Double appointment for Ward Hadaway’s Built Environment Team

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Law firm Ward Hadaway has appointed two new solicitors who have joined the firm’s growing Built Environment Team in Newcastle.

Based at the firm’s Quayside office in the city centre, the appointments of Philippa Jones and Victoria Chatterton, joining from their previous firms have further strengthened the construction and engineering team, supporting their growing client base across the North East and further afield.

Philippa joins as an Associate solicitor and will be responsible for a wide range of contentious and non-contentious construction and engineering matters. She joins from her previous firm where she worked as an Associate and has over five years working within construction law.

She particularly focuses on major infrastructure projects and will act for a wide variety of construction and engineering clients including contractors, developers, employers, subcontractors, consultants, procurement specialists and Local Authorities.

Commenting on her appointment, Philippa, said: “Ward Hadaway has a great reputation in the region with an impressive client roster and collegiate atmosphere. I’m looking forward to building my construction practice throughout the region by supporting local major infrastructure projects in addition to national clients. I am delighted to have joined this expanding team at such an exciting time.”

Victoria has also been appointed to the same team and joins the firm as a solicitor. She is acting for a variety of construction and engineering clients in drafting, reviewing and negotiating consultancy appointments, collateral warranties and standard contracts working from project inception.

Victoria is a member of the Women’s Lawyer Division and Women in Construction forums. Commenting on her appointment, she said: “I’m really enjoying my new role and it’s an exciting time to be joining this growing team. Ward Hadaway has a great reputation and is one of the leading law firms in the north so I am grateful to be able to apply my knowledge and experience with construction clients across the region.”

Paul Reekie, a Partner and Head the firm’s construction and engineering service, said: “This is a really exciting time as we continue to strengthen our Built Environment Team to support our growing client base. Our priority is to attract and recruit high-calibre solicitors to ensure we can provide an all-encompassing service for our clients across many specialisms.

“In the last three months alone, we have made six significant appointments within the team across all three of our regions and I’m confident Philippa and Victoria will complement and add value to our existing relationships with our clients. I’m looking forward to working with them both.”

New appointments: Solicitors Philippa Jones (left) and Victoria Chatterton have both joined Ward Hadaway’s growing Built Environment Team.

Government launches new ECO+ scheme

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The Government has announced its new ECO+ scheme which will make £1 billion of funding available for energy efficiency improvements, such as loft or wall insulation.

BEIS has confirmed that the new ECO phase, ECO+, will be available to a wider range of groups, helping households who do not currently have access to any other government funding to improve home energy efficiency.  Around 80% of the funding will be made available to the least energy efficient homes in council tax bands A to D, with an EPC rating of D or below, while around a fifth of the funding will be provided to the most vulnerable, including those on means tested benefits or in fuel poverty. Currently, 43.5% of all homes in the North meet EPC Band ‘C’ or higher.

The ECO+ scheme will run from spring 2023 for up to three years although the Government has said it will allow suppliers to begin installing measures sooner.

According to the Government, the measures installed, predominantly insulation measures, will help households cut annual bills by an average of £310 as well as supporting the government’s new ambition, announced as part of the Autumn Statement, to reduce the UK’s final energy consumption from buildings and industry by 15% by 2030.

A new £18 million public information campaign will also offer technical tips and advice for people to reduce their energy use while keeping warm this winter.

The latest measure is an extension of the existing Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme and covers homes that aren’t eligible for support under the existing ECO4 scheme.

Social housing tenants will be eligible for insulation in EPC bands E, F or G, whilst households in EPC band D will be limited to Innovation Measures.  As with ECO4, eligible measures will be limited to any single insulation measure but not heating controls.

The same LA and Supplier Flex mechanism will carry over from ECO4 for the low-income group and BEIS will explore ways for further encourage LA and Supplier Flex referrals through the scheme.

For the PRS, given landlords are already required to improve homes to an EPC band E up to a spend cap of £3,500, PRS households in EPC bands F and G will be excluded, with limited exceptions.  For the general eligibility group, PRS households will only be able to receive higher-cost measures that are more likely to be delivered with a customer contribution from the landlord through the scheme.

