It's my children's future and the future generations to come that I fear for. I don't think my children will be able to access good quality homes or be in a position to get on the property ladder. I’m looking to make changes to my home life to prepare myself for my children's future to be spent with me for some time.
At 17, I started my journey of becoming a social housing tenant and it allowed me to put down roots. Having that security has allowed me to experience positive life goals and made me the person I am today. The stability of housing and having my family close by opened up employment opportunities and I even attended university.
Being housed in social housing allowed me to build roots in my community. I was able to access good education and healthcare links for my children.
The generation after me wasn’t so lucky. Social housing in Wales started to fall and my sister has suffered with the lack of social housing. She has been waiting 9 years for social housing for her and her son. After being housed in 3 hostels and moving into private rented accommodation, her and her 8 year old have had to move 11 times. He has never felt part of a community - he settles in a school and then has to move. This has a knock on effect on his social skills and learning capacity. Once they start to build connections within their community, it's taken away again.
Don't my sister and nephew deserve the same experience I had a generation ago? One that enabled me to build my future in social housing in Wales?
That’s why I attended the Homes for Britain rally. Help us to end the housing crisis within a generation.
Adelle, Cadwyn HA tenant and board member
Showing posts with label tenants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tenants. Show all posts
Tuesday, 21 April 2015
Wednesday, 12 November 2014
#HousingDay - Tanya's story
In 2001, Tanya MacGregor was a domestic abuse victim and homeless mother-of three. However, today, she is living proof of how the social housing sector can transform lives for the better.
Tanya has gone full circle from being homeless and in the depths of domestic abuse despair to gaining a degree and winning numerous awards. She is now giving back and providing life-changing help to others via the Your Benefits Are Changing (YBAC) campaign run by Community Housing Cymru (CHC).
She said: “It’s amazing the opportunities that social housing has provided for me and my family. I went from being homeless with a young family to finding my way to getting a home, which in turn allowed me to access services, health, a degree, a job. None of this would have been possible without social housing.
“The effect on my family has been transformational. I now work full time helping others to get their houses in order as a money adviser with YBAC. My eldest son completed a degree, my daughter went to college and now works full time, and my youngest is now doing his GCSEs. I couldn’t have even imagined all this a decade ago.
“Without a home, you can’t get access to anything - you don’t exist. Social housing has given me and my family the chance to lay down roots and better ourselves.
“Social housing is a comfort blanket – it allows people access to affordable rents and the chance to re-train and go out to work. We would not have achieved what we have as a family without social housing; we would have been pushed from pillar to post. Social housing has been our safety net and I hope as many people can benefit from it in the same ways that my family and I have.”
More than a decade ago, the married mother became homeless after deciding she could no longer put up with the beatings she was enduring from her then husband.
Overnight, she went from being a homeowner to homeless, with nothing more than a full carrier bag to her name. With her three young children - aged nine, six and five-months old - she took refuge in a women’s hostel.
Tanya spent a year classed as homeless in the hostel run by Cardiff Women’s Aid and owned by United Welsh. During this time she was able to re-build her confidence and take stock of her situation, all the while making friends with fellow victims of domestic abuse staying at the hostel.
Tanya's time in the hostel also started her journey into adult learning with her undertaking a basic skills and IT course along with a Maths course, initially so that she ‘could help her young son with his homework’.
Shortly afterwards, she joined the Board of Management as a committee member/service user and got involved in a Tenant Empowerment Grant scheme. In doing this, Tanya began her ‘giving back’ - using her own experiences to help others suffering as a result of pre or post domestic abuse issues. The tenant service user group offered friendship, craft and DIY classes. It also gave women mental support and well as technical and practical skills, advice, help and, just like Tanya - hope for the future.
Tanya remained a board member for four years, her own experience being a remedy to help others and herself on the road to recovery.
Tanya and the group’s efforts were praised and the model won an award for Good Practice by the Welsh Assembly.
Around this time, Tanya’s confidence and circumstances had improved greatly. She and her young family were rehoused by Cardiff Council and she enrolled on a Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and Policy Degree at UWIC. During her first day she spotted two other familiar faces in the class. Recalling that time, she said: “Two of my classmates were ladies from the refuge and now they both work in the housing sector, like me.”
On the back of her adult learning success, Tanya won the All Wales Housing Manager Local Council Academic Achievement Award, the 2008 CIH Welsh Student of the Year and the 2008 CIH National Student of the Year Award, which lead to her taking part in the prestigious Tri-Countries Conference in Canada.
