Nottingham City Homes Provisionally Recruits New Chief Executive

NCH have provisionally recruited a new Chief Executive, to take over from Chris Langstaff when he retires in October. The offer has been made to Nick Murphy, Executive Director for Housing at Southampton City Council. In his role in Southampton, Nick covered a range of customer facing services including housing and property services, environmental services, leisure and culture, community safety and community involvement. Nick was also part of Southampton's corporate leadership and management team. He successfully delivered key housing and asset management strategies and achieved the Decent Homes standard for a stock of more than 18,000 properties. Nick was also the Director of Housing, Health and Community at Eastbourne Borough Council. He was once seconded to the Senior Civil Service leading on national policy in housing management, homelessness and tenant participation. At Eastbourne he was appointed as the youngest Director for housing in the country.

Housing Fight Taken to PM Cameron's Downing Street Home

AFTER passing through security, Jean England, of Whitemoor, Alison Thorpe, of Strelley, and Ennis Peck of Clifton, found themselves walking along Downing Street, heading for the Prime Minister's house. Armed with more than 1,000 signatures of support for their campaign and clippings of stories from the Post, the three Nottingham City Homes (NCH) residents were joined by Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood and Gedling MP Vernon Coaker. NCH tenants launched the Nott Decent campaign in September after NCH was warned by the Government it could face a 25 or 40 per cent reduction in its Secure, Warm Modern programme. The project replaces thousands of windows, doors, kitchens, and bathrooms in council houses across the city. After knocking on the glossy, black door in Downing Street and handing over their petition, Ennis Peck, 82, said: "It was a really special moment that you don't think you'll ever do in your life." Mrs England, 60, said: "It didn't feel real, it was special that we, as ordinary tenants, were able to do something for the rest of the tenants." And Mrs Thorpe, 48, said: "Delivering the campaign to Downing Street was very, very special – that we've got this far and in this short time. But we're not stopping here – we need to get out there even more. We're still going to continue to fight. We've got all the four MPs behind us and that's really refreshing. Without their support we wouldn't have got as far as we have done." Mr Coaker said: "It's about ensuring that people's homes are of the standard that they should be. It's very easy money to cut but we shouldn't abandon people in that way. But it's also about what it does for the local economy, (more than 600) people are employed repairing the kitchens, doing the bathrooms. It's nice for me and Lilian to come along but it's a grassroots campaign, people coming together to achieve this. Ms Greenwood said: "Nottingham City Homes did what was required of them, they've delivered. Tenants have seen the difference, but to cut the programme when it's not half way through seems to be desperately unfair. Just because of the way the work was scheduled, some people will have their homes done and other people, for no good reason, will be deprived of that opportunity, and that seems to me to be completely arbitrary and unfair." Read more on the Nottingham Post website.

Nottingham Residents Take Campaign for Home Improvements to Downing Street

NOTTINGHAM residents went to 10 Downing Street yesterday in a bid to urge David Cameron not to slash funding for council house improvements. Three Nottingham City Homes tenants handed over a petition with more than 1,000 signatures calling for continued investment in refurbishing council houses. It follows news that the Decent Homes programme (called Secure, Warm, Modern in Nottingham), which is replacing thousands of old windows, bathrooms, kitchens and heating systems in city council houses, is under threat. The £165 million scheme, expected to run until 2013, could be scrapped or reduced, following today's spending review. Jean England, chairman of the NCH Tenant and Leaseholder Congress, which launched the campaign, said: "Now we've taken the petition to Downing Street, I hope the Government will listen to us today and let Nottingham keep its funding so that we can live in decent properties in comfort and security like they live in." She was joined in Downing Street by NCH residents Ennis Peck, 82, of Clifton, and Alison Thorpe, 48, of Strelley, as well as Gedling MP Vernon Coaker and Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood. Ms Greenwood, who organised the opportunity at Downing Street, said: "I think it's really important that people from Nottingham come down and say it like it is. These cuts can get tied up in figures but the important bit is the human cost of these cuts, what they'll mean to families. It doesn't have to be this way and it isn't fair." Read more on the Nottingham Post website.

