LATEST NEW
SAVING ENERGY LIMITED
On 11th September 2008, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) [Now DECC] announced that the government will increase spending on the Warm Front programme by £74 million. This takes its total spending on this programme to £873 million over the period to March 2011. Combined with the £3.7 billion spending required by the energy companies, the total national programme of energy efficiency investment therefore will come to around £6.5 billion over the next three years.
The schematic below represents the process.
Saving Energy UK have contracted the National Association in view of their current involvement in assisting a member charity in Essex. The pages below advise of the service on offer.
The Tenant Services Authority (TSA)
The TSA is the new independent regulator for affordable housing in England, set up to raise the standard of services through a well-governed sector that puts tenants first. Launched on 1 December 2008 the TSA currently regulates housing associations, including Almshouses that were previously regulated by the Housing Corporation..
There are some 10 million people in England living in one form of social housing or another – and a further five million who can’t afford to buy a home. The TSA will work on behalf of them all.
We want landlords, including almshouses, to deepen and accelerate how they work with tenants, or in your case almshouse residents – allowing the very people whose lives are affected by the quality of their landlord’s services to have a say in the way their homes are managed.
We are challenging landlords. This starts with challenging them to be financially viable and well governed. We’re working with them to make sure that is a given. But we want more too. The gap between excellent and mediocre affordable housing services today is both inexplicable and unacceptable – so we’re working with tenants and landlords to help landlords raise their game.
And we will shape the sector. We’re helping to create more choice – in the way housing is managed, in the choices offered to tenants, in the kinds of tenure available, in the landlords who provide it and in the way Landlords raise funds. We are going to make much better use of the data collected from landlords and make that data readily accessible to landlords, their boards or Trustees and their tenants. We believe better access to information will help Landlords to improve constantly.
As a regulator we believe in proportionate regulation. That means where landlords are strong and tenants are satisfied, there should be very little for us to do. Where standards are slipping, governance is weak, finances fragile and/or tenants are unhappy, we will intervene to get things done.
To understand what issues matter most to tenants, we need to listen to their views. In January we embarked on the National Conversation the largest tenant consultation to ever be held. We are giving tenants the opportunity to have their voices heard and tell the TSA what issues are most important to them.
Only then can we begin to develop a regulatory framework that puts tenants’ priorities first. Which means that in spring 2009, based on what we’ve heard, we’ll consult further with both tenants and landlords to shape a system that will do just that. Then in the summer, we’ll publish a formal consultation on the detail of our plans, and begin implementing the new regulatory framework in the autumn.
Whilst we are developing our new ways of working we will continue to regulate using the older powers of the Housing Corporation, but with an unapologetic focus on financial viability during these difficult economic times. Once we have completed the consultation on the new framework, we will turn on the extra powers in the 2008 Housing and Regeneration Act that established the TSA. Those powers provide us with a much better ‘toolkit’ to intervene to get things sorted for the benefit of tenants.
From Spring 2010, the TSA will also regulate other providers of social housing, such as local authorities and arms-length management organisations.
All this adds up to one of the biggest shake ups in affordable housing in decades, and one that will allow social housing tenants – no matter who their landlord is – to receive the very highest standards of service.
For more information about the TSA visit www.tenantservicesauthority.org.
INDEPENDENT SAFEGUARDING AUTHORITY (ISA)
The Independent Safeguarding Authority (acronym ISA) is a Non-Departmental Public Body set up by the Home Office to provide a new vetting and barring service for those working with children and vulnerable adults. The ISA is independent of government and administered by civil servants.
The ISA comes into operation on 12 October 2009
A full list of likely Questions, together with the answers ,are displayed on the following website:-
Further information and background is displayed at www.isa-gov.org.uk
Homes and Communities Agency
The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and the Tenants Services Authority (TSA) were both formed on 1 December 2008. Eighteen months of preparation and legislative process means that the affordable housing sector now has a single source of public land and money, and housing and regeneration expertise, in the HCA. And in the TSA, housing association and almshouse tenants have a strong independent regulator, which as its name suggests puts services to tenants at the centre of its operation. Next year, the TSA will bring all affordable housing tenants into the fold, including millions of council house residents nationwide. Both organisations have new powers, backed by new fit-for-purpose legislation.