In 2008-2009, Tanya worked at Rhondda Housing Association as Tenancy Support Officer. Her housing degree dissertation was about Older People in Extra Care which she did for another housing association - Linc Cymru. The subject theme became particularly poignant in 2009 when Tanya decided to take a break from work to care for her parents who were both suffering with Alzheimer’s disease.
Tanya aged 48, said: “It was a difficult time, but as my dissertation was about the same issues I felt I was equipped to fight for the rights of my parents and sort everything out. I was juggling the care of my parents and the care of my young family.”
In 2010 Tanya decided she wanted to get back into work on a part time basis and gained a six month position with Cadwyn Housing through the job centre scheme, Go Wales, doing admin for the HA Tenant Participation and Financial Inclusion arm.
Tanya said: “I was feeling down about my circumstances with my parents’ illness and going back to work gave me renewed confidence. This was down to the organisation's managers and staff and support for my situation. They had fundraising events for Alzheimer’s society.”
From 2011 until today, Tanya has been employed as one of the YBAC Money Advisors at CHC, set up to help distribute information about Welfare Reform.
Courtesy of CHC, she gained a MA qualification from Staffordshire University.
Tanya completed an evaluation for Rhondda Housing Association on the Financial Inclusion project. Also, as part of YBAC, Tanya has provided advice sessions for a number of housing associations and attended CHC’s YBAC campaigning events on behalf of tenants.
Tanya said: “Housing Associations are not in the business of evicting people so the work I do is helping people to get their house/home finances in order. I know only too well how hard it can be. I’ve been there and the advice I was given was invaluable, so I hope I can repay the favour by helping others.”
Tanya MacGregor
Money Adviser, CHC
Tanya has gone full circle from being homeless and in the depths of domestic abuse despair to gaining a degree and winning numerous awards. She is now giving back and providing life-changing help to others via the Your Benefits Are Changing (YBAC) campaign run by Community Housing Cymru (CHC).
She said: “It’s amazing the opportunities that social housing has provided for me and my family. I went from being homeless with a young family to finding my way to getting a home, which in turn allowed me to access services, health, a degree, a job. None of this would have been possible without social housing.
“The effect on my family has been transformational. I now work full time helping others to get their houses in order as a money adviser with YBAC. My eldest son completed a degree, my daughter went to college and now works full time, and my youngest is now doing his GCSEs. I couldn’t have even imagined all this a decade ago.
“Without a home, you can’t get access to anything - you don’t exist. Social housing has given me and my family the chance to lay down roots and better ourselves.
“Social housing is a comfort blanket – it allows people access to affordable rents and the chance to re-train and go out to work. We would not have achieved what we have as a family without social housing; we would have been pushed from pillar to post. Social housing has been our safety net and I hope as many people can benefit from it in the same ways that my family and I have.”
More than a decade ago, the married mother became homeless after deciding she could no longer put up with the beatings she was enduring from her then husband.
Overnight, she went from being a homeowner to homeless, with nothing more than a full carrier bag to her name. With her three young children - aged nine, six and five-months old - she took refuge in a women’s hostel.
Tanya spent a year classed as homeless in the hostel run by Cardiff Women’s Aid and owned by United Welsh. During this time she was able to re-build her confidence and take stock of her situation, all the while making friends with fellow victims of domestic abuse staying at the hostel.
Tanya's time in the hostel also started her journey into adult learning with her undertaking a basic skills and IT course along with a Maths course, initially so that she ‘could help her young son with his homework’.
Shortly afterwards, she joined the Board of Management as a committee member/service user and got involved in a Tenant Empowerment Grant scheme. In doing this, Tanya began her ‘giving back’ - using her own experiences to help others suffering as a result of pre or post domestic abuse issues. The tenant service user group offered friendship, craft and DIY classes. It also gave women mental support and well as technical and practical skills, advice, help and, just like Tanya - hope for the future.
Tanya remained a board member for four years, her own experience being a remedy to help others and herself on the road to recovery.
Tanya and the group’s efforts were praised and the model won an award for Good Practice by the Welsh Assembly.
Around this time, Tanya’s confidence and circumstances had improved greatly. She and her young family were rehoused by Cardiff Council and she enrolled on a Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and Policy Degree at UWIC. During her first day she spotted two other familiar faces in the class. Recalling that time, she said: “Two of my classmates were ladies from the refuge and now they both work in the housing sector, like me.”
On the back of her adult learning success, Tanya won the All Wales Housing Manager Local Council Academic Achievement Award, the 2008 CIH Welsh Student of the Year and the 2008 CIH National Student of the Year Award, which lead to her taking part in the prestigious Tri-Countries Conference in Canada.
