Tag: social housing

Port of Leith summer fayres raise £2000

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Two of Port of Leith Housing Association’s (PoLHA) sheltered housing complexes have raised over £2,000 at their summer fayres.

St Nicholas Court, on Ferry Road, and Hermitage Court had an array of stalls, including a raffle, tombola, home baking, bric-a-brac and books. The funds raised will go towards supporting activities for all tenants to enjoy, such as day trips, theatre trips, exercise classes and lunch clubs.

Maureen Tait, PoLHA’s Sheltered Housing Services Manager, said: “Our summer fayres are fast approaching their 20th anniversary and have always attracted a good turnout. We’re very fortunate to have the support from the local community, and our tenants and their family and friends as they know how important the activities are in getting our tenants out and about.”

Pictured: May Vanhagen, Michelle Vanhagen,  Bertha Glancy and John Ross

Tenants get the keys to their new homes in Pennywell

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City council Housing Convener Councillor Cammy Day met with tenants for a tour of the newest completed homes at the award-winning Pennywell site yesterday. The new tenants were viewing the block and meeting their Grieve Crescent neighbours for the first time.

Continue reading Tenants get the keys to their new homes in Pennywell

Homing in: partnership pledge to build 16,000 homes

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

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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.

My room on this earth: a Port of Leith celebration

PoLHA film celebrates forty years as social housing leader

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Port of Leith Housing Association has released a short film to celebrate it’s fortieth anniversary. The documentary looks at the impact PoLHA has made in the local community over the past four decades.

Continue reading My room on this earth: a Port of Leith celebration

Edinburgh Tenants Federation celebrates 25 years

Holyrood reception marks ETF’s special year 

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Edinburgh Tenants Federation (ETF) celebrated their 25th 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 25th 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.

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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!”

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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

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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.

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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.

 

Port of Leith HA welcomes new board members

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Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA), which celebrated its 40th anniversary this month, has appointed two new Board Members and a Vice Chair.

 Arun Gopinath is a Managing Consultant with Zackra Consulting Services and also serves as the Manager of Central Scotland Regional Equality Council. Prior to this he has been involved with Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council, Scottish Alliance of Regional Equality Councils and RCMS Group, an international architectural and engineering consulting company.

Leith resident Vicky Hope runs her own marketing consultancy. She is a law graduate, but moved into marketing where she has gained a wide experience in communications, project management and branding.

Ruth McNeil, a Board Member since 2008, takes up the post of Vice Chair. A former manager in a unit caring for the elderly, she is also a PoLHA tenant.

Current Chair, Margaret O’Connor, has been re-elected.  She joined the board at PoLHA in 2010 and was elected as Vice Chair in 2011 before being elected Chair last year.

Keith Anderson, PoLHA Chief Executive said: “We are committed to providing high quality, energy efficient homes for people in Leith and North Edinburgh. Our staff and Board Members play a key role in delivering our aims and objects and I’m delighted to welcome Arun and Vicky to PoLHA, and having Margaret and Ruth as Chair and Vice Chair respectively.”

Muirhouse Housing Association AGM tonight

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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.