TV Licensing update

Our News item of 23 March 2019 advised almshouse charities that the Association had been in discussions with the BBC regarding their interpretation of legislation on concessionary licences (ARC licences) . Click here for news item.

The Association was pleased to be able to report to our members that we had received a letter from the BBC accepting the Association’s interpretation of the law. We can now confirm that the TV Licensing website has been updated to make it clear that almshouse charities established before 1 November 1949 qualify for a concessionary licence.

Click here for further details on concessionary licences

Posted 16 Sept 19

Welsh Government confirms almshouse charity exemption

Welsh Government confirms that the almshouse charities are exempt from the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016.

In July 2019, Nick Phillips, the Chief Executive of the Almshouse Association, wrote to the Welsh Government asking them to confirm that any legal issues relating to the appointment of beneficiaries of Welsh almshouses are dealt with under existing charity law rather than the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016.

The Welsh Government has responded to confirm that this will be the case and a copy of the letter can be found here and supporting information here.

The resolving of this issue is vital not only to Welsh almshouses but to the wider almshouse movement as it reaffirms the position that almshouse residents are appointed as beneficiaries of the charity.

Association Submits Evidence to the Housing Communities and Local Government Committee

The Almshouse Association has called on the Government to make it clear in planning policy that almshouse charities are a recognised form of affordable housing.

In a written submission to the Committee’s inquiry into long-term delivery of social and affordable rented housing, the Association stated that:

In order to encourage more almshouse charities to build more affordable homes and encourage investment in housing from non-government funds, all almshouse charities should be regarded as affordable housing for planning purposes.

The Almshouse Association, July 2019

The full report can be found here

Click here for further information on the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee’s enquiry.

Posted: 15 July 19

2019 Members Day Conference

Our inaugural Members Day Conference proved to be the inspirational day we hoped it would be.

Held at the stunning Haberdashers Hall, West Smithfield, London EC1A on Wednesday 5th June 2019, it was an early start for all the Almshouse Association staff, setting up and making sure we had everything in place to greet our members.

The day began with Chief Executive, Nick Phillips welcoming a full house to the first Members Day Conference in the impressive Livery Hall, followed by Liz Fathi, Chair of the Almshouse Association who briefed delegates on the future plans for the Association.

Dr Alison Armstrong was the first of our speakers who took to the stage and talked about the research being undertaken by Whiteley Village, the Association, Anglia Ruskin University and AgeUK on almshouse living.

Throughout the day, delegates were given a choice of talks and were treated to expert information from a host of specialists:

  • Helen Boyd on Safeguarding Vulnerable adults
  • Chris Drinkall of Rollits LLP on Mediation: Avoiding and resolving disputes
  • Tim Rutherford of Stone King LLP on Update on Legislation and Regulation
  • Gerry Morrison of Rollits LLP on Setting Aside Scenarios
  • Sean Stafford, Kathy Green of ACL and Carolyn Sims of Charity Bank on Loans, Grant and Project Management.

( all presentations can be found by clicking the link).

During breaks our delegates were able to visit the exhibitor stands to learn about the different services on offer and enjoy the networking opportunities. Feedback forms report how much everyone valued interaction with trustees from different charities and Almshouse Association Staff.

“Love the format – really feels like a Members Day and that one can actually participate”

Member Feedback form

Following the AGM section of the Conference (click here for full details), Keynote Speaker, Jon Sparkes , CEO of Crisis spoke of his experiences on the very topical issue ‘Homelessness and the Affordable Housing Challenge’.

Q & A sessions followed lunch; our panel of experts were put through their paces with a variety of questions and had time permitted, we know there were a lot more questions and answers that members were eager to explore.

“The collective experience in the room was amazing”

Paul Mullis, DAMHA

Liz Fathi read out a message from our Patron, HRH The Prince of Wales, following which the Patron’s Awards were announced…

Patron’s Awards went to 3 outstanding projects completed in 2018:

  • Chandos & Dent’s Almshouses, Winchcombe, Gloucester
  • Charity of James Goodman, Cranfield, Bedfordshire
  • The Mills Charity, Framlingham, Suffolk

The Almshouse Association introduce 2 new awards for 2018. – ‘Excellence & Inspiration’ and ‘Gardens & People’.

The following charities were given an award for Excellence and Inspiration:

  • Worcester Municipal Charities
  • Mabel Luke Charity, Newbury, Berkshire
  • The Finchley Charities, London
  • A group of 4 charities working together: Harborne Parish Lands Charity, Lench’s Trust, Sir Josiah Mason Trust, Yardley Great Trust
  • Peter Birtwistle Trust

The Almshouse Association Gardens & People Award for charities that have encouraged residents to take part in community projects, such as gardening. The following charities were presented with Gardens & People awards:

  • Hammersmith United Charities, London
  • Rogers Almshouses, Harrogate, North Yorkshire
  • The Eventide Homes, Bournemouth
  • Tiverton Almshouse Charity, Taunton
  • St Giles Almshouses at Wilton United Charities

Keynote Speaker, General Sir Mike Jackson, closed the day. Drawing from his extraordinary military career spanning almost 45 years – from Officer Cadet to Chief of General Staff, the highest level of the British Army – he delivered an inspiring and uplifting speech, ensuring the Almshouse Association Inaugural Members Day Conference finished on a wonderful high!