In 2008-2009, Tanya worked at Rhondda Housing Association as Tenancy Support Officer. Her housing degree dissertation was about Older People in Extra Care which she did for another housing association - Linc Cymru. The subject theme became particularly poignant in 2009 when Tanya decided to take a break from work to care for her parents who were both suffering with Alzheimer’s disease.
Tanya aged 48, said: “It was a difficult time, but as my dissertation was about the same issues I felt I was equipped to fight for the rights of my parents and sort everything out. I was juggling the care of my parents and the care of my young family.”
In 2010 Tanya decided she wanted to get back into work on a part time basis and gained a six month position with Cadwyn Housing through the job centre scheme, Go Wales, doing admin for the HA Tenant Participation and Financial Inclusion arm.
Tanya said: “I was feeling down about my circumstances with my parents’ illness and going back to work gave me renewed confidence. This was down to the organisation's managers and staff and support for my situation. They had fundraising events for Alzheimer’s society.”
From 2011 until today, Tanya has been employed as one of the YBAC Money Advisors at CHC, set up to help distribute information about Welfare Reform.
Courtesy of CHC, she gained a MA qualification from Staffordshire University.
Tanya completed an evaluation for Rhondda Housing Association on the Financial Inclusion project. Also, as part of YBAC, Tanya has provided advice sessions for a number of housing associations and attended CHC’s YBAC campaigning events on behalf of tenants.
Tanya said: “Housing Associations are not in the business of evicting people so the work I do is helping people to get their house/home finances in order. I know only too well how hard it can be. I’ve been there and the advice I was given was invaluable, so I hope I can repay the favour by helping others.”
Tanya MacGregor
Money Adviser, CHC
#HousingDay - Jemma's story
My name is Jemma Bere and I am a tenant and tenant board member of Wales & West Housing. I work for CREW Regeneration Wales, part of the CHC Group.
In 2001, my mother died in a car accident whilst in Andalucia, Spain. After the funeral in the UK, my brother and sister returned to Spain with their father where they began school. However, their father turned to drink and eventually became unable to care for them and in 2005, I was told that the children had been taken into the care of social services in Almeria. I went to Spain immediately to see them but there was very little I could do. After a couple of months, I received a phone call from the Spanish authorities who told me that unless someone in the family could take on the children, they would have to be put into foster care. They could give me no guarantees that they would be kept together or that I could visit them so I made the decision right there that I would look after them. I was 24 and had just graduated from university.
It took me two years to navigate the bureaucracy and go through the adoption process to get the children to the UK but I was determined and a few key friends and organisations took sympathy to my cause. On the 15th July 2008, I brought the children back to the UK and they were reunited with their nan and brother who they hadn't seen in 7 years. I had no house and no capital, just the conviction that it was the best decision I had ever made. We were given emergency housing at first but were offered a permanent house by Wales & West after a couple of months. I can't describe the feeling of security that that brought to us. Used to being shuffled around, the children only believed that they were here to stay when we got the house and the change in them from that point was amazing to see.
The children spoke little English at first and we lived on benefits whilst we were finding our feet. The rarity of the situation made the application process difficult and we lived on £90 a week child tax credit for the initial 6 months. I learnt to make everything from scratch, even shampoo! It was a hard time but the safety nets afforded to us through social housing and welfare gave us enough security to start to build a life together.
I'm very proud to be living in social housing and a tenant board member of my housing association. I am delighted at the opportunity to give back and help to make a difference in the sector.
I'm supporting Housing Day because it offered me a lifeline when I thought I had none. I don't want to think about where the children and I would have been without the opportunity for a affordable home. As a social housing tenant, I know my rent money goes toward others in need and providing them with the opportunity to build their lives just like it did with me.
In 2001, my mother died in a car accident whilst in Andalucia, Spain. After the funeral in the UK, my brother and sister returned to Spain with their father where they began school. However, their father turned to drink and eventually became unable to care for them and in 2005, I was told that the children had been taken into the care of social services in Almeria. I went to Spain immediately to see them but there was very little I could do. After a couple of months, I received a phone call from the Spanish authorities who told me that unless someone in the family could take on the children, they would have to be put into foster care. They could give me no guarantees that they would be kept together or that I could visit them so I made the decision right there that I would look after them. I was 24 and had just graduated from university.
