Your Homes - The Future

Important News

As a Council tenant or leaseholder this is important information about the future management and ownership of your home. The Council in conjunction with its tenants and leaseholders will be carrying out what is called a “Housing Options Appraisal” to look at future possibilities in how Council Housing is managed and owned in the future.

Why does the Council have to carry out an Options Appraisal?

All Councils who still own and manage their housing are required to develop and review a long term business plan for their Council Housing. A full review is now due and this will explore ways of managing and delivering services and maintaining and improving the condition of your homes. This is to ensure best value for money and quality of service. Advisors will be appointed to assist both the Council and tenants and leaseholders in this process. Updates will be given throughout the process and the full review is likely to be completed by February 2009.

What are the Options?

There are a number of Options. The main ones are:

• Stock Retention (stay as we are)
• Arms Length Management Organisation (stay as we are but with management services provided by an agency that is separate but reporting to the Council)
• Private Finance Initiative – a method of attracting private funding to improve the stock, but with the Council still keeping a long term interest in the housing stock
• Transfer to a Housing Association – ownership and management transferring to another agency to enable increased investment in your homes.
• Tenant Management Organisation

There are other options that will be reported on including a combination of the above and new thinking coming out of the Government’s latest Housing legislation.

Will Tenants and Leaseholders be involved in the Options Appraisal?

Yes, the Council recognises the importance of this. A Project Board and a Project Team have been set up to ensure the Appraisal is completed. Tenants are represented on both groups. Once a detailed analysis of the Options has been completed then there will be wider opportunities for tenants and leaseholders to have their say. The Housing Advisory Forum, which involves Tenants and Members of the Council, will also play an important role in how the Appraisal develops.

Who will advise Tenants and Leaseholders?

An Independent Tenants Advisor will be selected by a panel of tenant representatives who were nominated by the active tenant groups in Swindon. The Independent Tenants Advisor will work closely with Tenants and Leaseholders and liaise with the Council and its advisors. The Independent Tenants Advisor will also be there to explain and assist tenants and leaseholders completely independently of the Council and the Government. Public meetings will be held to explain each of the Options. There will also be other opportunities for you to speak to the Advisor, for example over the phone or in your home.

Stop Press!

DWA, a Housing advisory organisation, has been awarded the contract for Independent Advisor by the Tenant and Leaseholder representative Group.

If you have any queries please contact the DWA by FREEPHONE 0800 0855 492, by email: info@dwa-housingconsultants.co.uk or by post to:

DWA

Freepost

SWC 5119

Telford

TF8 7ZA

You can also be re-directed to their website by clicking here.

Who will be the Council's Advisors?

The Council is in the process of appointing its advisors, to work with the Housing Options Appraisal Project Team and Project Board of Councilors, staff, tenants and leaseholders. They will look at how the Council is budgeting for improvements and maintenance to your home and what will be needed over the next 30 years to ensure the Council's homes continue to meet the Government's Decent Homes Standard as well as considering a higher standard (known as the “Swindon Standard”) which also includes environmental improvements to your estate.

What information will be available from the Council itself?

This is the first opportunity to let tenants and leaseholders know about the latest Appraisal. Please look out for regular updates. The Council is also developing a Communications Strategy (weblink) which will show how we communicate all the information to tenants, leaseholders and other stakeholders.

Who do I contact for more information?

If you would like more information about the process of the Options Appraisal please contact Michael Ash, Head of Strategic Housing Services - mash@swindon.gov.uk or call 01793 464410

Work in Progress

In your Spring 08 edition of Housing Matters we gave you some background information on what a Housing Options Appraisal is and why the Council is doing one. To summarise, it is important that we test the financial viability of running Council housing in Swindon on a regular basis. Or put it another way, is there enough money coming in to do everything we need to do for our tenants and leaseholders? The Tenants Association for Sheltered Housing have also written an article which you can read further down,along with Swindon Tenants Voice, which gives some more detail.

The Council also wishes to explore new ways in which it can regenerate areas in need of considerable investment. The Government issued what is called a “Green Paper” in 2007 which sets out the framework for new Housing legislation that could provide a number of options to improve our neighbourhoods.

Swindon Council Housing is a multi million pound business and as you can imagine a great deal of information needs to be gathered and studied. Once this has been done we will be able to share this information with you to see how strong our finances are and possibly whether or not there are some other ways of owning and running Council housing.

So when are we likely to have more information and will you get any assistance in finding out what it all means?

From August through to October this year we should be in a position to share the results of the Appraisal with you and yes you will get independent advice on what this all means. You will be assisted by an Independent Tenant’s Advisor - sometimes called a Tenant’s Friend. A tenant’s group is in the process of choosing who this will be. This will ensure the advice you get is independent and will have already been scrutinised by the Advisor to make sure everything is a true reflection of how things currently stand.

If you would like to find out more please get in touch with Mike Ash by email: mash@swindon.gov.uk or call on 01793 464410

Important News from TASH, the Tenants Association for Sheltered Housing

Tenants may have read in the Spring 08 issue of Housing Matters that the Council is going to carry out a ‘Housing Options Appraisal’ to consider the future ownership and management of our Council homes.

It is worth repeating the options under review are:

• Stay with our Council landlord who would continue to manage the housing stock
• Transfer to a Housing Association who would own and manage the housing stock
• Create an ‘At Arms Length Organisation’, (ALMO) which would mean staying as we are, but with management services provided by an agency that is separate from the Council
• A Private Finance Initiative (PFI) method of attracting private funding

As the year progresses this matter will grow in importance. We in the TASH Committee are resolved to ensure all tenants are kept informed at all stages, with this in mind the meeting of TASH held on the 14^th of April 2008, passed the following resolution unanimously:

‘That this meeting of Swindon Tenants Association for Sheltered Housing can assure that any recommendation under Housing Options Appraisal which involves changing our Council Landlord, will immediately trigger a full ballot of all Council tenants to ensure all tenants are fully involved.’

Brian Shakespeare, TASH representative and Tenant Editor.

To learn more about TASH please visit their webpage: TASH

Swindon Tenants Voice and Housing Options Appraisal

Over the next few months Swindon Borough Council will be consulting its tenants about the future of council housing in Swindon. The Options Appraisal which is about the future management of your homes is explained on page 4. Please if you can, come along to one of the many meetings that will be run throughout the town and let the Independent Tenants Advisor and the Council know what you think.

Swindon Tenants Voice can assure you that your views will be listened to. Any recommendations from the consultation will be used to inform the Council about the future of your homes. We can also assure you that, in the event that the outcome of the consultations were to recommend a change of landlord, no such change could go ahead without a full ballot of all of Swindon’s Council tenants.

Ruth Kiddle STV Chair.

Tel: 887313

Email: ruth.kiddle@ntlworld.com

To learn more about STV please visit their webpage: Swindon Tenants Voice