Moody's Rate Saffron Housing in the Top 20
10th May 2012
Saffron Housing Trust has become the first large scale voluntary transfer housing association to seek a credit rating from the world's biggest credit rating agency Moody's and is ranked in their Top 20 when compared to other rated associations.
Saffron is also not only the youngest housing association to be rated but the only one across East Anglia.
In announcing that Moody's has awarded Saffron with an Aa3 rating, Stephen Flowitt-Hill, Saffron's Director of Housing and Finance, said:
"We are very proud of the progress Saffron has made in the last eight years and wanted a well-respected external body to give their opinion of our financial performance.
"We believe that this is the first time that a stock transfer association has been rated by an international ratings agency and we were keen to have a benchmark from which to build in the next few years.
"Being awarded a rating of AA3 does as Moody's themselves say - reflect the strong and improving cash flows that Saffron Housing Trust generates."
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Accord Group Award Major Repairs Contract to Lovell
16th May 2012
One of the West Midland's largest housing associations, the Accord Group, has awarded a £50 million repairs contract to Birmingham-based firm Lovell.
Lovell beat 15 competitors to win the 10-year contract from the Accord Group, which provides 11,000 affordable homes and a range of services to 50,000 people across the Midlands.
As part of the deal, Lovell will undertake day-to-day repairs and provide a 24-hour a day reactive repairs service to Accord's homes in Birmingham, Coventry, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Sandwell.
Lovell, which looks after 200,000 domestic and commercial properties across the UK, will also carry out refurbishment and maintenance work to empty properties and other major works as part of the deal.
The contract, which is due to start from June 2012, is expected to save the Accord Group £624,000 a year, a saving of over approximately £6.2 million over the next 10 years, and create 10 apprenticeships over the life of the contract.
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Associations Plan 23,000 Home Merger
17th May 2012
Aldwyck Housing Group and Paradigm Housing Group have announced they have started merger talks in a move that would create one of the largest social landlords in the east of England.
Aldwyck, which operates across the south east and east of England, has around 11,000 homes and supplies management services to 20,000 people.
Paradigm works across the south, east midlands, and west London. Previously known as Chiltern Hundreds, it was the first large scale voluntary stock transfer landlord to be set up and now has over 12,000 homes.
The organisations said the merger would allow them to 'further improve service delivery and use their combined financial strength to increase the building of new homes in the area' and 'also enable cost savings and greater value for money through operating and procurement efficiencies.'
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Helena Staff Clamp Down On Tearaway Motorists
21st May 2012
Helena Homes staff have teamed up with local Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) to help clamp down on tearaway motorists.
Three employees from Helena's Neighbourhoods and Propertycare teams assisted Police in a speed camera initiative in Sutton Heath, as part of Operation Spring Watch.
Staff joined their local PSCOs, to see their partners at work tackling one of the hot-spots for speeding in St Helens. Concerns for speeding in this area had been raised during Resident Partnerships, run by Helena and the Neighbourhood Management Project.
The trio volunteered their time through Helena's Giving Something Back Initiative - a scheme which enables Helena employees to give up to 15 hours' paid time per year for volunteering and supporting local partners and the community.
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Tenants Given Direct Access to Staff Diaries
21st May 2012
East Lothian Housing Association (ELHA)are giving tenants access through its online elha.com to book appointments with Property Officers directly into the staff member's diaries.
The move follows on from last year's announcement that tenants could book repairs appointments directly into the Association's software themselves. Using the same technology, ELHA now enables tenants to choose appointment slots for property inspections.
Chief Executive, Martin Pollhammer, said:
"We've opened up access to staff diaries in this way because not every repair can be booked online - those that require significant work, or where the tenant simply wants some advice, require an inspection.
"Rather than have to wait until the office is open or it is convenient to call, tenants can simply access the Property Officer's diaries and book an inspection appointment slot that suits them. The appointment is confirmed there and then, and the service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."
ELHA will monitor the use of the appointment booking system and will look at rolling it out to other parts of the service if it proves successful and tenants like it.