It took me two years to navigate the bureaucracy and go through the adoption process to get the children to the UK but I was determined and a few key friends and organisations took sympathy to my cause. On the 15th July 2008, I brought the children back to the UK and they were reunited with their nan and brother who they hadn't seen in 7 years. I had no house and no capital, just the conviction that it was the best decision I had ever made. We were given emergency housing at first but were offered a permanent house by Wales & West after a couple of months. I can't describe the feeling of security that that brought to us. Used to being shuffled around, the children only believed that they were here to stay when we got the house and the change in them from that point was amazing to see.
The children spoke little English at first and we lived on benefits whilst we were finding our feet. The rarity of the situation made the application process difficult and we lived on £90 a week child tax credit for the initial 6 months. I learnt to make everything from scratch, even shampoo! It was a hard time but the safety nets afforded to us through social housing and welfare gave us enough security to start to build a life together.
I'm very proud to be living in social housing and a tenant board member of my housing association. I am delighted at the opportunity to give back and help to make a difference in the sector.
I'm supporting Housing Day because it offered me a lifeline when I thought I had none. I don't want to think about where the children and I would have been without the opportunity for a affordable home. As a social housing tenant, I know my rent money goes toward others in need and providing them with the opportunity to build their lives just like it did with me.
Jemma Bere
Regeneration Officer (CREW Regeneration Wales) and Wales & West Housing tenant
Regeneration Officer (CREW Regeneration Wales) and Wales & West Housing tenant
Thursday, 17 April 2014
Your Big Book of Benefits
It was with mounting trepidation that I approached Llandrindod for the launch of Your Big Book of Benefits on 9 April. It was great to have the chance to explain myself and the book at CHC’s Welfare Reform Strategic Day and to witness Paul Langley’s shameless sales techniques, but thought I would explain a bit more about the book in this blog post.
Your Benefits are Changing is a way of acting together and I was delighted to join with the campaign to do something practical. The YBAC team liked our Big Book of Benefits and Mental Health for its practical toolkit content and friendly informal approach to give people the tools and knowledge to make a difference.
Your Big Book of Benefits is a broader, more comprehensive and more generic version of that same approach. Beneath its friendly cover – alternative suggestions included ‘Don’t Panic’ – there lurks 400 pages. BUT be not afraid – this is most definitely not a tome for the expert only.
Within it you will find full but simple explanations, practical page by page advice for filling in some of the trickier forms, sample completed forms, what to do next, Ten Top Tips, Benefits family trees (and I mean actual trees… well, pictures anyway) and case studies of a slightly mystical bent – Gandalf, Merlin and Hagrid all feature.
At the beginning you will find a useful overview of the system and the changes and a simple three step suggestion – with examples – as to how to navigate the complexities of an ever changing landscape of some 50 benefits.
This book is for the non expert with no prior knowledge assumed. It’s for housing officers and support workers, and tenants themselves. Of course, in this its first year, there may be the odd rough edge or something you feel could be better explained. If you have a comment, suggestion, spot an error, want to say what could be dropped or ought to be included, please let us know. There’s a feedback form in the back to make Your Big Book of Benefits truly yours.
And it’s not just a book! Dates will shortly be announced for a summer run of training days linked to (and using) Your Big Book. If you’ve read the book, why not see it live?
It’s been heavy going at times, with much cursing of Windows and Publisher 2013 in the wee small hours as .pdfs didn’t quite do their thing. However, though full of the ‘if only I had time to do this’ or ‘tweak that’ doubts of an anxious new parent, I allow myself some pleasure and small pride that it has got here.
I hope you and Your Big Book will be very happy together and that you can make a real difference in troubled times.
You can order your copy here.
So long and good luck!
Tom Messere
Author of Your Big Book of Benefits
Your Benefits are Changing is a way of acting together and I was delighted to join with the campaign to do something practical. The YBAC team liked our Big Book of Benefits and Mental Health for its practical toolkit content and friendly informal approach to give people the tools and knowledge to make a difference.
Your Big Book of Benefits is a broader, more comprehensive and more generic version of that same approach. Beneath its friendly cover – alternative suggestions included ‘Don’t Panic’ – there lurks 400 pages. BUT be not afraid – this is most definitely not a tome for the expert only.
Within it you will find full but simple explanations, practical page by page advice for filling in some of the trickier forms, sample completed forms, what to do next, Ten Top Tips, Benefits family trees (and I mean actual trees… well, pictures anyway) and case studies of a slightly mystical bent – Gandalf, Merlin and Hagrid all feature.
At the beginning you will find a useful overview of the system and the changes and a simple three step suggestion – with examples – as to how to navigate the complexities of an ever changing landscape of some 50 benefits.
