Residents Across the North Come Together to Talk Pride in Place

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From Benwell to Blackpool, Moss Side to Skipton, and Prescot in between, the last few weeks has seen the Northern Housing Consortium’s Member Engagement and Policy teams on a true northern tour. We’ve been joining our members Blackpool Coastal Housing, Karbon Homes, Livv Housing Group, MSV Housing Group, and Yorkshire Housing as part of Pride in Place, our research project placing residents at the heart of the discussion on what a rebalanced country should look like at the local level. Partnering with leading global insight and strategy consultancy Thinks, we’ve brought together around 50 residents, including social and private sector tenants, across five locations to hear what ‘pride in place’ means to them, and how we can all work together to make a positive impact in neighbourhoods across the North.

The work continues against a backdrop of current and prospective Governments fleshing out their approach to the intertwining issues of civic identity, inequality, and the social fabric. The Government’s Levelling Up agenda has in many instances been built around the idea that “the most powerful barometer of economic success” is the “positive change” people see and “the pride they feel in the places they call home”. The Secretary of State’s latest intervention on housing underlines the role of both people and place; democratic decision-making and working in partnership to enhance local character. Similarly, the Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Lisa Nandy has been at work advancing Labour’s plan for regional rebalancing, rooted in the local and built around the core themes of economic resilience, labour market connectivity, environmental sustainability, and communal as well as personal wellbeing.

But notions like pride and belonging are loose terms that can mean many things to different people. The NHC’s recent Rebalancing Webinar Series displayed the full role NHC members play as vital anchor institutions cutting across, for example, physical improvements to the built and natural environment, skills and training support, and community initiatives that empower local residents. With many acknowledging the difficulties in defining, measuring, and evaluating local pride. The NHC initiated Pride in Place as part of our work, alongside our members and their residents, to highlight to all political parties the contribution of our members to making great places.

Devised by Thinks with guidance from the NHC and partner members, workshops were designed to learn more about how people in different neighbourhoods across the North felt about their areas and their views on what makes an area worth living in; what participants prioritised in their lives and the role of different groups in delivering on those priorities whether NHC members, the third sector, Government, and residents themselves. In a final task, participants worked together on a series of ‘desired outcomes’. If they oversaw a hypothetical centralised and fragmented funding pot, where would it be spent? Who would need to be involved? And what could the community take charge of right now if they were empowered to do so? This wasn’t necessarily about identifying individual projects, but thinking broadly about the future people would hope to see for areas like theirs across the North.

We’re incredibly excited to share more, but this is only the end of Stage 1. We’ll be soon joined again by participants from each Workshop location to share common themes and learning as well as work collaboratively with invited stakeholders to develop key pillars of pride. Findings from both these sessions will inform the development of recommendations to the sector in how we engage communities on our placemaking work, but also to Government, showcasing the full breadth of how NHC members contribute to regeneration in the broadest sense, tackling inequalities, and overall, improving community belonging. You’ll soon be seeing the NHC at Party Conferences in the Autumn and November’s Northern Housing Summit will see the launch of our final report.

Pride in Place forms part of the Northern Housing Consortium’s work to ensure housing sits at the heart of a rebalanced country. Further updates can be found on the NHC’s dedicated Rebalancing Webpage. If you have any further questions please contact Liam Gregson, Member Engagement Manager – liam.gregson@northern-consortium.org.uk

Renters (Reform) Bill: What does it mean for social housing providers?

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Blog by NHC supporter member, Ward Hadaway.

The Renters (Reform) Bill (currently at its second reading in Parliament) will be one of the biggest reforms of the English rental market we have seen in recent years.

The Bill itself is split into 5 distinct parts – parts 1 (assured tenancies) and 4 (supported and temporary accommodation) are most relevant to social housing providers.

Key provisions

  1. Abolition of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions

The government’s view is that “no-fault” evictions make it challenging for tenants to put down roots, reducing investment into local areas and impacting upon on homeless figures. In response to that, S.21 and the ability to end an assured shorthold tenancy on giving 2 months’ notice will be abolished.