It is not an over exaggeration then, to say that this is the biggest single change for two generations in the way we invest in, build, and manage affordable housing.
The Homes and Communities Agency is now the single, national housing and regeneration agency for England. It merges the land and property expertise of regeneration agency English Partnerships, with the investment function of the Housing Corporation, with its long track record of delivering affordable homes. We also draw upon the Academy for Sustainable Communities’ knowledge of the whole process of creating and renewing high quality places, and the delivery streams of Communities and Local Government – Decent Homes, Housing Market Renewal and Private Finance Initiatives among others.
In doing so, we create a single point of contact for local authorities, residents, government and other public bodies, housebuilder and investors; a single point of contact for all those involved in creating thriving places.
And I’d suggest that in the current economic conditions, the HCA couldn’t have come at a better time.
Now more than ever do we need an agency which will champion good design and quality, and social, geographic and environmental sustainability. And now more than ever do we need a single Agency which brings together public land and money; an agency which will deal with homes and communities and which is above all about people, places and a sense of local belonging.
Our role at the HCA is to create opportunities for people to live, work and enjoy life in places they want to and can afford to.
So, how will we do it? We will help local authorities bring together their housing and regeneration priorities into a single, comprehensive plan by addressing four key themes of activity. Through growth we will smooth the way for the large scale developments in important locations. With a view to affordability we will provide the funding - £8.4 billion between now and 2011 – for housing associations and private developers to build affordable homes for rent and sale. And as Government announced recently, those providers may soon be joined by local authorities.
Through our renewal programme we will work with local authorities on everything from rejuvenating failing estates to cleaning up swathes of brownfield land, removing the light of dereliction for the benefit of all residents. And through sustainability we will enhance our surroundings and improve quality of life.
I recognise the great value and history of the Almshouse movement and the important role they continue to play providing specialist housing and services in local communities. This is an important point. At the HCA we believe that a strong and sustainable community needs to include all its members, including those who are older or vulnerable, who require homes and opportunities that meet their particular needs, fostering self-determination and supporting a good quality of life. We are committed to funding specialist affordable housing for older and vulnerable people – £384 million so far from our National Affordable Housing Programme – including funds for Almshouses.
We will continue to invest in homes that meet the needs of older people and our ageing population.
The key to all this; the key to bringing together disparate local needs, and to marrying national targets with local delivery is what we are calling the Single Conversation. This will be our new way of doing business. Through the Single Conversation we will talk to local authorities and local communities about strategy, capacity, investment and quality, and together we will set clear delivery targets and articulate a shared purpose and vision for an area. We intend that the Single Conversation will transform the way in which we handle housing and regeneration throughout England.
I’ve talked a great deal here, about the aims and objectives of the HCA. And that is right and proper; we have a great deal to do and we are, after all a new Agency. There is though, a massive expectation on the HCA to begin delivering immediately.
That too is right and proper, and as we look back over the first 100 days, I believe that we can say we have been swift to take specific action to respond to the housing market downturn.
We have been flexible with our funding and our approach, have bought nearly 5,700 unsold homes for use as affordable housing, put forward over £400 million for first time buyers through HomeBuy Direct, and made £205 million available to help homeowners facing repossession.
And we have been talking to all of our partners, chief amongst them housing associations – about tailored packages of support. It is very important to us that these should be tailored – what works for a national housing association in Manchester is likely to be very different to a rural housing provider in Dorset – and in many ways this is similar to our approach to the single conversation which will follow, as I like to put it, the grain of localism.
And that, the localism, brings me back to one of my early points. The point, in fact, in my opinion: that the Homes and Communities Agency has to be about people. Creating opportunity to live, work and enjoy life in places that are desirable and affordable.
