social housing – Page 11 – The NEN

Homing in: partnership pledge to build 16,000 homes

Anything you can do: Housing Associations will match council home for home

Edinburgh is set for a major housing boost after the Council’s ambitious plan to build thousands of new homes was matched by partner housing associations.

Six Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) have pledged to match the City of Edinburgh Council’s plan to build 8,000 homes, which will bring 16,000 affordable and low cost homes to the city over the next decade. Representatives joined senior Council officials at the City Chambers today to officially back their commitment to the partnership.

The housing associations, which are not-for-profit, are Castle Rock Edinvar, Dunedin Canmore, Hillcrest, Home Group, the Link Group, and Port of Leith. They met Council Leader Councillor Andrew Burns, Depute Leader Sandy Howat, Chief Executive Andrew Kerr, Health, Social Care and Housing Convener Councillor Ricky Henderson and Housing Leader, Councillor Cammy Day.

Alister Steele, from Castle Rock Edinvar, said: “Housing associations operating in Edinburgh are pleased to match the Council’s pledge and commit to delivering 8,000 much needed affordable homes in Edinburgh. As part of Places for People, Castle Rock Edinvar is already committed to developing 1,000 New Homes for Edinburgh. Extending our contribution in collaboration with fellow housing associations and the City of Edinburgh Council allows us all to make a significant contribution to the housing supply, wellbeing and economic growth in the city.”

Ewan Fraser, Chief Executive of Dunedin Canmore, which is part of Scotland’s largest housing care and property management organisation, Wheatley Group, said: “We are absolutely determined to play our part, working with the City Council and other housing associations, in tackling the acute shortage of affordable housing in Edinburgh.

“The plans unveiled today represent an outstanding example of partnership working and we are delighted to announce that, as part of our commitment to maintaining and improving communities across the city, we will build at least 1,000 good-quality, energy-efficient homes in the capital over the next decade.”

Councillor Day said: “We all know about the acute shortage of affordable homes in the capital; a shortage that’s pushing house prices out of the reach of those on low to middle incomes, increasing rents in the private sector and creating a cost of living crisis that’s putting real pressure on people across Edinburgh. This fantastic joint commitment will see the Council and its partners build on their current successes and accelerate house building to provide the increase in affordable homes that Edinburgh so desperately needs.

“This joint commitment won’t just deliver 16,000 homes – we expect it to generate benefits to the local and national economy of around £4bn, create over 3,000 jobs and bring in additional council tax revenue to help fund the delivery of essential services for the people of Edinburgh. Reducing the cost of living for tenants and building more affordable homes are key priorities for the Council.”

Almost 150 households bid for every Council and housing association home available to let in Edinburgh, and the city’s population is set to grow by up to 30% over the next twenty years.

The Council was already committed to delivering 3,000 affordable and low cost homes on 22 sites in the city, including investing over £100 million on lending to nine Limited Liability Partnerships set up through the Government’s National Housing Trust (NHT) initiative.

Edinburgh Tenants Federation celebrates 25 years

Holyrood reception marks ETF’s special year

Edinburgh Tenants Federation (ETF) celebrated their 25^th Anniversary with a Parliamentary Reception hosted by MSP Sarah Boyack on Wednesday evening.

Edinburgh Tenants Federation, which has a membership of over 40 tenants and residents groups across the city, was congratulated on its 25^th Anniversary by the MSP.

ETF members old and new joined in the celebrations along with representatives from the Tenants Information Service, Blackwood Homes and Care, the International Association for Community Development (IACD), Shakti Women’s Aid and Inverkeithing Community Initiative. MSPs Gordon MacDonald and Alison Johnstone also joined the celebrations.

The event featured contributions from Sarah Boyack MSP, Convenor Betty Stevenson and Vice Convenor Maud Wylie, who said that the success of ETF could not have been achieved without the determination and commitment of the tenant volunteers. Councillor Cammy Day talked of the work that Edinburgh City Council and ETF have collaborated on over the years, in particular the successful tenant-led inspections.