It means landlords will need to rely upon other grounds for possession (including new grounds) as to which see below.

  1. Assured tenancies

Pursuant to the Bill,  all tenancies will be fully assured, periodic tenancies. Rental periods cannot be greater than 1 month.

It also means that social housing providers will no longer be able to grant “starter” tenancies as a trial before allowing tenants to convert to fully assured tenancies.

Tenants will still be able to end their assured tenancy by giving notice to quit at any time – but that notice period will be extended to at least 2 months, expiring at the end of a rental period.

Existing shorthold tenancies will convert to periodic tenancies by a specified long stop date.

But – a tenancy granted for a term of more than 7 years cannot be an assured tenancy. Currently, there is no upper limit. It means that, for example, shared ownership leases will no longer be a hybrid between a long lease and an assured tenancy – and therefore the current grounds for possession under Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 will cease to have effect and shared ownership leases can only be terminated by forfeiture, bringing them into line with leasehold tenure generally.

  1. Strengthening of grounds for possession:

The government says “responsible” landlords will still be able to recover possession of their properties where tenants are at fault, through the Bill’s strengthened eviction powers and possession grounds.

New, or amended, possession grounds relevant to social housing providers include:

  • Where certain landlords, including providers of social housing, hold a leasehold interest in its property and that lease will come to an end within 12 months of the date of a S.8 Notice Seeking Possession (new mandatory ground 2ZA)
  • The notice period for ground 7A will be reduced so that landlords can issue proceedings immediately upon service of the notice;
  • The notice period for ground 8 will increase to 4 weeks;
  • Where a tenant has been in at least 2 months’ rent arrears at least 3 times in the last 3 years (new mandatory ground 8A);
  • Ground 14 is amended to include conduct “capable of causing” nuisance or annoyance rather than “likely to cause” bringing it in line with the definition of ASB in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014;
  • The tenancy is used for supported accommodation and the tenant has unreasonably refused to co-operate with the support provider (new discretionary ground 18)
  1. Rent Review

The Bill will abolish contractual rent review clauses – instead, rent reviews for assured tenancies will be effected by:

  • Notice under S.13 of the Housing Act 1988;
  • FTT determination of an open marked rent under S.14; or
  • Written agreement between the landlord and tenant following a FTT determination.

The period of notice for a rent increase will increase to 2 months and no increase shall take effect within the first 52 weeks of the tenancy.

Many housing providers will have standard provisions in their tenancy agreements that relate to a contractual right to review the rent, and that reviews will take place on fixed dates (e.g. 1 April) each year. These provisions of the Bill will void those clauses.

  1. Redress system, supported and temporary accommodation

The Bill provides for the creation of a landlord redress system, a new Ombudsman and a landlord database. The aim is to provide tenants in the PRS with greater protection and the ability to have their landlords’ actions independently assessed.

Social housing providers are expressly excluded from the redress provisions.

However – within a year of clause 63 of the Bill coming into force, the government must set out its policy in relation to supported and temporary (homelessness) accommodation, including the standards of safety and quality  that should apply to that accommodation and how that should be enforced.

What does this mean?

For now we must wait and see how the Bill progresses through Parliament and await any potential amendments – it would be a surprise if there were no changes to the Bill, but the underlying objectives are likely to remain.

If the Bill is enacted, all new tenancies will be governed by its rules from its commencement. Existing tenancies will be governed by the new rules after the expiry of a long stop date – except where fixed term ASTs expire before that long stop date, in which case the new rules will apply from the expiry of that fixed term.

Until the Bill is enacted, there is currently no need to housing providers to do anything differently as to the creation and management of their tenancies. But at a strategic level, providers should be giving thought as to the operational effect of having no tenancies with fixed terms and limitations upon rent review – and what this may mean for property turnover and financial planning.

Northern Housing Consortium 2023 Election of Directors

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The Northern Housing Consortium represents the views of housing organisations in the North of England, with our membership of local and combined authorities, ALMOs and housing associations representing over 9 out of every 10 social homes in the North.  Our vision is our collaborative Northern voice helps members create and regenerate sustainable homes and build resilient, thriving communities.