“Thank you to all. There was a real ‘buzz’ about the day – excited to feel part of such a progressive and forward thinking almshouse movement”

Member Feedback form

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Published: 1 July 19

AGM 2019

The Almshouse Association 2019 AGM was held on Wednesday 5th June 2019 at The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers’, Haberdashers’ Hall, 18 West Smithfield, London EC1A 9HQ.

The following are the main points of the meeting:

  1. The minutes of the 2018 AGM held at The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors, London EC2R on 13th June 2048 were proposed, seconded, carried and adopted.
  2. The following trustees retired and re-submitted themselves, were proposed and seconded:
    • Rob Douglas
    • Richard Knipe
    • Margaret Stewart
  3. Four new trustees were introduced by Chair, Liz Fathi, proposed and seconded:
    • Andrew Barnes
    • Quentin Elston
    • David Healey
    • Jim Kennedy
  4. The following Trustees retired and were thanked for their many years of valuable support:
    • Alan Martin
    • David Dunbar
  5. The Annual Report and Accounts for 2018 were presented by Mr S J Ling – Honorary Secretary. Simon outlined the key issues on income and expenditure, commenting on a slight fall in donation income from the previous year and increases in expenditure. He noted the investment falls, concluding that the Association is in a financially strong position and presenting the 5 Year Plan to improve services, raise the profile and drive engagement with government. No questions were asked and the motion to adopt the accounts was proposed, seconded and adopted.
  6. Appointment of auditors for 2019 recommended: Buzzacott LLP – proposed and seconded.
  7. There followed a report on NAACIF by Mr N Talbot Rice, Chairman of the NAACIF Board of Trustees. Nick Talbot Rice outlined the new direction for the NAACIF fund, highlighting how the fund would be opened to other charities. Nick stated that in the foreseeable future the Almshouse Association would maintain a portion of the Association’s investment in the fund. Nick was thanked by Liz Fathi who also thanked Michael Whitfeld; retiring from the NAACIF Board after 20 years hard work and support in helping oversee the investments with M&G.
  8. There was no other business. Liz Fathi invited the attendees to stay and listen to the presentation by Jon Sparkes, CEO of Crisis, that followed the AGM.

Published: 1 July 19

Selective Licensing – Fantastic news for almshouses!

On 25th June 2019, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published the report – ‘An Independent Review of the Use and Effectiveness of Selective Licensing’. The Almshouse Association is enormously pleased to learn that the report recommends that all almshouses should be exempt from Selective Licensing fees.

The report contains a dedicated section on almshouses (see 11.4 of the full report  and extracted here for ease) and concludes….

“There is a strong case to be made that purpose-built student accommodation (where operating under a Government approved code), and non-profit charities (operating under the guidelines of the charity commission) that are not registered providers of social housing, should be added to the list presumed exempt from the licence fee. In the case of purpose-built student accommodation, the code of practice adhered to holds them to a much higher standard than a licensing scheme. Non-profit charities (e.g. almshouses, veterans housing charities) provide a valuable service to the local community whilst often working on the slimmest of margins. The cost of licensing adversely affects their financial viability, and Charity Commission guidelines already prescribe good management and maintenance practices.”

We will update members as soon as we have an indication of next steps. In the meantime, if you have been impacted by Selective Licensing and would like to discuss it further with the Almshouse Association, please contact ChrisTargowski@almshouses.org

To recap on how we got here, please click on the link.

Published 25/06/19

TV Licence update

No doubt you have heard the BBC announcement that anyone aged 75 for over will now be required to pay for their TV licence (unless they receive pension credit). So how does this effect almshouse residents?

Firstly, any person who is 75 or over will continue to be covered by their free licence until it runs out on 1st June 2020.

After 1st June 2020, any person who is 75 or over (that does not qualify for a free licence because they do not receive pension credit), will be required to pay for a TV licence, but will qualify for a reduced licence fee under ARC rules if the almshouse charity is eligible.

For details on ARC eligibility, please refer to our previous news items on the subject.

News item 23/03/19
News item 30/07/18

Published 12 Jun 19

Baroness Eaton tables question to parliament on Selective Licensing

The Almshouse Association continues to apply the pressure to government with regards to our call for almshouses to be excluded from the financial burden of selective licensing legislation.

On 25th Feb 2019, Baroness Eaton tabled the below written parliamentary question to Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Question:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the selective licensing regime, introduced in the Housing Act 2004 to tackle rogue landlords, has resulted in Almshouse Charities that are not registered providers of social housing being financially penalised. (HL13979)

Answered:
Only registered housing providers are exempt from selective licensing. This is to ensure that all privately rented accommodation is properly regulated. We take this approach to ensure that high standards are maintained in all rental properties and all tenants are protected. Almshouse Charities are free to register as providers of social housing and some 25 per cent already are. Where almshouses decide not to register, local authorities have discretion to discount or waive fees associated with the licensing process.

