NFA Conference: What a difference!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote that the annual CIH conference at Harrogate was a bit depressing: all very negative about the prospects for building and a general feeling of despondence.

What a difference the National Federation of ALMOs conference in Manchester was. Two days of real positive thinking and loads of examples of where ALMOs are making a real difference. I was most taken by the experiences of Barnet Homes (north London) and CityWest Homes (central London) who are branching out into the most exciting new areas of business. And I don’t say that just because I am an ex-Londoner!

CityWest Homes is providing a range of non-core services including new build development, stock acquisition including l50 ex-Right to Buy homes, a lettings agency and an estate agency. The latter is particularly valuable because of the very high number of leaseholders in Westminster.  

The most radical development is being planned in Barnet where the ALMO is planning to manage the Council’s adult social care services. The Council will create a trading company to which the existing ALMO and a new social care board will report.    

Both organisations are quick to point out that the ALMO needs a good degree of business acumen before it can embark on developing new services. There needs to be an excellent working relationship with the Council and a commitment to succeed.

Here in Wolverhampton, I don’t think taking on completely unconnected new functions is the answer. From managing over 23,000 homes we already have economies of scale and can already more than justify our overheads, which are top quartile value for money according to Housemark benchmarking.

What I think we need to do here is to take on additional services which would compliment and add value to our core tenant services. Not only would this minimise any risk to the day job but would also ensure that we don’t step outside our comfort zone and, more importantly, would allow us to enhance and improve existing services.

For example, to run tenancy support alongside housing management could reduce management costs and better target the service where it is needed most; or to run disabled adaptations for the private as well as the public sector could save costs. Another option would be extending our private sector leasing scheme to become a lettings agency could give local private landlords more choice and encourage more of them to let their homes through Homes in the City, helping to reduce the council housing waiting list.

Well done to all at the NFA – the conference certainly got the grey cells whirring!

Wolverhampton emotions run high over flexible tenancies

A recent debate wonderfully organised by the Wolverhampton Federation of Tenants Associations showed what Wolverhampton tenants think about the idea of flexible tenancies.  

At the end, all but a couple of tenants taking part voted in favour of keeping a council home for life. There were moving contributions about how a council tenancy had enabled people to feel safe and secure and to begin to put whatever trauma had taken them on the route to homelessness, behind them. 

Everyone agreed that the strain of being reassessed as still in need of council home every two or even five years was bound to increase anxiety and tension. I know this for a fact because some worried tenants I have met at our Get Togethers have (literally) begged me not to evict them - and the proposals are not even law yet.   

Being a coward of the highest order, I asked the Federation if I could present the case in favour of a council home for life. Seriously, I was worried that if I presented the case for the other side, more Wolverhampton tenants would think they could risk losing their home. 

We looked in quite a lot of detail at the impact on local communities of the increased turnover on estates should shorter tenancies come in. People understood that if you make it clear at the start of a tenancy that your home will not be for life, new tenants are less inclined to make improvements to their homes, care for their garden and get involved with their community. We discussed how difficult it would be for staff to accurately judge peoples' circumstances and how there were bound to be increased challenges in the courts.  

In Wolverhampton a guaranteed stable home is essential because the job market can be volatile, with people going in and out of work, from part-time to full-time and from benefits to wages. We do need to work hard to support people who haven't worked for some time but are capable of doing so - we need to offer training and support, job experience and help with finding jobs. 

We know the value for this at Wolverhampton Homes where we have created more than 700 jobs in the building industry, through the Decent Homes programme, the vast majority for local people. How will we interest new tenants in these opportunities when to better yourself could mean losing your home?  

I must say that the Federation's debate was a superb way of involving tenants and other residents in important policy issues and I do hope they do more. They had managed to get a number of teenagers from a local school to take part; some of whom lived in council housing. One young woman said that a tenancy should be for life because the idea of not being able to return home after you had left was inconceivable.

I am really anxious to do more to get people into the right sized homes. In Wolverhampton, we have the usual pattern of mismatch - about 3,000 homes are under occupied (that is have two or more bedrooms than people living in them) and about 2,000 people on the housing register (out of l3,000 in total) because of overcrowding. 

We have been running a really successful house release scheme which provides a flexible-use cash incentive and have recently decided to extend it. Tenants at Get Togethers have come up with some tremendous ideas for encouraging people to move all of which I am keen to try. 

While in many cases only a modern bungalow near their existing home will encourage people to move, there is a massive amount that can be done with support, care and encouragement - without having to resort to fixed term tenancies. 

A word with the Housing Minister

Our Chair Sue Roberts was on particularly fine form in Harrogate.  Spotting the Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, out of the corner of her eye, she managed to collar him ahead of some 200 other housing delegates at a reception put on by the Chartered Institute of Housing.  

After the introductions, Mr Shapps said he was a strong supporter of ALMOs and believed that ALMOs should be given the ability to build new homes (but was still fighting with the Treasury on that one). 

He also stated loud and clear that ALMO tenants should be given a vote should their local authority want to bring the ALMO back in house or make some – not that this is an issue in any way in Wolverhampton. It was great to hear him continue to back tenant involvement so robustly – such a key element of the ALMO movement.

As vice chair of the National Federation of ALMOs, Sue now has lots of experience of meeting Ministers and other decision makers. She left Mr Shapps in no doubt as to her views on how ALMOs have improved services with tenant involvement.

I’d like to extend an open invitation to Mr Shapps to visit us at Wolverhampton Homes and hear about how tenant involvement has been critical in our success. My door is open, Minister!