development and planning, published in January.

Meanwhile, the West Midlands, the region’s combined authority has launched its own design charter to “promote, inspire and encourage great design and quality placemaking” across the area:

The six principles of the West Midlands Combined Authority’s design charter

Bournville Village Trust has launched a review of its design guide for Bournville residents which it will complete throughout 2020, with resident consultation.

The Beever and Struthers (Auditors) survey will be of interest to those involved in housing and governance in social housing.

You can access the sections of the review that are of interest from the executive summary below and the Best Practice Accounts by clicking here.

If you would like to download a copy of the review please click here.

This is a useful piece of advice for managing the risks in our businesses and maintaining resident services during this difficult time, from our friends at ACS.

Stay safe and well everyone.

From ACS:

“While the full extent of the coronavirus outbreak remains to be seen, its economic impact has already sent shockwaves across the globe. This article will help you to prepare for disruption – whether you’re buying or selling as a local authority, housing or care provider, or a charitable, educational or commercial organisation”

READ OUR BRIEFING IN FULL >

The powers of the Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) are changing from 1st July 2020, following recent government approval for the plans

Some of this comes from a new business plan proposed last year, under the spotlight of the Grenfell Tower Tragedy.

Here is the new Scheme:

Housing-Ombudsman-Scheme-final-version-for-publication

Changes include those which will impact on landlords and residents include:

• The dispute resolution service will have the power to issue “complaint-handling failure orders” against landlords and will develop a new complaint-handling code to improve consistency between organisations.
• The HOS will also be able to declare “severe maladministration” by landlords and require them to show they have learned from ombudsman decisions.
• The HOS will  have a more proactive role in identifying systemic issues at organisations or across the social housing sector and reporting these to the Regulator of Social Housing, with a new team dedicated to this purpose.
• Data on individual landlords’ complaint-handling performance and all determination outcomes will be published by the end of 2020/21.
• Landlords’ subscription fee to the service increase to £2.16 per home, having been at £1.25 since 2017/18