Going forward, the Government has commissioned a thorough and independent review into the effectiveness of selective licensing. This is on schedule to report in Spring 2019. The Department will consider the outcomes of the review carefully, including how selecting licensing works for local communities and charitable organisations.


Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth


Recap on Almshouse Association Campaign for Exemption

On 20th June 2018, the Almshouse Association alerted members to the government announcement of a review ( link to government web page) to look at how selective licensing is used and find out how well it is working and called for evidence of almshouse charities impacted by the legislation.

On 23rd January 2019, the Almshouse Association met with a Government representative regarding the issue of selective licensing and put forward our strong case for almshouse charities to be exempt from selective licensing.

On 30th January 2019, having received a number of excellent case studies from member charities, the Almshouse Association put forward our written evidence to government.

On 17th Feb 2019, we were further supported by Stella Creasy, Labour and Cooperative MP for Walthamstow who submitted the below written parliamentary question [218301] which was tabled on 7th February 2019

Question:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government when he plans to publish the outcome of the Selective Licensing Review announced in June 2018 [218301] 

Answer:
Good progress is being made on the review by our independent researchers and the final report is on schedule to be published in Spring 2019.


Mrs Heather Wheeler MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

*On 21st May – Met with Heather Wheeler MP (Minister for Housing and Homelessness to discuss the impact of the Selective Licensing regime on almshouse charities

If you have been impacted by Selective Licensing, but you have not yet contacted the Almshouse Association about your experience, please get in touch with ChrisTargowski@almshouses.org

Published 20/03/19 and *updated on 21/05/19

Energy Scheme Grant helps to install efficient heating

Birmingham and Solihull based almshouse charity, Sir Josiah Mason Trust has written to the Almshouse Association about the £78, 806 funding they were awarded from the Warm Home Fund at the end of 2018. They wanted us to share their experience with our members and encourage other almshouse charities to apply.

“We know that we work with some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society and not providing adequate and affordable heating for these residents is not in line with our values.   This funding is invaluable and will really enable us to improve the heating in our homes and achieve the vision of our founder.”


Chief Executive, David Healey

The funding will enable the Trust to install modern gas fired central heating in 36 bungalows and 16 apartments.   These homes are currently heated by inefficient electric storage heaters.   The current cost of energy and the energy efficiency of these identified homes was a real concern to the Trust and a priority to resolve.  

The Trust has partnered with E.ON Energy Installation Services and as such have secured a significant amount of ECO funding for eligible installations.   ECO is the Government’s umbrella term for its programme to make houses in the UK more energy efficient.   The ECO scheme means that large gas and electricity suppliers are obliged to help households with energy efficiency measures.

The Warm Homes Fund was established by National Grid and administered by the Community Interest Company, Affordable Warmth Solution (AWS) to support local authorities, registered social landlords and other organisations working in partnership with them, to address some of the issues affecting fuel poor households.  

The £150 million fund is set to support over 22,500 households through funding for the installation of affordable heating solutions in fuel poor households which do not use mains gas as their primary source of heat.

For more information about the Warm Homes Fund, visit www.affordablewarmthsolutions.org.uk/warm-homes-fund/overview

If you want to know how E.ON Energy Installation Services can assist you, please contact Andrew Edwards on Andrew.edwards@eonenergy.com or call 07815 502613

Dated: 7th May 19

Annual General Meeting 2019

The Almshouse Association 2019 Annual General Meeting

will be held in the
Haberdashers’ Hall, 18 West Smithfield, Farringdon, London EC1A 9HQ
(by kind permission of the Master)

on Wednesday 5th June 2019   12.20pm – 12.35pm

Main Business:

  • Approval of Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday 13th June 2018 at The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors, Merchant Taylors’ Hall, 30 Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8JB
  • Election of Board Members
  • Presentation of 2018 Annual Report and Accounts

You are cordially invited to attend*. Admission to the Hall is from 12.10pm

RSVP to admin@almshouses.org  with the following information no later than 24th May 2019*.

1. Number of Representatives attending the AGM
2. Name of Voting Member representing Charity (please note only this person will be authorised to vote)
3. Position in Charity
4. Name of Charity/organisation
5. Membership number ( if applicable)
6. Names of other people attending

*IMPORTANT NOTE – If you are already attending the Members Day Conference on 5th June, there is no need to confirm your attendance to the AGM. Your voting papers will be in your Conference Pack which you will need to collect on the day.

Haberdashers’ Hall is opposite St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and approximately five minutes walk from these rail and tube stations:

City Thameslink – First Capital Connect
Barbican – Circle/Metropolitan/Hammersmith & City lines
Farringdon – First Capital Connect/Circle/Metropolitan/Hammersmith & City lines
St Paul’s – Central line

Dated 29/04/19