The £1 billion scheme is part of the new £6 billion investment announced in the Autumn Statement to be made available from 2025 to 2028 – to contribute to the existing £6.6 billion energy efficiency funding pot, which the government has pledged over this Parliament to help decarbonise homes and buildings and ensure all homes meet EPC Band C by 2035.

This new funding is a welcome announcement although ECO+ is just a part of wider action needed and the Climate Change Committee continues to recommend that the Government introduces a national home retrofit scheme in the near-term to get on track to meet climate goals. The Northern Housing Monitor revealed that poorly insulated homes are costing tenants at least £680 more this year than they would if properly insulated and that 3.8m homes across the North fall beneath the key energy efficiency standard of EPC C.

The government is consulting on proposals for ECO+ until 23rd December 2022.

All Party Parliamentary Group for Housing in the North meets for end-of-year session

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In December, the All Party Parliamentary Group for Housing in the North, for which the NHC acts as Secretariat, met for an online end-of-year wrap-up session. The meeting was organised to bring key stakeholders together to discuss the past and future of Levelling Up and advocate for a continued approach to tackling inequalities that appreciates the relationship between physical, social, and economic regeneration. 

Across 2022, the APPG has dedicated meetings to Levelling Up, with specific focus on the importance of good quality homes and neighbourhoods in the North within the agenda’s core aims of raising living standards, improving public services, restoring local pride, and empowering leaders and communities.  

In May 2022 The APPG met to discuss the White Paper’s ambition to raise living standards, with a focus on the interrelated challenges of the cost of living crisis and the energy efficiency of northern homes. In July, APPG members explored the relationship between housing quality and belonging, with a briefing on the Government’s A Fairer Private Rented Sector White Paper, underpinning the Mission to half non-decent rented housing by 2030. 

The meeting was opened by APPG Chair, Ian Mearns MP, and included an opening speech from NHC Chief Executive, Tracy Harrison, who set the scene for the session and detailed the key priorities for Levelling Up housing and communities in the North; committing and acting on the Levelling Up Mission to half non-decent rented homes, securing Parliamentary time to bring forward the Renters’ Reform Bill, and protecting the provision of affordable housing within the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. 

This APPG meeting featured a speaking slot from Adam Hawksbee, Interim Director of think tank Onward, who provided some detail on the Levelling Up White Paper and the progress made since it was published. Adam also explained what is needed for Levelling Up to succeed in practical terms. The session also included Director of Generation Rent, Alicia Kennedy (Baroness Kennedy of Cradley), who discussed the Fairer Private Rented Sector White Paper and wider reform of the private rented sector. Alicia highlighted the increase of tenants in the private rented sector in the North and what the sector needs from the Renters’ Reform Bill. Finally, RTPI Head of Policy Practice and Research, Richard Blyth, joined the session to provide an update on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill currently makings its way through parliament, with a focus on the planning aspects of the Bill.  

The APPG for Housing in the North is regularly attended by a healthy cohort of Members of Parliament representing northern constituencies, and members of the House of Lords with geographic connections to the North and/or an interest in housing. In addition to Parliamentarians, APPG meetings are attended by other invited stakeholders and Senior Leaders from the Northern Housing Consortium’s membership of Local Authorities, Housing Associations, and ALMOs.  

 

A post event-meeting pack for this session, as well further information on the APPG and its meetings can be found here: 

https://www.northern-consortium.org.uk/services/policy/parliament/appg-for-housing-in-the-north/ 

 If you wish to discuss the APPG further, or wish to attend future meetings, please contact Liam Gregson (Member Engagement Manager) Liam.Gregson@northern-consortium.org.uk  

Better Social Housing Review publishes final report

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The Better Social Housing Review, the independent panel on quality and trust in the housing association sector, have published their findings this week. The Review was instigated by the National Housing Federation and Chartered Institute of Housing earlier this year, and was led by Helen Baker, the Chair of Shelter.