We recognise the unique and enduring contribution Almshouses have made, and are continuing to make, to these objectives. Of particular importance is the work done by the Almshouses Association on behalf of its members demonstrating professionalism and high standards, and benefitting from the care and commitment that volunteers bring to housing people with extra needs.
When we leave the market downturn behind, even though things may be very different, that will be the benchmark by which we are judged.
Sir Bob Kerslake is chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency
Using Trustees’ Time Efficiently
By Rosie Chapman
Executive Director of Policy & Effectiveness at the Charity Commission
As an employee of the Charity Commission, being a board member of a not-for-profit organisation is something of a busman’s holiday for me. Needless to say, my charity’s board is constantly looking for ways it can maximise the organisation’s effectiveness, whether in procurement, reviewing suppliers or improving service delivery.
I was recently asked to arrange for the charity’s trustees to attend a two-hour human resources strategy meeting, and a two-hour interview panel – scheduled to happen on two separate days.
It occurred to me too late how much more effective it would have been for both events to happen on the same day, given that the same trustees were involved in both meetings. Instead, because of our limited availability, tasks that could have been done in an afternoon took three weeks to be completed.
Trustees are a resource like any other. Using their time wisely and to the purpose is an integral part of maximising any charity’s effectiveness. In my role at the commission, I benefit from the organisational skills of our governance team – time is used in the most effective way possible. There is a parallel here for trustees – money invested in supporting governance is money well spent if it enables you to use trustee resources more effectively.
Quite rightly, most charities of any size provide formal support for their directors and chief executives to enable them to work as effectively as possible.
I would encourage charities with this type of administrative support in place – and those thinking about introducing it – not to be defensive about the money spent to provide it.
Unlike paid staff, trustees can say “Sorry, I’m not available”. The whole point of providing governance support is to maximise the effectiveness of trustees when they are available.
First published in Third Sector Sept 2008 and reproduced with the Editor’s approval
ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATES (EPCs)
The requirement for non-RSL almshouse charities to provide EPCs has been subjected to differing interpretation and external advice, as member charities have discovered, for a number of months
The latest indications from the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) to the National Association of Almshouses is that “it is not apparent that the letting of almshouse accommodation fall outside the ambit of the requirements of regulation 5 of the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations in respect of rental dwellings”
The following is thus current guidance on the matter:
TH\Shorterm\EPC Guidance
Advertising Vacancies in Almshouses
Almshouse charities may advertise their vacancies through the Association’s website. DO REMEMBER that all vacancies will be advertised for two months and THEN DELETED unless the charity concerned requests that the advertisement be extended for a further period.
Almshouse Charity Websites
Member Almshouse Charities can display their website details on the Association’s website page. Please email the details.
Warm Front Grants for Almshouse Charities
Age Concern (England), acting in support of the Association, have finally gained confirmation from EAGA [the consortium tasked with implementing the scheme on behalf of DEFRA and distributing funds] that almshouses are eligible for Warm Front Grants.
As part of their research the following was revealed in Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 1530 The Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (England) Regulations 2005 that says:
“Persons who may apply for a grant …..
(4) for the purpose of this regulation -
“tenant includes a sub-tenant and a person who has –
(d) a licence to occupy which meets the conditions of paragraph 12(a) and (b) Schedule 1 to the Housing Act 1985(25)(almshouse licences)
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20051530.htm
How to Proceed? Contact the Warm Front Team:- eaga plc, FREEPOST NAT 13708, EAGA House, Archibald Terrace, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 1ZL and ask for the details. Alternatively e-mail for details to networking@eaga.com or telephone 0800 316 2814 (Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm)
Loan Funding
The Association acts as a custodian of a number of special charitable funds. The Edward Kemp Fund has recently been added to the list. This charity has funds which are to be used specifically to benefit almshouse charities in the County of Hertfordshire. The funds will normally be made available in the form of interest free loans for projects such as building, purchase of refurbishment of almshouses but applications for other purposes may be considered. Can you take advantage of such funding? Contact the Association.
There are other funds available for loans to almshouses elsewhere in the country and specifically for almshouses in Suffolk, Yorkshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire or Berkshire.
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