The overall management and strategic direction of the Northern Housing Consortium is entrusted to the Board of Directors who are subject to election each year from Full Member organisations.  Membership of the Board is balanced between the three Northern regions and consideration is made of sectoral representation across different organisation types as well as the need for balance across the range of equality categories – age, disability, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation. We would strongly encourage applications from all backgrounds to support our inclusion and diversity objectives.

Under the Consortium’s governance arrangements, all nominations for the position of Director will be reviewed by the Board (or their nominated representatives), against a Skills Set for Directors to ensure that they meet the Board’s requirement to fill any vacancies – the Skills Set and Board Director Role Profile are enclosed in the Board Director Nomination Pack.

In accordance with a procedure agreed by the Board, we are seeking nominations for up to four new Directors’ places to be filled for the three-year period 2023-2026.  The Directors who are also retiring this year but who wish to stand for re-election are as follows:

  1. Paul Fiddaman, Group Chief Executive, Karbon Homes

NB The Board have confirmed their support for the re-election of the above candidate.

Should the number of successful nominations exceed the vacancies available, a ballot will be arranged and the results announced for formal approval by the Full Members at the Consortium’s Annual General Meeting on 23rd November 2023.

A nomination form is included in the Nomination Pack, and I invite you to consider and make nominations of candidates no later than 16th August 2023.  Please note that you can nominate more than one candidate but in doing so, you should note the conditions for nominating candidates included in the Nomination Pack.

An application form can be obtained from kay.wiseman@northern-consortium.org.uk This must be completed by the nominee and returned with the nomination form no later than 16th August 2023.

If you would like to discuss your nomination for the position of Director, please contact:-

Tracy Harrison

Chief Executive

T: 07809659492

E: tracy.harrison@northern-consortium.org.uk

NHC welcomes change on funding replacement homes

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The Northern Housing Consortium has welcomed the news from Homes England that grant funding from the Affordable Homes Programme can be used to fund replacement homes, alongside additional new affordable homes, as part of wider estate regeneration plans.

 

NHC members and others have long called for the restrictions on net additionality to be revised, and at the NHC’s first meeting with Housing Minister, Rachel Maclean MP, we highlighted the challenges this posed for our members, and urged her to adopt a more flexible approach. What Government have announced is that grants can now be used to fund replacement homes – where they are being delivered alongside net additional affordable housing.

 

We recognise that members will have questions about the change, and how it will work in practice. The NHC is working with Homes England to arrange a Q&A member webinar shortly.  Look out for details on MyNHC, or email Kristina.Dawson@northern-consortium.org.uk if you would like to be notified when bookings open.

 

Brian Robson, Executive Director (Policy and Public Affairs), said:

 

“It’s good to see the minister has clearly listened to what NHC members and the wider housing sector have been saying for some time. We welcome this week’s announcement and hope this will enable more much-needed regeneration in the North. We’re currently talking to Homes England about what this means in practice for our members, and hope the webinar we have planned will prove useful.”

Social Housing Quality Fund

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From 26 June, housing providers in the Greater Manchester area will be able to apply to a new £15m Social Housing Quality Fund, aiming to improve housing quality and minimise health hazards in people’s homes.

Successful applicants will receive grant-funding to carry out repairs and renovations in properties affected by issues including damp and mould, with providers expected to match-fund at least 25% of the awarded money. The fund hopes to support works on up to 1,500 properties within the Greater Manchester area and is open to registered providers of housing, including housing associations, local authorities, and arms-length management organizations (ALMOs).

Awarding of the funds will take a risk-based approach with funding decisions considering property type, whether the property is home to vulnerable residents, and the presence of Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) hazards. The fund will support the installation of measures to homes in the priority order set out below:

Band 1 Dealing with Category 1 damp and mould housing health and safety rating (HHSRS) hazards.
Band 2 Dealing with Category 2 damp and mould HHSRS hazards facing vulnerable households.
Band 3 Dealing with other Category 2 damp and mould HHSRS hazards.
Band 4 Dealing with properties where tenants have reported damp and mould issues and surveys have identified remedial action required.
Band 5 Supporting ‘infill’ works to properties of archetypes with vulnerable tenants where issues are known to occur and where evidence demonstrates elevated risks of hazards occurring.
Band 6 Supporting ‘infill’ works to properties of archetypes where issues are known to occur and where evidence demonstrates elevated risks of hazards occurring.