The report makes seven key recommendations:

  1. Every housing association, and the sector as a whole, should refocus on their core purpose and deliver against it.
  2. Housing associations should work together to conduct and publish a thorough audit of all social housing in England.
  3. Housing associations should partner with tenants, contractors and frontline staff to develop and apply new standards defining what an excellent maintenance and repairs process looks like.
  4. The Chartered Institute of Housing should promote the traditional “housing officer” role as a supported and valued employment opportunity with a Chartered Institute of Housing recognised programme of training and continuing development.
  5. Housing associations should work with all tenants to ensure that they have a voice and influence at every level of decision making across the organisation, through both voluntary and paid roles.
  6. Housing associations should develop a proactive local community presence through community hubs which foster greater multi-agency working.
  7. Housing associations should support tenants and frontline staff to undertake an annual review of the progress each organisation is making in implementing this review’s recommendations.

The full report, and the background to the Review, can be found on the Better Social Housing Review’s website.  The co-chair of the Sector Steering Group for the report, Charlie Norman of MSV Housing, will be joining a panel at the Northern Housing Summit on January 17th to discuss the past, present and future of the Decent Homes Standard. Places at the Summit can be booked via MyNHC.

NHC joins the Greater Manchester Truly Affordable Net Zero Homes Task Force

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A new task force set up to achieve the 30,000 net zero social rented homes by 2038 pledged by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham met for the first time in November. The NHC are pleased to be represented by Executive Director (Policy & Public Affairs), Brian Robson, on the Greater Manchester Truly Affordable Net Zero Homes Task Force (TANZ).

The (TANZ) Task Force brings together industry leaders, experts and stakeholders from local authorities, housing providers, the University of Salford, Greater Manchester LEP, developers, and Homes England, among others. Brian Robson joined the inaugural meeting which was attended by Andy Burnham, and discussed existing net zero housing development and challenges of delivery at scale.

Andy Burnham, said: “The delivery of net zero carbon homes – particularly those available for social rent – is a vital way for making Greater Manchester a green and fairer place.

“This is a hugely impactful way of becoming more energy efficient, not just benefitting our environment, but reducing the costs of heating and warming homes and now more than ever this is something people are becoming desperately worried about.

“In addition to this, investing in the skills development and training required for new methods of construction and modular house building required is vital and I will continue to make the case to government to give us greater local powers and investment to do this so we can continue to lead the way and build on the existing net zero homes projects already underway here.

“This Task Force brings together a highly skilled and experienced group of people who will drive Greater Manchester forward and deliver the 30,000 net zero carbon homes for social rent our region needs to be green and fairer.”

In November 2021, the NHC’s Social Housing Tenants’ Climate Jury produced a set over recommendations to the sector on how can tenants, social housing providers, and others work together to tackle climate change in our homes and neighbourhoods.

If you wish to discuss the NHC’s involvement in the Greater Manchester TANZ, please contact Brian Robson (Executive Director, Policy & Public Affairs) Brian.Robson@northern-consortium.org.uk

Image from About Manchester

NHC interviewed for BBC’s Politics North on the North’s ‘energy efficiency mountain to climb’

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The NHC’s Brian Robson featured on the BBC’s Politics North (North East & Cumbria) programme in December, highlighting evidence from this year’s Northern Housing Monitor on the North’s poorly insulated and draughty homes which fall below the government’s EPC C benchmark for energy efficiency.

Speaking to the BBC’s Robert Cooper, Brian said: “We’ve got an energy efficiency mountain to climb in the North of England. We have 3.8million homes beneath the key energy performance certificate C benchmark”

“Sunderland cottages, Tyneside flats, those are typically the kind of homes that were built early in the last century or before that, and just weren’t built to today’s standards – so they’re not thermally efficient, they’re quite draughty and leaky, and those are the kind of homes we need to target with insulation schemes.”

