Section: Yesterday's News

Five Years Ago

In August 2002 we were reporting:

The homelessness charity Crisis announced a change of direction, reflecting the current all-time low number of people sleeping rough. The Charity's new strategy will see it focus on hidden homelessness and not just rough sleepers...
Consultation on changes to housing law, aimed at sweeping away unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions, were announced by Housing Minister Jeff Rooker. The changes to section 27 of the Housing Act 1985 will make it easier for local authorities to enter into Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and other contracts. The proposals will change the way in which councils can delegate housing management services and will allow contractors to sub-contract some work...
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister advised it was consulting over proposals to allow local authorities the freedom to set up and run incentive schemes aimed at releasing housing. Under the proposals, local authorities will not require central government consent to offer grants to people prepared to move out of council housing...
Westminster Council won a High Court summary judgement to speed up the recovery of a £26.5 million surcharge from its former Leader, Dame Shirley Porter. The surcharge was for her role in the late 1980's homes for votes scandal, which involved homes being sold in key marginal wards at a discount to potential conservative voters. In December 2001, the House of Lords re-ordered Dame Shirley to pay the surcharge. It gave her until September 2002 to pay the surcharge in full, which now has attracted interest and has risen to £27.7 million. There is a possibility that interest will be backdated to 1987, which could bring the total owed to about £37 million...
The success of a choice-based lettings scheme in West London was celebrated by five local authorities and three registered social landlords. The pilot, which was funded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, received over 22,000 applications for about 600 available homes, including some that have been classified as hard-to-let properties. Local authorities Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow, with partners Ealing Family HA, Paddington Churches HA and the Paradigm Group, set up a joint venture company called Locata to run the initiative...
A new study commissioned by the Housing Corporation was published, which examines the growth and spread of large scale voluntary transfer (LSVT) housing associations and their impact on the housing association stock profile at district level. The study also looks at the differences between the tenant profiles of LSVT and non-LSVT (mixed-funded) associations. As one of the reasons for stock transfer was to help tackle the burden of repairs and renovations, the level of vacancies not available for letting is also compared with non-LSVT associations of equivalent size...

One Year Ago

In August 2006 we were reporting:

The Respect Standard for housing management was launched, outlining the core components essential to building stronger communities and delivering an effective response to antisocial behaviour, such as accountability, leadership, giving greater resident empowerment, and supporting community efforts at tackling anti-social behaviour...
A suite of reduced, more tenant friendly performance indicators (PIs) was launched by the Housing Corporation. The current framework of PIs was introduced in 2001, but has undergone a series of refinements in response to the changing regulatory and policy environment. The revisions to the existing PI framework follow a consultation which ended in February 2006. The consultation's aim was to produce new PIs to reduce the burden on housing associations, while highlighting increasingly important areas, particularly tenant involvement and efficiency...
A housing scheme is helping to prevent accidents, illness and even hospitalisation among older residents in South London by using the latest technology to spot changes in their behaviour. The scheme, which is being piloted by Southwark Council, uses sensors to monitor residents' activity in the home and sends an alert to social care staff when there is any change to usual routines. As a result of the technology, staff supporting a Southwark sheltered housing unit have been able to spot illnesses at an early stage...
The largest housing association in the UK announced a pilot to evaluate the energy saving benefits of installing affordable solar panels in homes. If the pilot exercise is successful, Places for People will consider installing the panels in all its new homes as part of a renewable energy programme. The Association estimates that the units will cost between £750 to £1,000 per home, which is about 25% of the cost of traditional solar panel systems. This will make them affordable for new housing developments and existing homes...
According to a new report released by the Mental Health Foundation and Centrepoint, the increasing numbers of young homeless people with mental health problems are not getting adequate support because services rarely work together to provide the necessary help. The report highlights the fact that some voluntary sector housing and homelessness support services encounter barriers when trying to refer young people to the statutory sector...
Salford City Council signalled its intention to make an application to the Government to operate a legally enforceable Landlord Licensing scheme for the whole of its Langworthy district. This will in effect mean that landlords of privately rented accommodation will have to obtain a licence from the Council. It will be a criminal offence for a landlord to operate without a licence...
The importance of resident involvement and the Housing Corporation's commitment to driving this forward to the top of the housing agenda was highlighted by Housing Corporation Chief Executive, Jon Rouse, at the recent TPAS Conference in Birmingham. In his speech at the conference's opening session, and relating to TPAS's theme of 'Coming of Age', Jon Rouse highlighted the Housing Corporation's commitment to involving residents and communities in the work of housing associations...

Section: Yesterday's News

Five Years Ago

One Year Ago

Housing Monthly Diary

Reporting on August 2007

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