This book is for the non expert with no prior knowledge assumed. It’s for housing officers and support workers, and tenants themselves. Of course, in this its first year, there may be the odd rough edge or something you feel could be better explained. If you have a comment, suggestion, spot an error, want to say what could be dropped or ought to be included, please let us know. There’s a feedback form in the back to make Your Big Book of Benefits truly yours.
And it’s not just a book! Dates will shortly be announced for a summer run of training days linked to (and using) Your Big Book. If you’ve read the book, why not see it live?
It’s been heavy going at times, with much cursing of Windows and Publisher 2013 in the wee small hours as .pdfs didn’t quite do their thing. However, though full of the ‘if only I had time to do this’ or ‘tweak that’ doubts of an anxious new parent, I allow myself some pleasure and small pride that it has got here.
I hope you and Your Big Book will be very happy together and that you can make a real difference in troubled times.
You can order your copy here.
So long and good luck!
Tom Messere
Author of Your Big Book of Benefits
Friday, 29 November 2013
RSLs as place makers
The Royal Society of Architecture Wales conference I attended recently on 'The place of home' inspired me to write this blog post. For me, the conference raised a key question: How do you define a home? In the sector we often refer to creating 'homes' instead of 'houses', but what is the difference?
In my opinion, the word 'housing' denotes a physical structure or a 'unit' as the development industry would say. Comparably, the word ‘home’ is a word with deeper meaning. The perception of the word ‘home’ depends on the individual and their experiences but will often resonate feelings such as security, happiness, freedom and comfort. It may refer to a residence or a place such as the community or the city you live in.
So how do RSLs create the ‘place of home’?
No longer are RSLs considered as just affordable housing providers. The 2013 Welsh Economic Research Unit report highlights this by showing that in addition to new build development, maintenance and renovations, RSLs spent approximately £509m during 2012/13 on community regeneration initiatives. In this year’s WERU report, we wanted to highlight the types of community regeneration that this includes which cover areas such as financial inclusion, skills and employment, tenant engagement, food poverty, energy efficiency, open space improvements, social enterprise, digital inclusion… the list goes on.
What all these areas of work have in common is the fundamental principle of supporting deprived people to help them to reach their potential and have a place they can call home. Supporting both place and people through these initiatives ultimately contributes towards the thriving of communities, empowering those who live within them. RSLs are place makers in this sense, contributing to both the physical and social regeneration of the most deprived communities across Wales.
The WERU infographic summarises the findings of the report and you can view the full report on CHC's website.
Hayley MacNamara
Regeneration Officer, CHC and CREW Regeneration Wales
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
'Bedroom tax' will mean 1,000 fewer affordable homes. Devolve welfare to Wales!
The moral and ethical arguments against the ‘bedroom tax’ have always been weak. While ideology may lead you to divide between the ‘deserving’ and the ‘undeserving’ poor, ideology cannot deny the evidence, and it is ultimately evidence which should dictate government policy.
Since the ‘bedroom tax’ was introduced just over six months ago, we see a double whammy affecting the housing supply crisis. Arrears from the ‘bedroom tax’ have exceeded £1m and a rise in the number of void properties has meant that over 700 homes in the sector are empty. Just 3% of the 22,000 housing association tenants affected have been successfully downsized. We have always argued that there are simply not enough one and two bed properties to move people to. With an estimated 90,000 on social housing waiting lists, how can we justify a policy that sees Wales losing out on 1,000 affordable homes?
Of course, the effect on housing associations is only half the story. Tenants are already struggling to afford the basics, the use of food banks is increasing, energy companies are increasing their prices and we are seeing a surge in the use of high interest lenders and loan sharks. Some payday lenders are reported to be planning to treble their business on the back of so-called welfare 'reform’, people are being pushed further into poverty and the threat of losing their home is very real.
Landlords are faced with tough choices. We note what’s been happening around Wales with various protests, often the landlord getting the blame. Tenant groups and some politicians have campaigned for a ‘no bedroom tax evictions’ policy, but landlords can’t continue to subsidise the extra costs brought about by welfare reform which would impact on the potential reduction in services for other tenants who pay their rent.
This divisive measure threatens social justice and cohesion, turning tenant against tenant, tenant against landlord and vice versa. We need to stand back and realise that the only solution is to take power closer to the people.