Sarah Boyack MSP said: “The work of the Federation over the years has been fantastic. It has been great to see the work that has been done supporting tenants with mental ill health and campaigning for fairer rents. I was very encouraged to hear that the Federation are already working with the Syrian community in helping the refugees coming to settle in to the city.”

ETF Convener Betty Stevenson said: “Thanks to Sarah for hosting this event for us; it was wonderful to see so many people supporting the work of the Federation. Thanks to all those who have been involved over the years, here’s to the next 25!”

Thursday was the final day of ETF’s Parliamentary Exhibition and Housing Minister Margaret Burgess (above) was among the MSPs and staff to view photos and news stories dating back to the 1980’s and the Federation’s formation in October 1990.

Social housing boost as Hanover secures bank deal

Hanover Scotland secures £40m in first-of-it’s-kind deal

Hanover Scotland has secured a £40m funding facility in an innovative agreement which is the first of its kind in the social housing sector. The transaction, which combines a linked revolving credit facility and private placement, was arranged by Bank of Scotland.

The funding will be used to support the ongoing development plans of Hanover, which manages 5,000 properties on 200 developments across Scotland, with a particular focus on housing for older people. Hanover’s business plan includes a goal of building at least 40 new units each year.

It has secured a new five-year, £20m revolving credit facility (RCF) from Bank of Scotland, with whom it has had a relationship for almost 20 years.

At the same time, the housing association has also agreed a £20m private placement, funded by an institutional investor. This finance, which will be drawn down in 2018 and mature in 2048, will be used to repay the RCF, which will itself be adjusted to £5m in 2018.

The structure of the facility is the first of its kind in the social housing sector as the RCF and private placement are formally linked and share the same security. Meanwhile, the mix of short-term funding from the RCF combined with a longer-dated private placement provides Hanover with a flexible finance package tailored to its ongoing needs.

Helen Murdoch, Chief Executive of Hanover Scotland, (pictured above) said: “The versatility of the structured borrowing fully meets our planning requirements. Hanover has an established history in providing high quality affordable housing for the elderly and this funding will enable us to continue to meet our ambitions to provide much needed new homes.

It is clear that Bank of Scotland fully understand our sector. We believe that our arrangement provides good value for money for our existing and future residents, which is extremely important and is our ultimate goal.”

The RCF was arranged by Bank of Scotland’s dedicated social housing team, while the private placement was handled by the bank’s debt capital markets team.

Marc Ward, relationship manager in the social housing team at Bank of Scotland, said: “This is a tailored, innovative solution which meets the long-term funding needs of Hanover Scotland while also providing short-term liquidity to support its development goals. We believe the structure – combining a conventional revolving credit facility with a private placement – is the first of its kind in the sector.

“Meanwhile, the dual role on this transaction played by our sector-focussed social housing team and our colleagues in debt capital markets demonstrates the breadth of our offering to clients.

“These are transformative times for housing associations as the funding environment continues to shift around them. This deal, which includes securing funding from a blue-chip institutional investor, underlines that the investment community continues to place great value on the social housing sector and the crucial role it plays in the UK.”

Hanover was founded in 1979 and is today Scotland’s leading housing association for older people, with local developments in Stockbridge and Trinity. Its head office is in MacDonald Road and it also has offices in Glasgow and Elgin.

Muirhouse Housing Association AGM tonight

Tonight we host the A.G.M of Muirhouse Housing association in our large hall at Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre (writes James McGinty)

The following invite comes from the Housing Association Website:

Our A.G.M is just around the corner. It will be held on Monday 28 September at 6.30pm at the Muirhouse Millennium Centre. Light refreshments will be served.

The main purpose of the meeting is to present the annual accounts and future plans for the Association. We will also be announcing the winners of the ‘Good Neighbour’ and ‘Best Garden’ contest and all attendees have a chance to win a price.

Forty years old but no slowing down: happy birthday, PoLHA!

Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) marked its 40^th anniversary with a celebration at Hibs’ Easter Road stadium last week. The event was attended by 150 guests including staff, tenants, partners and contractors.

Established in 1975, the Association has invested over £200m creating over 2,700 good quality affordable homes in the Leith and North Edinburgh areas, and the Association has also assisted over 500 young people into further training and work since the launch of it’s TOiL project in 2005.

To mark this impressive milestone, a “This Is Your Life” style production entertained the guests. This featured old stills of Leith and PoLHA along with a short film highlighting the impact the Association makes on the lives of residents and the community.

On a night to remember there was also an audio featuring Douglas McKay, the very first Chair of the Association, and current Chair Margaret O’ Connor and her predecessor Jack Hunter also took part in live interviews.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive, said: “As one of Edinburgh’s oldest local housing associations to have reached this milestone is a great achievement.

“Our beliefs are still very much what they were 40 years in that we are committed to building even more high quality affordable homes for people in Leith and North Edinburgh.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us over the years. Working together we are better able to deliver our ambition which is to make places great for people to live in and to change lives for the better in future.”

TOiL expands east with funding boost

TOiL aims to match last year’s record of success

Port of Leith Housing Association’s (PoLHA) training programme for young people Training Opportunities in Lothian (TOiL) has secured over £200,000 funding which will allow it to expand its services into East Lothian.

The TOiL Programme provides 18 week, paid work experience placements to young, unemployed people alongside in-house training and career guidance. Training placements are with local firms in a variety of sectors and occupations.

The increased funding will enable up to 85 young people to participate in the TOiL Programme in 2015/16. It will also support PoLHA tenants with employability issues through the continued funding of an employabilty officer post. An additional employability officer will also be recruited to take on the role of working with adults who face employment barriers due to disability or ill health.

John Murray manages the TOiL programme. He said: “We are delighted to have received this significant sum of money to continue to support young people into sustainable employment.

“In 2014/15 TOiL supported 76% of trainees into employment, modern apprenticeships or further education against a national average of 44% which is our most successful year to date. It is TOiL’s ambition to deliver a similar level of success with a greater number of individuals this year.”

Skills Development Scotland’s Employability Fund, the City of Edinburgh Council’s Improving Employability Fund and The People and Communities Fund have provided the funding.

Port of Leith sets new homes target: 500 by 2020

26,000 familes on social housing waiting list

More than 200 bids for each new vacancy

Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) is investing £55 million to build nearly 500 new homes in north Edinburgh area by 2020.

PoLHA Chief Executive Keith Anderson said that beyond that date, the future of the development is unclear despite a rapidly increasing demand for homes.

The Association is Leith’s largest social landlord and currently manages over 2,700 properties.

Keith Anderson said: ““Edinburgh continues to have the highest average house prices compared to other cities in Scotland and, combined with stagnating household incomes, is restricting the number of people from becoming home owners, increasing the demand for social housing and for mid market rented housing, as well as open market rented housing.”

In its new five year strategic plan, the Association sets out the challenge facing the city of Edinburgh in terms of the need to increase the supply of housing. The housing list has more than 26,000 registered applicants and demand for social housing remains very high with over 200 bids being received for each new vacancy arising over the past year.

It is estimated that over 1,600 new affordable homes are needed each year for each of the next 10 years to resolve this problem.

Keith Anderson added: “Edinburgh has an acute need and demand for affordable housing now and over the next generation.

“Having explored, over the past three years, new ways to finance development with less reliance on public subsidy, we have come to the conclusion that there are no straightforward alternatives to the traditional mixed funding regime of public subsidy and private finance which will enable rents to remain affordable for people on below average incomes.

“The production of new mid market rented housing in the city has increased over the past two years requiring lower levels of public subsidy. However, it remains unclear whether the current level and volume of subsidy available will enable the delivery of the number of new additional social homes needing to be built.”

As well as investment in new properties, the Association plans to invest a further £8 million in ensuring all its homes meet the required quality standards and including the new Energy Efficiency Standard by the required date of 2020.