Our latest Northern Housing Monitor report reveals that 3.8m homes in the North fall beneath the key energy efficiency standard of EPC C. Residents in these homes will pay an average of £680 more this year than those in properly insulated homes. In November, the NHC called on the government to release the remaining £4 billion of energy efficiency commitments from the 2019 Conservative Manifesto to create a long-term programme of investment for homes across the North that are hit hardest by fuel poverty.

The programme also featured Karbon Homes’ ongoing Otterburn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund retrofit scheme – demonstrating the difference that investment can make. The programme is available to watch again via iPlayer.

Net Zero Measures Demonstrator Tours

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In November 2021, the Social Housing Tenants’ Climate Jury launched its final report; their views as social housing tenants as to how tenants, social landlords, and other place-based organisations can work together to tackle climate change in our homes and neighbourhoods.

Central to the project was the pressing issue of retrofitting homes – making properties more energy efficient through improved levels of insulation and transitioning home heating systems away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources. In amongst the often-complex asset management factors posed by retrofit; identifying and assessing properties, funding sources, designing schemes, managing contractors; the tenant is at risk of becoming a secondary concern.

The Social Housing Tenants’ Climate Jury focussed on making decarbonising homes a tenant engagement consideration and a collaborative process between landlord and tenant.

As part of our commitment to promote and advance the Jury’s work, the NHC is working closely with members in identifying demonstrator homes across the North. This provides the opportunity for NHC members and their tenants to come and take a look at the different net zero measures in the demonstrator homes, to be able to see first-hand what the measures look like, how they work, impact on the environment, and savings to tenants. To this end, the NHC has arranged for members and their tenants to visit demonstrator homes in the North East and North West, hosted by NHC members Livin and MSV.

In partnership with Livin Housing, the NHC invited members and their tenants to a tour around Livin’s Jubilee Fields Estate in Shildon and their onsite Net Zero Measures Demonstrator Home. This is part of a wider placemaking and regeneration project to improve the quality of life on the estate and transforming the overall appearance – a walkabout around the estate was included in the tour.

Livin has set up the demonstrator home to enable visitors to learn about the various net zero and energy saving measures used in the home and provide money saving tips linked in with the cost-of-living agenda. Attendees were able to see first-hand how the net zero and energy efficiency measures in the home can save residents money, which is increasingly important given the current cost of living crisis.

The North West demonstrator tour was to MSV Housing’s Cosy Home in Rusholme, Manchester. The Cosy Home is a traditional pre-war brick-built terraced house in the heart of Rusholme – MSV has a further 1,300 homes similar to this one. The Cosy Home is a pilot and will provide the data needed to assess installation costs, how much energy is saved and what external funding can be achieved. The Cosy Home now benefits from an EPC A rating and household bills will be monitored for two years to assess the results of the work done and typical usage during that time.

Working with their 6 specialist partners, MSV’s Cosy Home has been fully retrofitted with:

  • Internal Wall Insulation
  • The latest PV’s which provide 5.8kw of energy storage
  • An Air-source heat pump – air to water system
  • New high-efficiency windows and doors

The aim is to showcase to the local and wider community how a property of this type can be much more energy efficient, kinder to the environment and help meet our net carbon zero targets. Housing accounts for up to 40% of carbon emissions according to the Committee on Climate Change, so we have a significant and important role to play in creating clean, green and thriving communities.

The NHC will be organising further demonstrator tours for members and their tenants in 2023, so keep an eye out for further details on this to follow. If you have any questions regarding the demonstrator tours or would like to be involved in the future, please contact Satty Rai (Member Engagement Manager) Satty.Rai@northern-consortium.org.uk

 

New Locata Lettings system on show for first time

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Locata’s National Users Group (NUG) saw the first demonstration of the new Lettings system at its Autumn meeting.

The development work on the new module for the Locata Pro Platform, which is designed to be a replacement product for our current Choice Based Lettings product, has been undertaken by Locata’s strategic partner, Sector, throughout 2022.

Sector’s Luke Hatfield explained that the new Lettings system is not completely built yet, but already looks “much more modern, clean and fresh.”