Any application must demonstrate that the work is in addition to already planned maintenance, or that the works would be accelerated with additional grant funding, or both. All funds received by successful applicants must be spent by 31 March 2024.

Applications for the Social Housing Quality Fund will be accepted until 11:45am on Friday 14 July.

An introductory event is scheduled at 11:00-13:00 on Wednesday 28 June for Registered Housing Providers and Local Authorities interested in submitting bids, to provide an overview of the fund’s objectives, the application process and associated assessment criteria. Any interested party can register for the event by emailing SHQF@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk.

Further information about the Fund, and details on how to apply from 26 June, can be found on the dedicated Social Housing Quality Fund webpage on the Greater Manchester Combined Authority website. Alternatively, prospective applicants can contact SHQF@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk directly with any enquiries.

 

The Social Housing (Regulation) Bill received its first reading in Parliament on 8th June following its inclusion in the Queen’s Speech.

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The aim of the Bill is to have more people living in decent, well looked-after homes and to redress the balance between landlord and tenant.   The Regulator of Social Housing will have stronger powers to issue unlimited fines, enter properties at short notice and ensure emergency repairs are carried out.

Provisions in the Bill include:

  • The Regulator’s powers to act will be strengthened and social housing landlords could face unlimited fines for breaches of standards.
  • The serious detriment test will be removed making it easier for the Regulator to tackle poor standards.
  • Safety has been added to the Regulator’s fundamental objectives.
  • The Regulator will be required to set up an advisory panel to include representatives of social housing tenants and social landlords.
  • The Regulator will have the power to issue social landlords with ‘performance improvement plan notices’ if they fail to meet standards.
  • Tenants will be put on a level playing field with the ability to hold landlords to account through a focus on transparency and provision for an access to information scheme similar to Freedom of Information.
  • Social landlords will be subject to ‘Ofsted-style’ inspections
  • The government will ‘name and shame’ landlords who fall below standards.

The Bill forms a key part of the government’s mission to level up across the country, with steps to halve the number of poor-quality rented homes by 2030 and redressing the balance of power between landlord and tenant.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said “We are driving up the standards of social housing and giving residents a voice to make sure they get the homes they deserve. That is levelling up in action.”

Tenants will also have a direct line to government, with a new 250-person residents panel convening every 4 months to share their experiences with ministers, inform policy thinking and help drive change in the sector.

At the same time that the Bill had its first reading, DLUHC opened a consultation on introducing electrical safety standards to the social housing sector. Proposals include mandatory checks on electrical installations at least every five years for rented and leasehold properties, and mandatory portable appliance testing (PAT) on all electrical appliances that are provided by social landlords.

Homes England Summer Learning Programme – book now

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Registrations are now open for July’s Summer Learning Programme from Homes England’s Local Government Capacity Centre.  The 14 free webinars, which are designed to support local government with development of housing and regeneration in line with Homes England’s new Strategic Plan, run between 10 to 20 July 2023.

Topics range from placemaking at a community level, measuring social value in economic appraisal and creating a distinct narrative for a place, to biodiversity net gain, green infrastructure for high quality places, compulsory purchase order (CPO) tips, planning for later living and health in design. Sessions book up quickly so do register now to avoid disappointment.

The whole programme can be accessed via Homes England’s website;  but the following webinars involve NHC members and might be of particular interest:

Learning from Greenhaus: A Passivhaus case study

With Salford City Council, Salix Homes

 13 July 11am to 12:30pm Book here

 
Introducing the Fair Foundations approach to place-based interventions

With Karbon Homes

 19 July 11am to 12:30pm Book here

 
Fair Foundations: Better placemaking to support the everyday economy  

With Coastal Housing Group, Unity Homes

 20th July 2pm to 3:30pm Book here