The first five Second Stage Transfer ballots in Glasgow could go ahead in November following a landmark decision by Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) Board
It is to ask the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) to grant 'in-principle' consent for GHA to ballot tenants in five LHOs on whether they wish to see more than 2,000 houses transferred from GHA to other landlords. If consent is granted by the SHR, the tenant ballots will take place in November 2008 and the houses could transfer as early as March 2009.
GHA Board approved Business Plans from the five LHOs, who wish to take ownership of a total of 2,097 homes under the process known as Second Stage Transfer (SST).
The five LHOs where tenants will be balloted (with numbers of properties involved in brackets) are:
A further 31 LHOs who currently manage 20,985 houses on behalf of GHA, are still progressing through the various stages of the SST process.
Solihull Community Housing's (SCH) innovative scheme to harness solar energy for high rise blocks in the north of the Borough has been extended, due to its success.
Solar panels have been installed on the roofs of seven high-rise blocks and extra funding means that another 15 blocks will now also have panels installed.
The panels generate electricity from daylight in order to power the lighting in communal areas. Although electricity from other sources is needed to light the communal areas during the night, the panels reduce the amount used from non-renewable sources, reduce Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions and help the environment.
The panels cost £216,000 - half of which SCH received from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform's Low Carbon Buildings Grant Programme. Recently SCH (together with Solihull Council) received another £240,000 from Low Carbon Buildings, to install panels to another 15 blocks.
The money SCH saved from using the panels is used for environmental improvements. SCH are now planning to install similar technology in the rest of their high-rise blocks.
The Guinness Partnership, one of the country's largest housing providers, launched a distinctive new brand across all of its areas of operation.
The five organisations that make up the Partnershipl adopted new logos and corporate colours across all of their letterheads, signage, vehicle livery, websites and corporate literature.
The suite of logos are based around the letter 'G' of the word 'Guinness'' and have been developed to maximise the organisation's position and presence in the social housing sector.
The Partnership has simultaneously announced a new corporate vision, to deliver 'great service, great homes and a great place to work'.
Chief Executive, Simon Dow said:
"Over 800 people drawn from our customers, staff and boards were involved in the consultation about our new visual identity.
It's a new look that emphasises that even with their own identities, all the companies in the Partnership are part of a single team working together with shared values and for a common purpose. It's an important part of the journey to create a distinctive and trusted brand for our customers and all those we work with."
A scheme to help vulnerable people who have cold and damp related illnesses in Dudley celebrated winning a national award.
GMTV star Lorraine Kelly was on hand to present the Dudley Health Through Warmth scheme, managed by Black Country Housing Group, with The National Housing Federation Neighbourhood Award for Partnership 2008 at the ICC in Birmingham.
Health Through Warmth is a partnership between Black Country Housing Group, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, the Primary Care Trust and npower.
People are identified by health and other community workers - including nurses, midwives, children's centre staff, occupational therapists, police and firemen - who have attended a Health Through Warmth training session. The scheme can help people of any age with a cold or damp related illness.
Vulnerable people are often the least likely to seek assistance, but by linking up with community workers they are more easily identified and then referred to the scheme for practical help.
All referrals are assessed and the most suitable grants or other types of funds, including charities and the dedicated npower Health Through Warmth Crisis Fund, are then accessed to pay for the required insulation and heating.
The Health Through Warmth scheme has received more than 2,500 referrals for local residents and accessed more than £2 million of grants and other funding, in addition to £240,000 from the npower Health Through Warmth Crisis Fund.
Two midlands housing providers joined forces to create one of the largest groups in the region and the first to span the west and east midlands.
Waterloo Housing Group, formed by Eastern Shires Housing Group and Waterloo Housing Association, will manage more than 16,000 homes across central England, from the Welsh borders to The Wash.
With assets of £580 million, the new group comprises de Montfort Housing Society, Leicester Newarke Housing Association, New Linx Housing Trust and Waterloo Housing Association. (Eastern Shires Housing Group will change its name to Waterloo Housing Group.)
The group aims to develop 1,000 new affordable homes for rent and shared ownership each year.
The Group plans to use its size to support and strengthen local economies by influencing the supply chain and local labour market, and promoting training opportunities in construction and maintenance for local people.
Knowledge sharing is expected to produce improvements in key performance indicators, by drawing on best practice across the Group.
One of the country's largest providers of affordable housing has been launched, following the merger between A2 and Dominion.
The new A2Dominion Group has over 30,000 homes in management across London and southern England, with a further 6,000 properties in the development pipeline.
A2Dominion Group Chief Executive, Darrell Mercer said:
"The newly merged organisation is ideally placed to meet the changing demands of the housing market.
We now have the financial strength and resources to deliver more homes and improved services for our residents."
The A2Dominion Group was given the Housing Corporation's seal of approval in July 2008.