£10m Council Housing Bill If Government Funding Axed

REPAIRS and maintenance of the city's council houses could cost more than £10 million over the next five years if Government funding for an improvement programme is scrapped.  Nottingham City Homes (NCH) chief executive Chris Langstaff estimates it would cost them an extra £100 per year for every house which does not get a new bathroom or kitchen fitted.  This is due to the amount of repair work which would have to be carried out on these kitchens and bathrooms, many of which are decades old.  Under the Secure, Warm, Modern programme, NCH still has to fit more than 11,000 kitchens and 10,000 bathrooms in houses across the city.  A campaign has been launched by the NCH Tenant and Leaseholder Congress, calling for the Government to continue funding the scheme.  NCH, which manages the homes for Nottingham City Council, was asked by the Government to work out how the programme could run with a 25 per cent or 40 per cent funding cut. But there are some fears it could be scrapped.  The programme was launched last year to run until 2013. By the end of this financial year, NCH will have received only £58 million, with £107 million still owed.  Mr Langstaff said it would be hard to fund the scheme without Government cash.  "The reality is that we haven't got enough money anyway, otherwise we'd be doing that."  Read more on the Nottingham Post website by clicking on the logo below.

Four Nottingham MPs Back Campaign to Save Council House Improvement Programme

FOUR Nottingham MPs are backing a residents' campaign calling for the Government to continue funding a council house improvement programme.  The Nott Decent campaign was launched by tenants after Nottingham City Homes, which manages the homes for Nottingham City Council, was told it could see a 25 per cent or 40 per cent cut to its programme, Secure Warm Modern.  Following fears it could be scrapped or reduced, MPs Lilian Greenwood of Nottingham South, Chris Leslie of Nottingham East, Graham Allen of Nottingham North and Vernon Coaker of Gedling, are urging the Government to listen.  Ms Greenwood was out in Clifton, yesterday, collecting signatures for a petition with Jean England and Alison Thorpe of the NCH Tenant and Leaseholder Congress, which launched the campaign. The Labour MP is also hoping to ask the housing minister to make an announcement about the future of the programme in the House of Commons, on Thursday. Mr Allen, who has already spoken to housing minister Grant Shapps about the programme, said: "We always work very closely together and it's great. I think it's probably one of the most prolific campaigns I've been involved in. "We'd like the funding to be kept on track but as a second best, even if the funding is reduced, we want the programme to continue so we can regulate it. "The minister didn't make any promises but seemed open that it was a sensible way to run it." As part of the campaign, the residents have been distributing postcards for people to send to MPs to show their support.  The four Labour MPs have now received hundreds of these postcards and have said they are wholeheartedly backing the campaign.  Read more on the Nottingham Post website by clicking on the logo below.

Housing Heroes Shortlist Unveiled

The shortlisted entrants for awards that recognise the unsung ‘heroes’ of the housing sector have been announced. The Housing Heroes awards, which are jointly run by Inside Housing and the Chartered Institute of Housing, were set up last year to acknowledge the work of front-line housing practitioners. For the 2010 awards there are 14 trophies up for grabs, recognising everyone from the best HR, maintenance and finance/procurement team to the inspirational board member and tenant. Included in the category “Financial or Procurement Team of the Year” is NCH’s own Procurement Team so congratulations to them on their nomination. Read the full list of nominees on the CIH website.

**Healey Doubles Council House-Building Cash**

With the largest council house building programme for nearly two decades already underway, Housing Minister John Healey has doubled Government cash for new council homes. Mr Healey announced 73 councils covering every region of England will share an extra £122.6m. Councils will match this second round Government grant bringing investment in this round to £246m , and total public investment in the programme as a whole to over £500m to build more than 4,000 new council homes for 8,000 people. The joint bid between Nottingham City Council and Nottingham City Homes was partially approved, the go-ahead being given for 15 new homes in Camrose Close (Bilborough Ward), attracting an HCA grant of £741,000, and eight in Lillington Road (Bulwell Ward), attracting a grant of £419,000. Read details of approved sites nationally at the CLG website by clicking on the logo below or see the results for all successful applicants on the HCA website by clicking on their logo.

National Tenant Body Members Announced

The CLG has released the names of the 50 members of the National Tenant Council. Its members are made up of 20 people who were nominated from national and regional organisations for tenants, and 30 who applied through a recruitment process for tenants who are not already active in tenant groups. The successful candidates include NCH’s Tenant and Leaseholder Involvement Manager, Carole Donnelly. Find out who the other members of the Council will be on the Inside Housing website by clicking on the logo below.

Study To Assess Impact Of Decent Homes Programme On Nottingham

Nottingham Trent University has joined forces with Nottingham City Homes to look at the impact of the government’s ‘Decent Homes’ scheme on the city. The collaboration will be carried out as a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP).This £127,000, two-year project will concentrate its research on the Secure Warm Programme and the effect this work has on the local community. For more details, contact Nicola Moules or Andrea McCluskey by email at: business.info@ntu.ac.uk or read the full story on the 24dash website.