The Housing Corporation put forward proposals to transfer Ujima Housing Association's £1 billion assets to London & Quadrant Housing Trust.
The Corporation, which has taken control of the financially blighted Association, was seeking approval for the move from the Financial Services Authority and from those organisations owed money by Ujima.
A statement from the Corporation confirmed that Ujima was 'in default of all its loans' and that lenders have issued a notice calling in the security of these loans. This triggers a moratorium, effectively giving the Corporation control over Ujima's fate. The statement also advises that under the terms of the draft proposal, London and Quadrant Housing Group would receive a transfer of the assets and liabilities of Ujima.
Subsequently, Ujima's lenders agreed to its assets to be handed over to London & Quadrant. This was confirmed in a statement released by the Housing Corporation, which also advised that it had appointed consultancy Grant Thornton to manage the process.
In a later announcement, the Housing Corporation advised that it is to commission an independent inquiry into the circumstances leading up to the collapse of Ujima. It confirmed that the inquiry will examine the role of Ujima's board and management, as well as the Housing Corporation's regulatory role.
The announcement of an inquiry drew a letter to the Corporation from the Federation of Black Housing Organisations (FBHO), in which it suggests seven conditions it would like the inquiry to meet. These included including the FBHO be part of the steering group overseeing the inquiry. It also calls for the inquiry appointees to be independent and for Ujima staff to be invited to give evidence.
Paradigm Housing Group announced that is embarking on one of the biggest ever stock-shedding exercises, in a bid to become more efficient.
The Organisation is offering 580 dwellings in Northamptonshire for sale to other associations, in a strategy that has been promoted by the Housing Corporation as part of its efficiency agenda.
Most of Paradigm's 11,500 homes are in West London and the surrounding home counties. The release of dwellings scattered in Northamptonshire should help the Organisation to improve services to tenants in the areas where it has most impact.
A key objective will be to work together to resolve practical issues experienced as developers. Group members plan to meet regularly to review their progress in meeting affordable housing targets.
The group, called East Seven will include Aldwyck HA, BPHA, Circle Anglia, Flagship HG, Hightown Praetorian & Churches HA, Orwell HA and Swan HG.
To help ensure the service being delivered is what customers want, Wirral Partnership Homes (WPH) has set a series of service standards.
The standards are for a number of their key service areas, such as resident involvement, repairs, estate management and income management.
The idea behind the service standards is to let their customers know exactly what level of service they can expect from the company. Customers worked with WPH to set the standards and trained customer inspectors will mystery shop them, to make sure they are delivering the standards they have set out.