As a sector we have been doing all we can to mitigate against the reforms. We’ve launched the ‘Your Benefits Are Changing’ campaign to raise awareness and have set up an advice line to provide free independent advice to those affected. We’ve also supported the expansion of Moneyline Cymru, a not for profit organisation set up and part funded by Welsh housing associations for people largely ignored by mainstream lenders. Moneyline Cymru branches have issued over 13,000 loans to the value of more than £6m since it was set up in 2009. Customers are also encouraged to open a savings account with nearly a third opting to do so, collectively saving a total of £900k.
Last week the Labour Party tabled a motion in the House of Commons to repel the ‘bedroom tax’, and the vote was lost by only 26 votes. So if robust statistical evidence which shows that this policy is failing is not enough for the UK Government to axe this pernicious policy, what can we do? The solution is for Welfare Reform to be devolved to Wales.
In an asymmetric union, we can now look to Northern Ireland and see them use their powers in welfare policy to do something different. They have legislated to stop the ‘bedroom tax’ affecting existing tenants. Like Wales, it is affected to a far greater degree than England and Scotland, but their devolution settlement has allowed them to protect the people of Northern Ireland from the policy, and also to adapt the upcoming changes to Universal Credit and Direct Payments to fit the needs of Northern Irish tenants. With the Silk Commission due to report on further powers for the Assembly in the New Year, what chance they listen to CHC’s recommendation that Wales is given parity with Northern Ireland on welfare powers?
Nick Bennett
Group Chief Executive, CHC Group
You can read the full press release on CHC's 'bedroom tax' research here.
Since the ‘bedroom tax’ was introduced just over six months ago, we see a double whammy affecting the housing supply crisis. Arrears from the ‘bedroom tax’ have exceeded £1m and a rise in the number of void properties has meant that over 700 homes in the sector are empty. Just 3% of the 22,000 housing association tenants affected have been successfully downsized. We have always argued that there are simply not enough one and two bed properties to move people to. With an estimated 90,000 on social housing waiting lists, how can we justify a policy that sees Wales losing out on 1,000 affordable homes?
Of course, the effect on housing associations is only half the story. Tenants are already struggling to afford the basics, the use of food banks is increasing, energy companies are increasing their prices and we are seeing a surge in the use of high interest lenders and loan sharks. Some payday lenders are reported to be planning to treble their business on the back of so-called welfare 'reform’, people are being pushed further into poverty and the threat of losing their home is very real.
Landlords are faced with tough choices. We note what’s been happening around Wales with various protests, often the landlord getting the blame. Tenant groups and some politicians have campaigned for a ‘no bedroom tax evictions’ policy, but landlords can’t continue to subsidise the extra costs brought about by welfare reform which would impact on the potential reduction in services for other tenants who pay their rent.
This divisive measure threatens social justice and cohesion, turning tenant against tenant, tenant against landlord and vice versa. We need to stand back and realise that the only solution is to take power closer to the people.
As a sector we have been doing all we can to mitigate against the reforms. We’ve launched the ‘Your Benefits Are Changing’ campaign to raise awareness and have set up an advice line to provide free independent advice to those affected. We’ve also supported the expansion of Moneyline Cymru, a not for profit organisation set up and part funded by Welsh housing associations for people largely ignored by mainstream lenders. Moneyline Cymru branches have issued over 13,000 loans to the value of more than £6m since it was set up in 2009. Customers are also encouraged to open a savings account with nearly a third opting to do so, collectively saving a total of £900k.
Last week the Labour Party tabled a motion in the House of Commons to repel the ‘bedroom tax’, and the vote was lost by only 26 votes. So if robust statistical evidence which shows that this policy is failing is not enough for the UK Government to axe this pernicious policy, what can we do? The solution is for Welfare Reform to be devolved to Wales.
In an asymmetric union, we can now look to Northern Ireland and see them use their powers in welfare policy to do something different. They have legislated to stop the ‘bedroom tax’ affecting existing tenants. Like Wales, it is affected to a far greater degree than England and Scotland, but their devolution settlement has allowed them to protect the people of Northern Ireland from the policy, and also to adapt the upcoming changes to Universal Credit and Direct Payments to fit the needs of Northern Irish tenants. With the Silk Commission due to report on further powers for the Assembly in the New Year, what chance they listen to CHC’s recommendation that Wales is given parity with Northern Ireland on welfare powers?
Nick Bennett
Group Chief Executive, CHC Group
You can read the full press release on CHC's 'bedroom tax' research here.
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
Facebook: The good, the bad and the ugly!
I am writing this blog just after running a competition on our Facebook page, and it was quite successful on one hand and a bit of a hassle on the other!
