homes not houses

Independent Working Class Association - national website

2007-07-05T02:09:00.000-07:00

Independent

‘We are NOT all Thatcher's children’ – The housing crisis proves it.

Independent Working Class Association - national website

2007-07-05T02:04:00.000-07:00

Independent Working Class Association - national website: "Yet Another Sub-Contracting Scandal Uncovered" (South)

Campaigners Save Greenfield Site (from The Herald )

2007-06-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

Campaigners Save Greenfield Site (from The Herald )
Protesters are celebrating after a local authority's plans to sell-off a greenfield site were halted by the council's new administration.

ACCOUTANCY TRICKS IN CALCULATING SOCIAL HOUSING NEED

2007-04-30T02:41:00.000-07:00

THE DISSAPEARING HOMELESS 

 The Scottish Tenants’ Organisation asks all candidates and parties to look again at how the Scottish Executive and local councils calculate housing need. They argue that the current method allows councils with growing housing waiting lists and homelessness to claim that they have surplus housing, leading to untold misery for thousands of families.In particular, they are asking that politicians look again at the assumptions that they call ‘social housing’ should only be made available as a last resort (with the presumption that everyone else should rely on the market even if it leaves them just above benefit levels) and the completely arbitrary decision that councils should only have to meet 1/10 of the backlog of housing need each year. 

 _Background for editors_ 

 In planning their housing policy, local councils make use of the Local Housing Need and Affordability Model for Scotland, drawn up by academics at Heriott Watt University for the Scottish Executive and Communities Scotland. This includes a daunting number of tables and equations, which can be expected to put most people off looking beyond the headline figures. But it is not necessary to work through these – or even to question whether it is possible to predict incomes or house prices or household numbers fifteen years ahead – to have serious concerns about this model. 

 In fact the two basic assumptions that underlie all the figures should raise the alarm for anyone who is hoping to be allotted social housing (council or housing association). Social housing need is made up for the most part of the needs of new households plus the existing backlog. (There are also some people moving from owner occupation and variations due to migration.) (page 11 table 2.2) In estimating the need from new households, the model assumes that there will be no need to provide social housing for any family who can afford to buy or rent in the private market, and that this may reasonably involve a mortgage of 3 ½ times the household salary, or rents of up to 30% of income, and a /residual income after housing costs only just above benefit level./ (p 87) Social housing in these assumptions is reduced to a safety net service for those who absolutely cannot afford any other option – a very far cry from its post-war role as a source of good quality housing, and a tenure of choice. 

 The other basic assumption concerns the backlog of people inadequately housed. While those families who make up the ‘backlog’ might be forgiven for thinking that they should be recognised as having an immediate housing need, the model allows this need to be met in annual instalments of 10%. The authors explain that they are following government guidelines that say that local authorities should not plan to exhaust the backlog. The government recommend a maximum quota of 20% per annum, and in choosing to reduce this further the authors hope that families will be pushed to find other sources of housing. (p 89) 

 So, to take the example of Dundee, although the report acknowledges that the city has a backlog need for 6061 homes (p 117) – almost half due to overcrowding and sharing – this is translated into a backlog quota of 605 homes a year (p 11), which – with the restrictions on social housing eligibility – can be more than met by current turnover. That allows the report to claim Dundee has a net _surplus_ of social housing relets of 700 homes a year (pp 11 and 8), and the council to conclude that there is no need to increase its production of new social housing from 200 homes a year (note AN 90-2007 to Housing Committee Agenda for 19^th March 2007) – less than the number of homes currently being lost to the public sector under the Right to Buy. 

 (For Glasgow the figures are: backlog 29,603 – annual surplus, 4,590, Edinburgh has a backlog of 23,626 and an acknowledged need of 2,480 homes a year.) 

 The /Local housing need and affordability model for //Scotland// – Update (2005 based) /was published in November 2006 and can be downloaded from the Communities Scotland Website 

 For more details contact Dr Sarah Glynn 01382 774370 

 or call The Scottish Tenants Organisation on 01698 281 488 0r 07976 718 111.

Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee

2007-04-29T01:59:00.001-07:00

Scottish Parliament Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee
Official Report Meeting 10, 1999 (archive)

Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee

2007-04-29T01:59:00.000-07:00

Scottish Parliament Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee
Official Report Meeting 10, 1999

Plans unveiled for Red Road’s £20m homes

2007-04-13T01:06:00.000-07:00

Evening Times: NewsPLANS have been unveiled for nearly 240 homes to rehouse people after Glasgow's notorious Red Road tower blocks come down. As usual read the comments.