“Over the last couple of months we have focused on the property shortlisting cycles and being able to set up a property, advertise that property and then pushing it through into a shortlist and then working that shortlist,” he said. “We are now trying to finish that process and get it into test.”

Luke showed how the new system offers the user much more control – for instance, allowing property fields to be configured by the officer.

It also introduces the concept of an “Advert Instance”, where a new advert is created automatically whenever a property is being prepared to be advertised.

“The idea is that you will have a history of the property each time it is advertised.” said Luke. “Currently you have to over-write the current advert with new information, such as hand over dates, and you lose that history, although it is in the audit trail.”

Other new functionalities include a cropping tool for photos and configurable fields and rules on the property wizard meaning you can build your own property wizard as simple or as complex as you like.

We expect the new Lettings system to be fully built and ready for you to use from April 2023 onwards.

To find out more about the new Lettings system, including links to a recording of Luke’s demo, please click here.

Or, alternatively, come and meet us at our stand at the rescheduled NHC Northern Housing Summit on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 in Manchester. We would be delighted to have a chat with you.

Sector’s Luke Hatfield delivering the first public demo of the new Lettings system at the virtual NUG

 

Locata progresses to G-Cloud 13

Locata has been successful in applying to join the Crown Commercial Services latest iteration of its digital marketplace – G-Cloud 13.

The latest version of the G-Cloud framework went live last month and offers the very latest cloud technology and digital support to organisations across the public sector.

This means that Locata continues to be an official Crown Commercial Service supplier and our products and services can be bought by local authorities through the Digital Marketplace without needing to go through a full tender process.

Public sector organisations that buy services through the Digital Marketplace save significant time and money as the process is faster and cheaper than entering into individual procurement contracts.

You can find out more about G-Cloud 13 and the digital marketplace here.

Asset Management Webinar Recap with Seddon

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On Wednesday 7th December the Northern Housing Consortium held it’s annual Asset Management Webinar in collaboration with Campbell Tickell.

The session was designed to offer an opportunity for reflection on a challenging year and a look ahead to 2023 and the much-discussed ‘perfect storm’ facing housing providers; stock that needs maintained and upgraded, a new Building Safety regime, net zero carbon targets, and persistent pressures to pursue new developments.

Opened by Chair, Jon Slade, Director at Campbell Tickell, the agenda brought together a series of industry stakeholders to explore these intertwining challenges and the weakened operating environment the sector finds itself in.  

In this guest blog Nicola Hodkinson, Owner and Director at Seddon, reflects on the themes she discussed as part of her involvement on the day.

Weathering the storm through industry collaboration

Author: Nicola Hodkinson – owner and director at Seddon

 

The Decent Homes Standard saw the formation of many strong relationships, with expertise shared between contractors, industry leaders, asset mangers and registered providers. With rumblings of a review of the Decent Homes Standard, as the industry tackles issues left over from COVID-19, rent controls and negative public perception of housing standards, as well as pressure to reach sustainability targets, it is critical to re-establish these valuable long-term partnerships.

 

The journey to decarbonisation

Pressure to meet Net Zero targets is mounting and the whole of the housing sector is feeling it. For asset managers, there is a fear of going in the wrong direction by choosing the incorrect technology to achieve decarbonisation targets or type of planned works. This has a direct impact on contractors, who more often than not come in after the design stage of a project, limiting the approach to decarbonation and heightening the risk of missing targets.

It is in this way that while new technology is certainly assisting plans for decarbonisation, we are also seeing it act as a barrier. Undoubtedly, whatever technology is chosen today most likely won’t be what is used in 10 years’ time or even less. Despite this, we still need to focus on taking steps towards making things better rather than solving everything with one action. The journey to decarbonisation is a continuous process which will take time to achieve. Any step forward for the  homes, offices or buildings we deliver will add value and make improvements today.

A trusted contract partner can help bridge some of the decisions asset managers are faced with. Whether advising on a fabric first approach or installing technology such as heat pumps and Solar PV, contractors have the contacts and expertise to make the process easier. If both parties develop trust and commitment, the problems and gaps in the process of decarbonisation can be understood and resolved.