Our Facebook page started back in 2011. I was incredibly lucky to be able to push it forward with supportive senior management who love social media, use it regularly and wanted the organisation to embrace it. Our information services and human resources departments were concerned but after ironing out the lumps and bumps we were all of a sudden pushed into the world of social media. It wasn’t just new for the organisation but new for me too. I hadn’t done this before, what if my confidence backfired and something really really bad happened?
Helen Reynolds from Monmouthshire Council came to the rescue. I met her at CHC’s PR Network. She filled me with confidence and advice and her success spurred me on to think that I could do it too.
The first step was to ensure that all our staff had access to social media. Our remote workers enjoy keeping up with daily happenings as do staff that are on maternity leave, sabbaticals or maybe those that have left for pastures new. It also meant there were more people to help me!
Tenants can ask us anything and everything on Facebook. I sometimes find that I am a housing officer, maintenance officer, police officer, community worker and any other officer you can think of all in one! This means that staff across the whole organisation need to be involved or at least aware of queries coming through Facebook just like any other letter, email or phone call.
Staff across each department have been trained on the use of Facebook. Although we may need to increase their confidence, they are very much aware of its importance as a communication tool and the need to combine it with other methods of communication. This hasn’t been a quick process as it does take time to get political buy-in.
Up until this year, I hadn’t had a real problem on Facebook. I hadn’t had foul language posted, hadn’t really had abusive comments directed at staff and hadn’t had a persistent barrage of messages demanding a reply a second after posting it. However, we have this year. This means that you have to be on the ball. When a message is posted, check it, do something about it and reply in a timely manner suitable to the query. And if you have to delete it, make sure you explain why. Perhaps it’s because of the recession or because people aren’t hibernating this summer, or perhaps because more people are aware of our page, but this year not all our messages have been 100% positive. BUT we have also had lovely comments. At the end of the day, Facebook is a public method of voicing an opinion. It isn’t plain sailing and you need to spend time on it. However, it has benefited us greatly.
Tenants on Facebook helped us to choose our new logo. Tenants from Newtown have socialised with tenants from Pontypridd but have never met. Tenants have helped fight crime by reporting information to the police after seeing our Facebook page. Young tenants tag themselves in hundreds of pictures where they are abseiling, climbing and canoeing. Facebook has enabled us to access those who are isolated. Perhaps that is the main reason for being on social media, to help those that are isolated to feel part of a community.
Back to our competition... we ran a competition asking tenants to ‘like’ our Facebook page and write ‘I want to win’ on our ‘wall’ to win an overnight stay at a hotel. Although it was a popular competition, it took quite a while to get a competition winner that was actually free on the night! The tenants that finally stayed at the hotel had a wonderful evening and their reaction when they found out was priceless. The massive increase of traffic to our page and quite a few extra ‘likes’ helped too. We may not choose an overnight stay as a prize again, or maybe simply getting them to choose the date and location of the stay could have been easier!
www.facebook.com/newydd
Mared Elenid Williams
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
Newydd Housing Association
Our Facebook page started back in 2011. I was incredibly lucky to be able to push it forward with supportive senior management who love social media, use it regularly and wanted the organisation to embrace it. Our information services and human resources departments were concerned but after ironing out the lumps and bumps we were all of a sudden pushed into the world of social media. It wasn’t just new for the organisation but new for me too. I hadn’t done this before, what if my confidence backfired and something really really bad happened?
Helen Reynolds from Monmouthshire Council came to the rescue. I met her at CHC’s PR Network. She filled me with confidence and advice and her success spurred me on to think that I could do it too.
The first step was to ensure that all our staff had access to social media. Our remote workers enjoy keeping up with daily happenings as do staff that are on maternity leave, sabbaticals or maybe those that have left for pastures new. It also meant there were more people to help me!
Tenants can ask us anything and everything on Facebook. I sometimes find that I am a housing officer, maintenance officer, police officer, community worker and any other officer you can think of all in one! This means that staff across the whole organisation need to be involved or at least aware of queries coming through Facebook just like any other letter, email or phone call.
Staff across each department have been trained on the use of Facebook. Although we may need to increase their confidence, they are very much aware of its importance as a communication tool and the need to combine it with other methods of communication. This hasn’t been a quick process as it does take time to get political buy-in.