HOUSING CONFERENCE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10TH 2007

2007-02-06T21:53:00.000-08:00

Housing Conference Saturday, February 10^th 2007

Scottish Monitoring Group on Housing & Homelessness

www.monitoringscottishhousing.org.uk

9:30 Registration (and workshop sign-up)

10:00 Convenor’s Opening remarks/housekeeping etc - Andrew Fraser

10:05 Welcome to Pollokshaws – Cllr. Stephen Curran

10:10 Messages of Support, Introduction to speakers -

10:15 Colin Deans, former board member GHA & GHAM.

“Couldnae run a Menogè”

10:25 Mike Dailly, Principal Solicitor, Govan Law Centre.

“GHA - A Legal Report Card”

10:35 Dr. Stirling Howieson, University of Strathclyde.

“How our homes are making us ill”

10:55 Coffee/tea/comfort break

11:10 Workshops:-

Real Tenant Participation/Empowerment” (Sam Harper+)

Second Stage Transfers” (Jimmy Black + Cllr Keith Baldesarra)

Homelessness (Maggie Brunjes of GHN+ Mike Dailly)

Accessible Housing (Cllr Billy McAllister+Frank ??)

Racism in Housing (Dave Le Sage+Mehri McAvoy)

Fuel Poverty V affordable warm healthy homes” (Grant Thoms + Neil Philips)

Langlands Principles of Governance” (Colin Deans + Rose Bowie)

Freedom of Information”.

12:30 Break for lunch (soup and sandwiches avail here at nominal cost)

1:25 Workshops:- as morning

2:40 Coffee/tea/comfort break

2:50 Plenary session –Convenor: Bernard Ponsonby, Political Editor, Scottish Television.

Feedback from workshop rapporteurs, Policy statements from

Conservatives (a parliamentary candidate,name TBA)

Greens - Patrick Harvie MSP

Labour - Des McNulty MSP, Deputy Minister, Communities

Liberal Democrats - Isabel Nelson

SNP - Sandra White MSP

SSP - Cllr. Keith Baldesarra

Solidarity - Graham Campbell

Question and Answers session – Panel of politicians & rapporteurs

4:40 Summation of conference and closing remarks

It is hoped there will be exhibits from Unison, PAIH, EAPN, FEANTSA, CECODHAS, GHN, GLC and others, literature stalls, a bookseller and YOU!

There is no participation fee for the conference (which includes tea, coffee and biscuits) but we suggest a donation of £2 from unwaged or £5 from waged.

A simple healthy lunch will be offered at cost.

We wus conned - As we said all along - Ministers 'knew of GHA split cost'

2007-02-06T01:56:00.000-08:00

Ministers were last night accused of "kidding people on" over the cost of breaking up Scotland's biggest social landlord. Nationalist MSP Alex Neil claimed the Scottish Executive had long known of a financial black hole at the heart of their plans for Glasgow Housing Association (GHA). The association, according to long-standing plans, is supposed to be split up into smaller, more accountable units under a pledge made to tenants five years ago. However, GHA's outgoing chief executive has always insisted that his body didn't have the funding needed to do so. The Herald last year revealed consultants had measured the gap at up to £500m. The executive in October last year acknowledged a funding gap, although not the figure claimed by GHA, and committed itself to forge ahead with second-stage transfers (SST). Malcolm Chisholm, then Communities Minister, said that new public money could be put into the process, if needed.

