Section: Yesterday's News
Five Years Ago
In December 2002 we were reporting:
- A pilot investigation involving housing associations in the verification of housing benefit claims has been deemed a success. The Government now intends to launch the initiative nationwide to cover all qualifying local authorities. The pilot saw a 60% improvement in the quality of benefit claims submitted, with an average of 80% of claims being processed immediately, in successful areas. The national average is just 20%......
- The Government announced guidance on the statutory changes to Part E of the Building Regulations, which will come into effect on 1 July 2003. The official guidance published includes steps to tackle noise nuisance and sound privacy, in new homes and schools. The amendments and guidance will improve standards of sound privacy between homes, and will go further to improve the sound insulation of walls and floors within the home, as well as between rooms in hostels, hotels and residential homes......
- The Court of Appeal held that a Rent Act tenant, Antonio Mendoza, should be granted the same rights of tenancy of the Kensington home he shared with his late partner, as a surviving partner in marriage. The Court ruled that human rights would be breached if same sex partners were not able to succeed the tenancy of a home, in the same way a married partner could on the death of the tenant......
- Newcastle Council declared a new policy against drug behaviour. The policy sets clear guidelines for homeless drug users in hostels and is intended to decrease the number of drug related evictions from temporary accommodation. It has been drawn up in partnership with police and partners in homelessness within the City......
- The Federation of Black Housing Organisations (FBHO) and the National Housing Federation (NHF) announced that they are considering plans to introduce a new scheme, whereby associations' progress on race and equality issues would be assessed regularly. The FBHO have discussed the proposals with the consultant firm Equality Foundation, who already run a similar self-assessment scheme. Equality Foundation clients, working within this scheme's framework include United HA, the Cabinet Office and the Department for Work and Pensions......
- An new report conducted by the Oxford Brookes University and commissioned by the Office of Deputy Prime Minister has strongly suggested that Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs) have achieved high quality services at reasonable costs. The 1993 Right to Manage allowed TMOs to take over responsibility of a varying range of management and maintenance services under a management agreement with their landlord. The study found that over half of TMOs contributed greatly to regenerating the areas they manage, despite a history of poor services and under-investment. Many were assessed as outperforming their council on a range of performance indicators......
One Year Ago
In December 2006 we were reporting:
- The Government announced an independent review of the regulation of social housing. Professor Martin Cave is the Director of the Centre for Management under Regulation at Warwick University; he has been asked to consider options for reform. Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly said the review would be the first independent assessment of the system of social housing regulation for thirty-two years......
- Proposals for minimum standards of water efficiency in new homes and new commercial buildings in England and Wales were published for consultation. This responds to the commitment made by government ministers earlier this year to bring forward proposals to underpin the voluntary standards for water efficiency in the Code for Sustainable Homes......
- Communities and Local Government published its first Disability Equality Scheme, setting out in detail how it will improve equality of opportunity for disabled people. This responds to the Disability and Discrimination Act 2005, which places a requirement on all public authorities to produce a Disability Equality Scheme every three years. A consultative process ensured that an action plan focused on understanding the priorities of disabled people and examined what would make a real difference to their lives......
- A new consultation document published by Communities Scotland outlines how green standards will be raised in both the social housing and regeneration sectors in Scotland. One key proposal will see all social housing providers expected to meet the EcoHomes 'excellent' rating in their developments by 2010. This means that all new social housing will have to be both environmentally friendly and promote a good quality of life for residents......
- The Housing Corporation's proposal that funding for affordable housing grant will be allocated at different points in the cycle, rather than at a single point every two years, received a warm welcome from the sector. This was the expressed view of the Housing Corporation, as it launched its latest investment paper - Future Investment Approaches: Towards the 2008-10 Bid Round......
- Twelve consortia of local authorities and housing associations were given £1.3 million in second round funding to develop sub-regional choice based lettings (CBL) schemes to offer new and existing social housing tenants greater mobility, choice, and flexibility over their housing. The funding will ensure a further 49 councils adopt a choice based lettings approach and bring the number of local authorities with CBL to over 200......
- Brent Council will in future require developers to consider the necessity of a bath as part of new eco-friendly policies. In future, the Council will require developers to make a case for including baths as part of planning consent consideration. Councillors agreed a new sustainability checklist, which in effect makes the inclusion a 'material consideration in the determination of a planning application'. Whilst falling short of a total ban, the checklist places pressures on developers to consider incorporating showers only, with the aim of achieving higher water conservation......
- A major new report has concluded that England's largest housing associations need to urgently and drastically overhaul they way they are run if they are to successfully manage their ongoing growth. n 2005, the Future Shape of the Sector Commission (FSSC) was set up to examine the implications of the rapid growth in the size of the country's largest housing associations - meaning those with more than 25,000 homes, of which there are nearly twenty associations. There is currently unprecedented growth in the sector, which is having an important affect on the associations themselves, their residents and external stakeholders......
- Two of the key proposals put forward by the Housing Corporation with the launch of its Delivering Change Through Involvement consultation paper, were:
Housing associations managing more than 250 homes will in future be expected to have at least one resident on their boards.
All associations will be expected to provide financial support to ensure residents have the capacity to engage in involvement activity......