Up until this year, I hadn’t had a real problem on Facebook. I hadn’t had foul language posted, hadn’t really had abusive comments directed at staff and hadn’t had a persistent barrage of messages demanding a reply a second after posting it. However, we have this year. This means that you have to be on the ball. When a message is posted, check it, do something about it and reply in a timely manner suitable to the query. And if you have to delete it, make sure you explain why. Perhaps it’s because of the recession or because people aren’t hibernating this summer, or perhaps because more people are aware of our page, but this year not all our messages have been 100% positive. BUT we have also had lovely comments. At the end of the day, Facebook is a public method of voicing an opinion. It isn’t plain sailing and you need to spend time on it. However, it has benefited us greatly.
Tenants on Facebook helped us to choose our new logo. Tenants from Newtown have socialised with tenants from Pontypridd but have never met. Tenants have helped fight crime by reporting information to the police after seeing our Facebook page. Young tenants tag themselves in hundreds of pictures where they are abseiling, climbing and canoeing. Facebook has enabled us to access those who are isolated. Perhaps that is the main reason for being on social media, to help those that are isolated to feel part of a community.
Back to our competition... we ran a competition asking tenants to ‘like’ our Facebook page and write ‘I want to win’ on our ‘wall’ to win an overnight stay at a hotel. Although it was a popular competition, it took quite a while to get a competition winner that was actually free on the night! The tenants that finally stayed at the hotel had a wonderful evening and their reaction when they found out was priceless. The massive increase of traffic to our page and quite a few extra ‘likes’ helped too. We may not choose an overnight stay as a prize again, or maybe simply getting them to choose the date and location of the stay could have been easier!
www.facebook.com/newydd
Mared Elenid Williams
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
Newydd Housing Association
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Lessons learned from the Torfaen direct payment demonstration project
Bron Afon has been taking part in a national demonstration project to test a range of different payment triggers and levels of support for Housing Benefit claimants, ahead of the introduction of Universal Credit. Whilst the message from the Department for Work and Pensions is that the majority of claimants are managing their own rent, our experience is that debt amongst tenants on direct payment is significantly higher than amongst the general tenant population.
The Department for Work and Pensions agree that there needs to be protection for both tenants and landlords for when people build up debt and help needs to be targeted at those vulnerable people who should not be placed on direct payments.
In the Torfaen project area:
- 31% of Bron Afon tenants taking part thought they would cope poorly with direct payment and 36% felt they would need significant long term support.
- 1 in 4 of our cases have now been switched back, meaning we receive their housing benefit directly.
- The rent collection process demands considerably more effort for a lower rate of return.
- Contact levels with tenants are three times higher than was the case previously.
- Texting timely reminders to pay appear to be having a positive impact when backed up with next day intervention in cases of non-payment.
- Our rent collection rates in March 2013 showed that tenant payments stood at 94.6% of the overall rent charged.
What happens next?
The projects will be extended for a further six months until December 2013 to develop the support needed for tenants moving onto Universal Credit.
We are playing a vital role in influencing the future of Universal Credit. Bron Afon will continue to work with Charter Housing and Torfaen County Borough Council to feed the lessons we learn back into the design process.
Bron Afon’s project team – part of the Welfare Reform project – will be focusing on ensuring that tenants pay their rent, providing support for those who need it and testing a range of payment initiatives.
If you have any questions, please contact me on ian.simpson@bronafon.org.uk.
Ian Simpson
Director of Community Housing and Support, Bron Afon Community Housing
The Department for Work and Pensions agree that there needs to be protection for both tenants and landlords for when people build up debt and help needs to be targeted at those vulnerable people who should not be placed on direct payments.
In the Torfaen project area:
- 31% of Bron Afon tenants taking part thought they would cope poorly with direct payment and 36% felt they would need significant long term support.
- 1 in 4 of our cases have now been switched back, meaning we receive their housing benefit directly.
- The rent collection process demands considerably more effort for a lower rate of return.
- Contact levels with tenants are three times higher than was the case previously.
- Texting timely reminders to pay appear to be having a positive impact when backed up with next day intervention in cases of non-payment.
- Our rent collection rates in March 2013 showed that tenant payments stood at 94.6% of the overall rent charged.
What happens next?
The projects will be extended for a further six months until December 2013 to develop the support needed for tenants moving onto Universal Credit.
We are playing a vital role in influencing the future of Universal Credit. Bron Afon will continue to work with Charter Housing and Torfaen County Borough Council to feed the lessons we learn back into the design process.
Bron Afon’s project team – part of the Welfare Reform project – will be focusing on ensuring that tenants pay their rent, providing support for those who need it and testing a range of payment initiatives.
If you have any questions, please contact me on ian.simpson@bronafon.org.uk.
Ian Simpson
Director of Community Housing and Support, Bron Afon Community Housing
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