Partner With Housing Associations To Use Borrowing Freedoms, Says LGA Chair

The outgoing leader of the Local Government Association (LGA) has said councils should partner with housing associations to make the most of new borrowing freedoms to build more homes. Lord Gary Porter, who stepped down as chair of the LGA this week after serving his four-year term, told Inside Housing there “is a serious issue” about councils having enough internal capacity and experienced staff to develop at scale. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/partner-with-housing-associations-to-use-borrowing-freedoms-says-lga-chair-62133

Build-To-Rent Gathers Momentum

Several factors have increased the attractions for institutions of becoming landlords, not least of which is the paltry return offered on traditionally safe investments. The trouble is that pension funds may be very good at investing your money and keeping it safe, but they’re not very experienced when it comes to building homes. But as necessity is the mother of invention, suitable conduits are now being established that circumvent the problem. Institutions are now working in partnership with local authorities, housing associations and even housebuilders as a means of bringing about a system whereby a pension fund can realistically look at achieving a return on its investment of 3 to 5 per cent. Read more on the Investors’ Chronicle website.

Council To Provide 800 Additional Homes For Homeless Families

A housing association established in partnership with Newham Council has been given the green light to provide a further 800 homes for homeless families. The Mayor of Newham and cabinet approved the expansion of registered social landlord Local Space. This means Local Space will now be able to purchase and develop an additional 800 properties which will be used by the council for homeless families. These homes will be delivered over four years and provide the council with a sizable supply of new local accommodation. Read more on the Newham Council website.

Is Housing And Employment Support A Natural Partnership?

In recent years, supporting residents to prepare for and find work has been an increasing priority for government and landlords. However, there is relatively little current analysis of the characteristics of residents, the barriers that they face and ‘what works’ in supporting them. Our recent report, ‘Worklessness, Welfare and Social Housing’ seeks to address these gaps. It proposes a new partnership between government and housing associations to support disadvantaged residents to prepare for and find work. It highlights how housing associations are uniquely placed to provide employment support to those living within their homes and communities. They have a long term interest in the wellbeing of their residents and have strong social and business drivers which support moving tenants into the security and dignity of work. Housing associations are also major employers in their own right, with established supply chains which can provide further employment opportunities. Read more on the ERSA website.

More Partnership Working Could Help Tackle ASB

Greater knowledge of social housing powers and more partnership working could improve the effectiveness of police handling of anti-social behaviour cases, a report has found.  The report, Focus on the victim: summary report on the ASB call handling trials, summarised the findings of eight police forces which trialled new approaches to handling calls from the public to ensure repeat and vulnerable victims of anti-social behaviour are identified and prioritised more effectively.  The forces which volunteered for the trials – Avon and Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Metropolitan, Sussex, West Mercia and South Wales – designed their own projects in a bid to improve cross-agency work.  Download a copy of the report – and a copy of each report from the forces involved - from the Home Office website.