To the ballot box and beyond

If you listen really carefully you can faintly hear the cogs turning as the political parties shift up a gear into full blown General Election mode.

With the clock ticking down to the next General Election – you can already feel the mood and the perhaps, less than subtle, subliminal electioneering messages emanating from Westminster.

Whoever has the key to Downing Street in 2015 has the chance to shape housing

But with 16 months to go until polling day – now’s the opportunity for everyone – politicians, prospective politicians, housing professionals and, most importantly, tenants and local families – to help shape the debate around our country’s (and indeed our city’s) future housing need.

I think most people agree – we need to build more affordable homes to stimulate the economy and ease the social and welfare system pressures. But where we can’t seem to find a consensus is around how we do that, how we fund that – and who does it.

Earlier this week, the NationalFederation of ALMOs, of which Wolverhampton Homes is a proud member, became the first housing group to launch it Election Manifesto.

It’s an easy read – with a series of very simple messages.

We all know the stark financial and economic realities we’re operating in – and in which the new government, whoever it may be, will find themselves in.  Whether it’s cuts to local council services or the real human costs where we see hundreds of local people in our city visiting Food Banks every week just to get a hot meal for their families. What’s even more alarming is that an increasing number of those are people are in fulltime paid work, but who still desperately struggle to make ends meet.

But our aspirations and drive in the ALMO-sector needn’t be dampened by the financial constraints we find ourselves operating in. There are new challenges and new opportunities out there to support and encourage economic growth in our towns and cities. Providing decent affordable homes, great customer service and empowering tenants to build for themselves a better future needn’t break the bank. There are in fact lots of ways in which the new government can kick-start a housing revolution in this country.

Building new houses creates new jobs, boosts the economy and provides much needed homes. ALMOs have a great track record of delivering new builds. And why are ALMOs well placed to do this? I think it’s because we’re in a unique position where it’s our tenants who drive the agenda. What better way to drive success and raise standards than having those who are directly affected by what we do, at the helm.

But it’s not just about building new homes – it’s about:

• being more energy efficient 
• driving up standards in the private rented sector 
• tackling fuel poverty

• tackling the challenges of welfare reform
•  providing more skills and training opportunities 
• getting more people online 
• offering more debt advice services and support to credit unions.

The full NFA Manifesto is available to read online. Take a few minutes to take a look and decide for yourselves whether you think your elected representatives should be looking closer at the NFAs proposals to build a brighter future for our local communities.

So, now’s the time to contact your local MPs and local candidates to explain that it can be done – and, importantly, for economic and social prosperity, it desperately needs to be done.

The best gift you can give this Christmas…a roof over your family’s head

I know it still feels a bit too early to start talking about Christmas but now the Coca Cola and John Lewis adverts are on, I thought I better start giving some thought to this year’s festivities.

Sadly, for some families in Wolverhampton – and across the whole country – Christmas is going to be a tough time where some will genuinely be debating whether they choose to heat their homes or buy a meal. In 2013 it’s heartbreaking to think that so many people still live in these conditions.

The homeless charity Shelter has just launched an emergency Christmas campaign. According to their figures, 80,000 children will be classed as homeless this Christmas. “One homeless child at Christmas is a tragedy…80,000 is a disgrace”. It’s a sobering thought.

Our Rent First campaign launches on Monday

Having a roof over our heads is one of the most basic needs any person can have. Yet sadly we still see people with nowhere to call home.

At Wolverhampton Homes, we’re just about to kick-start our annual ‘Rent First Please’ campaign.  For the next few weeks we’ll be knocking on hundreds of tenants’ doors, making thousands of phone calls and working flat out to speak to as many tenants as we can to encourage them to clear their rent arrears before Christmas. I’ve even got a call sheet of numbers so I’ll be mucking in to help the cause as well! We’ll be trying to sort out payment plans and collect owed rent - but we’ll also be showing people where they can get financial and debt advice too.

I saw on the news this week that, on average, people will spend around £29 on each present they buy this. The pressure to buy the latest gadgets and toys for children is overwhelming. For the first time this year, we’ve arranged a Toy Swap for tenants so they can come along and exchange one toy for another as a way of making Christmas more affordable.

Our message is simple – the best gift you can give your family this Christmas is a roof over their head and a place to call home. It might not be glamorous and you certainly can’t wrap it up in paper – but it’ll be there long after the toys and computer games have been put away in a cupboard, never to be seen again.

Our message couldn't really be more simple.

Rent arrears in Wolverhampton are up by nearly £250,000 compared to this time last year. Welfare reforms, a stuttering economy, unemployment and years of debts and credit spending are having a huge impact on the city and local people. But, sadly, the reality is; people are at risk from losing their home if they don’t pay their rent. 

The overwhelming majority of our tenants pay their rent, on time, religiously and have done for years. But we know it’s getting tougher. But we are here to help if people come and talk to us.

It’s going to be a busy few weeks for everyone here. But if we can help tenants clear their arrears so they can have a more relaxed Christmas then that will be a good job well done.

If you want to find out more about Shelter’s campaign or even donate a few pounds to the cause, visit www.shelter.org.uk.

Our Tenants' Got Talent

Our tenants really have got talent

Earlier this week I got the pleasure of being able to take a few hours away from my desk to pop down to the Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton to see some of the incredible talents our tenants possess. From singers and nail artists to cookery masters and photographers – our Flair Fair had the lot!

The stereo-type of council tenants still grates on me. A small minority who grab the unfortunate headlines have undoubtedly tarnished the reputation of council tenants across the country – but what about the silent majority who are simply getting on with their lives, working hard and providing for their families? The reputation hasn’t been helped in recent years by TV shows like Channel 4’s comedy, Shameless. Don’t get me wrong, Shameless can be really funny and has become a cult classic with viewing figures in the millions and spin-off series sprouting up across the world. But how many times have photos from Shameless been used to go alongside negative media articles about council house tenants?

How did I end up with Garfield?!

But are the antics of the Gallagher family really a true depiction of modern-day council tenants?

We launched our Flair Fair last year and it was a huge success. We’ve got a pool of exceptionally talented tenants. Earlier this week Flair Fair was back and I had the privilege of popping along to see for myself some of the tenants who were showcasing their talents.

We had singers, artists, photographers, nail technicians, cake makers, henna artists and clothes designers to name but a few!

I went along to the fair with the Chair of our Board, Sue Roberts MBE. Sue’s been a council tenant for more than 40 years, and with an MBE for her work in the community over the year I can safely say she couldn’t be further away from the Gallagher family!

It was wonderful to see so many tenants expressing themselves through their various talents and hobbies. For me, this is the story of social housing which, sadly, rarely gets told.

Proud: Our LEAP apprentices pick up another award.

And all this comes in the week where our LEAP apprenticeship programme beat of competition from companies like O2, Vodafone, NatWest and ASDA to be crowned overall winners of the Peer Excellence Awards for work in the community. Our tenant apprentices who come through LEAP have mostly either never worked, or are long-term unemployed. Perhaps it goes to show – our tenants have got talent – sometimes people just need to give them the break they need to realise how talented and successful they really can be.

Finally, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all of the tenants who came to the Flair Fair – it was fabulous to see so many people there and I’m already looking forward to popping down again next year!