The Housing Corporation announced it would meet all 48 of the recommendations directed at it in the Elton Report within 12 months, in one of the largest single de-regulation packages ever offered to part of the non-profit making sector. It is anticipated that this will remove at least 10% from the cost of regulation for over 1,500 housing associations across England over the next 12 months alone.
The Elton Report is the culmination of a four-month review, commissioned by the Housing Corporation and Chaired by Sir Leslie Elton, into the administrative burden placed on associations in meeting robust regulatory requirements.
Housing Corporation Chairman, Peter Dixon, said: "We have responded quickly to the recommendations contained within the Elton Report, which will enable us to emphasise some of our recently introduced measures to reduce the burden on associations, as well as give us the opportunity to add extra ones.
"We will publish a full Action Plan, including commitments from third party organisations, later in the summer. This will ensure we have a streamlined, risk-based approach, which will make better use of our resources and offer significant time and cost savings to associations.
"Ultimately, that will mean more time for associations to concentrate on delivering their valuable services to residents."
Sir Les Elton said: "I welcome the Corporation's swift and positive response, creating as it will an environment where the best performing associations can innovate, while ensuring those which perform poorly can be more quickly identified and more intensively managed."
Top priorities for the Housing Corporation as a result include:
Some of the other recommendations are dependent on the support or direct action of third party organisations - such as DCLG, the National Housing Federation, and the Audit Commission. Their commitment will be incorporated into a full Action Plan, to be published later this summer.
Unsung heroes who go that extra mile to support their communities were honoured with a special award. Those who provide activities for the elderly and a young football coach are among this year's Community Champions, named by Bedford-based housing association BPHA.
The awards are run each year to recognise those individuals who work in partnership with BPHA staff to improve community spirit. This year's winners were presented with certificates and cash prizes to spend on themselves and their groups.
Agreement was reached which will see English Churches Housing Group (ECHG) become a subsidiary of Liverpool-based Riverside Housing Group, in a move that will ease ECHG's financial troubles. The merger could result in substantial job losses at ECHG, which operates across 177 local authority areas. It is also expected that some 1,800 ECHG homes will be sold off, in a move aimed at restoring some financial stability.
The merger proposals will involve ECHG transferring its general needs housing to Riverside and closing its head office in Leicester. In return, ECHG will have sole responsibility for running the expanded Group's sheltered housing and housing support service.
Great Places Housing Group, which was previously known as Manchester Methodist Housing Group, imposed a 25% limit on the amount of its stock that will be committed to the provision of supported housing.
Director of Performance and Innovation, Maggie Shannon, confirmed that it was the uncertainty over Supported People funding that provided a risk to the Group's business. She said: "We have looked at our growth strategy and we have limited the amount of supported housing schemes that we will consider.
"We have always been an organisation that doesn't shy away from difficult situations because we do want to help vulnerable people but we feel that we are being forced to reassess every new opportunity based on how risky is this?"
Great Places Housing Group currently manages 1,000 supported housing places for people with various needs.
London & Quadrant Housing Group and Threshold Housing announced they had embarked on merger talks. If a merger results, Threshold is likely to become a subsidiary of London & Quadrant. The two organisations currently manage about 50,000 dwellings across London and the south east.
Threshold revealed a £700,000 loss in its 2004/05 annual accounts, mainly attributable to slow sales of high valued shared ownership properties through its subsidiary - Threshold Key Homes. In its Housing Corporation assessment, Threshold was given an amber light because of concerns over its financial viability.
Mendip Housing Association was removed from Housing Corporation supervision after two years, following concerns about governance and management arrangements. The Association joined the Aster Group in January 2006.
Network Housing Group and Accent Group joined forces to form a development partnership - Network Accent Alliance. The arrangement, which was a preferred alternative to merger, will lead to the joint development of over 5,000 homes during the next five years. Currently, the two Groups manage more than 36,000 homes.
Nomad Housing Group and Enterprise 5 Housing Association were reported to be in merger talks, which could lead to the Tyne & Wear-based associations jointly managing 5,500 homes across the north of England.
Notting Hill's grass-roofed development in Barnet won the first-ever Grand Designs Award for Best New Development. Notting Hill Housing was the only housing association to win an award, beating private developers from across the UK with the low-energy development.
The Grand Designs Awards celebrate the very best in built design and are given to projects demonstrating a progressive attitude to design, the environment and new ways of living. This was the first Grand Design Awards to be held and it was televised with over 600 people present.
Salvation Army Housing Association agreed a three-year, £600,000 contract with SOL Construction, to provide a 24-hours repairs service for the Association's dwellings across the midlands and Yorkshire.
It was announced that pupils from Woodpark Primary School in Lesmahagow will design mural boards for their school and ceramic number plates for local homes with support from Clyde Valley Housing Association and Communities Scotland. The project is linked to the development of new homes by Clyde Valley Housing Association, which will bring changes to the area adjacent to Woodpark Primary School.
Pupils will work with an artist to develop and produce mural boards for the outside of the school. This will link directly with the curriculum and help develop the pupils' artistic skills and links with the community. Around 40 pupils will be involved and they will also be asked to individually design individual house numbers on ceramic plates for the new homes.
Glasgow Housing Association's Chief Executive Michael Lennon revealed plans, which will see the current back office infrastructure split into seven shared service platforms. The move, which paves the way for second-stage transfers, will involve some 200 of the Association's staff transferring to seven local housing associations that will host the platforms, and provide a wide range of services, including IT and legal services.
The seven platforms will operate as independent business units and provide services to the 38 local housing organisations involved in creating the platforms 'from the bottom up.'