 

Creating quality by investing people

All too often, contractors are hesitant to employ a larger workforce because they see no pipeline of work, making it an expensive and risky exercise. This creates an over-reliance on agency or labour only employment, resulting in cutting corners when it comes to design and materials and reduced standards of the final build.

The visibility of a work pipeline is desperately missing in our sector, and something that has detrimental impacts to everyone involved. By selecting ad-hoc contractors, based only on cost, you are left with the risk of poor design, poor lead times and poor business practices. It is only asset managers that can change this.

Creating long-term strategic partnerships with contractors will create that all-important on-going pipeline of work, at the same time as mitigating challenges during projects. A partnership arrangement such as this, allows contractors to re-invest in their workforce – delivering high quality labour, design and sequencing. I have seen decades long relationships not only result in real value added to the end build but also improve skills and employment practices in the sector.

Giving contractors and their supply chain certainty in an uncertain market allows them to invest in employment and work towards addressing issues around mental illness that so seriously plague our industry. We are currently losing two construction colleagues a week, indicating the dire need for decisive action to improve this environment. Investment in long-term employment means that there will be less need to use agency or labour only employees, giving everyone far more certainty. Creating a better place to work means that employees can be treated better, and this is crucial to improving in this current climate.

 

Looking to the future

Ultimately, asset managers and contractors need to collaborate to provide stability our industry so desperately needs, particularly during these uncertain times. This will allow us to invest in people, skills and communities to deliver quality, sustainable homes and buildings that will last for generations. Long-term strategic partnerships are an essential part of the journey to Net Zero, which we all know by now is not a quick process, nor one in which corners can be cut. Industry collaboration has long been an issue in the construction sector, but it is now one that is impossible to ignore. Only by working together with a collective view of how we will reach future aims and expectations, will we have the force, stability and expertise to achieve them.

Housing Standards & Enforcement – NHC Private Rented Sector Network to Meet

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The Secretary of State for Levelling up Housing & Communities has written to all Local Authority Chief Executives and Council Leaders, outlining the urgent need to prioritise the improvement of housing conditions for those in rented accommodation.

The correspondence comes in light of the tragic death of Awaab Ishak as a result of mould in his family home. In the letter, the Secretary of State has reminded Local Authorities of their duties under the Housing Act 2004 to keep housing conditions under review with a view to identifying necessary action that may need to be taken.

Highlighting the Act, the Secretary of State has directed that Local Authorities have particular regard to category 2 damp and mould hazards, as outlined in the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, and also:

  • Supply the department with an assessment of damp and mould issues affecting privately rented properties in their areas, including the prevalence of category 1 and 2 damp and mould hazards;
  • Supply the department with an assessment of action you have identified that may need to be taken in relation to damp and mould issues affecting privately rented properties in your area.

The Secretary of State has also directed councils to set out how they are prioritising enforcement of housing standards more generally in their authority, across all tenures, including what plans you have to ensure adequate enforcement capacity to drive up standards in the private rented sector. This is to be supported by a range of data including:

  • How many damp and mould hazards you have remediated, compared to your assessment of the prevalence of these hazards;
  • How many times you have taken enforcement action to remedy damp and mould hazards and the form this has taken;
  • How many civil penalty notices have been issued in relation to non-compliance with enforcement action over damp and mould hazards; and;
  • How many prosecutions have been successfully pursued in relation to damp and mould hazards.

Improving and enforcing housing quality in the Private Rented Sector is a longstanding priority for Northern Housing Consortium members and our PRS Network meets regularly to discuss good practice and the challenges of resourcing effective enforcement of quality and support to vulnerable tenants.

The PRS Network meets again 15th December, 12.00 – 14.00, online via Zoom. The meeting will include a discussion on recent events and members response to the Secretary of State. At the meeting we will also be joined by colleagues at the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities who will update attendees on their work improving the conditions and experiences of those in Supported Housing.

To attend, please register via MyNHC using the link below:

https://www.mynhc.org.uk/event/general?id=PRS_Network563276032