Guest blog – More councils using Locata’s document upload module

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Locata’s document upload enhancement is being used by increasing numbers of housing schemes across the country.

The 13 partners forming the Kent Homechoice scheme, four more in the West London partnership, New Forest and North Herts were some of the first councils to take the update to their CBL system.

There are now several more councils ready to go live over the next few months, including three in East Sussex, four at Bucks Homechoice as well as Reigate & Banstead and Welwyn Hatfield.

The enhancement allows applicants to upload supporting documents at any time through the scheme’s public website. This means the documents can be uploaded using mobile devices using the public site’s Web App, as well as laptops and PCs.

Officers can ask for specific documents on individual applicants.  They can also turn off the upload functionality on an individual basis.

The supporting documents are uploaded directly to the back office to await verification. All the documents submitted by an applicant appear as one journal entry and the officer can easily see what the document is and which household member it belongs to.

The officer can also edit the household member and document type if the applicant assigned it incorrectly.

When evidences have been uploaded an email or task notification is sent to the officer handling the case to say the documents are ready for verification.

The document upload module includes the support and storage of all the extra data that has been uploaded.

For more information visit Locata’s website here.

Creating the capacity to deliver on our housing ambitions

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On June 24th, over 40 NHC members joined with the NHC and Homes England for a joint workshop on local authority skills and capacity.  The highly interactive session was focused on understanding and responding to local government capacity needs.

The Homes England team presented their emerging thinking on the agency’s role in providing the skills and capacity places need to make homes happen. Feedback from NHC members will inform further development of Homes England’s model.

The workshop follows new research from the NHC published in February, which quantified the reduction in housing and planning capacity in the North’s local authorities over the last decade. Our study found:

  • The average net spend on housing in northern councils has fallen by 54% since 2010/11, compared to a reduction of 34% in the rest of England
  • The average net spend on planning in northern councils has fallen by 65% since 2010/11, compared to a reduction of 50% in the rest of England.

Commenting, the NHC’s Brian Robson said:

“Since we published our research in February we’ve been engaging with partners to take the recommendations forward. In Homes England, we’ve found a receptive partner with a shared interest understanding and responding to local government capacity needs. I’d like to thank everyone who participated in the workshop, and look forward to seeing Homes England’s model develop further to meet the North’s needs.”

Time to put #HomesAtTheHeart of the North’s recovery

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Building and improving homes must be at the heart of the North’s economic and social recovery from the coronavirus crisis.  That’s the message from right across the North’s housing sector, and it’s why the NHC was delighted to add our support to the #HomesAtTheHeart campaign being coordinated by the National Housing Federation, CIH and other national sector bodies. NHC CEO Tracy Harrison was one of the signatories to an open letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, alongside Northern voices like Homes for the North and the GM Housing Providers group.

Since late April, the NHC has been working with members to think through the economic and social impacts of Covid-19 on the North of England, and consider the ways housing can contribute to the North’s recovery and help us build for the future. Huge thanks to the members who responded to our consultation on the emerging themes. We’re clear that our offer is about getting levelling-up back on track through a focus on net zero and new homes. Look out for our paper setting out housing in the North’s offer to Government.

#OurNorth – Net zero

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Decarbonising the North of England’s existing housing stock will be central to the UK’s climate ambitions, with figures from 2017 showing that 26% of all carbon emissions across the northern regions are from our existing homes. Work is under way, Local Authorities across the North have declared climate emergencies and Housing associations and ALMOs have made ambitious commitments to decarbonise their homes.

The message from NHC members is clear – it’s not about if we do this, it’s about how we do it.

The Northern Housing Consortium are launching the Our North Net Zero campaign to address this, putting together a series of opportunities for members to stay informed on the wider climate agenda and confident to lead on making decarbonisation a reality across the North of England. The work programme will culminate in our flagship Northern Housing Summit on 3rd November where Lord Deben, Chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, has agreed to speak.

Our first webinar is on the 13th July at 13.00 – we’re delighted to confirm that we will be joined by Jamie Driscoll, Mayor of the North of Tyne, to give a keynote address. Jamie declared a Climate Emergency on his first day as the elected Mayor of the North of Tyne and in the time since has lead the Combined Authority in placing strong emphasis on an inclusive approach to the climate agenda.

With further speakers to be announced soon, we encourage all our members working on the climate / decarbonization agenda to join us to:

  • Be informed on how national, regional, and local governments are putting Net-Zero plans in place – and bringing communities on board.
  • Hear from a panel of Northern Housing Consortium members on how they see the challenges and opportunities of the decarbonisation agenda.
  • Learn how the Northern Housing Consortium plans to support you – with an events and networking programme to build the connections and knowledge needed to upgrade your homes, as well as our influencing plans which will make the case to Government on the central role the sector will play moving forward.

Our contribution will be key to Government’s priorities on reaching Net Zero and levelling-up. We hope you can join us in July to advance this incredibly important work.

To book your place at our free member webinar on the 13th July please follow this link:

https://www.mynhc.org.uk/event/general?id=Our_North_Net_Zero3372080513

Any questions, or to share your views on which aspects of the climate agenda the NHC should cover in it’s events program please email Liam Gregson, Senior Member Engagement Officer – liam.gregson@nhc.org.uk