Mr Neil, however, has unearthed executive paperwork that shows officials were told of the problems long before October. He said: "The Scottish Executive has known for the last five years that there has been a huge black hole about how to fund second-stage transfers. Despite repeated denials, they have now, belatedly, come round to admitting the scale of the problem._ "Why they have tried to kid people on for the last five years I do not know, but it is coming back to bite them, big-style." "Whoever forms the administration in May is going to face a fundamental dilemma of whether they commit to fund SST or whether they abandon it altogether. It's going to be a Hobson's Choice." [ I seem to remember Tenants being facred with a Hobson’s Choice namely; vote for transfer it’s the only way you’ll get investment in you housing. They lied there are lied compounded on lies! Within their own terms they lied. We were told to buy into a load of lies. This is all much more expensive than the public sector alternative and being so prone to market fluctuations is too risky a bet for people’s lives.] Mr Neil has used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain copies of advice received by the executive by consultants. Experts from Pricewaterhouse Coopers in October 2005, a year before Mr Chisholm signalled more money could be made available, warned that SST would "generate costs" and suggested some of these might be met from within GHA's own budget, perhaps its fund for redundancies. But experts also warned the executive to be careful over making additional demands on an already stretched GHA business plan. Four years earlier, consultants working for Glasgow City Council measured the shortfall at around £300m. Their findings, Mr Neil said, were shared with the executive. [ I seem to remember Tenants being facred with a Hobson’s Choice namely; vote for transfer it’s the only way you’ll get investment in you housing. They lied there are lied compounded on lies! Within their own terms they lied. We were told to buy into a load of lies. This is all much more expensive than the public sector alternative and being so prone to market fluctuations is too risky a bet for people’s lives.]

The executive, meanwhile, yesterday stressed the PwC document was one of many drawn up over the years for various parties to the drawn-out debate over SST.

Officials believe a "joint team" - set up under a progress group chaired by former Housing Minister Johann Lamont has got to the bottom of the issue, recognising that there is a difference between the price GHA wants for its stock and the amount successor organisations are prepared to pay for it. The shortfall, however, will depend on how many units GHA is split into.

A spokesman said: "Ministers have always recognised that there were significant financial complexities involved in moving to SST, and all the analysis by all parties over the past couple of years bears that out.

"Thanks to the hard work of the Joint Team and the Progress Group, there is now a clear path

"We are not interested in going over sterile arguments of the past. We want to work with everybody to fund solutions that will further benefit tenants "It is nonsense to suggest that the executive has misled anyone."

10:17pm *Monday 5th February *2007 *Evening Times*

Residents in the news - Struggles and victories

2007-02-05T05:34:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to another Glasgow Residents Network Update. This month we have a few communications from different residents groups and campaigns and a lot of reports of activity to pass on, as well as our regular reports from the print media. Next month we will be featuring websites for Glasgow city residents associations - fire them in! Send us the URLs today.

Contribute to this bulletin . Here is Residents in the news - Struggles and victories

Part of a residents group? Then send us information about events, meetings, campaigns, information, leaflets, you name it! This is our city - we need to talk to one another, and let all our communities know what each other is up to. Better still why not get involved with the Glasgow Residents Network. To find out more or to find out how to get involved email Nick at
this email address, or email Iain on agahst2003@hotmail.com

[Don't forget to send us any newspaper coverage of residents struggles, or
information on any meetings being held!]

Spread the word! Forward this bulletin to anyone you think might be
interested. Together we're stronger!

Messages From Residents Associations Maxwell Residents Association Survey report In the summer of 2006 the Maxwell Residents' Association carried out a survey of the residents in and around the Maxwell Grove/Gardens area. The purpose of the survey was to gauge what issues in terms of housing and our local environment are of concern to local residents and those areas where residents are satisfied. This is their full report. As yet GHA and Communities Scotland have yet to action anything as a result of the survey. We've uploaded it so that people can see for themselves. Open Letter From Cedar Tenants Association -- Upcoming Glasgow Residents Events Scottish Monitoring Group On Housing & Homelessness, 2nd Conference Saturday 10th February 2007, 10am till 5pm, Pollokshaws Burgh Hall (Opposite entrance to the Burrell Collection) Plenary sessions, workshops:- Real Tenant Participation/Empowerment; Second Stage Transfers; Homelessness; Accessible Housing; Racism in Housing; Fuel Poverty; Langlands Principles of Governance; Freedom of Information. Who should attend?:- housing specialists, academics, RtB owners and especially TENANTS Further information: www.monitoringscottishhousing.org.uk Glasgow Homeowners Group Meeting Every Thursday, 7pm, Central Hotel Group meeting to co-ordinate action across the city against charges faced by right to buy owners factored by the GHA. The meetings are aimed at homeowners, but tenants are welcome

Join the Network Today!

To post to this group, send email to glasgowresidents@googlegroups.com

For more options, visit this group at

Housing chiefs want tenants’ feedback Evening Times 31/1/07

2007-02-01T02:45:00.001-08:00

HOUSING bosses are asking tenants to share their views to help the service run smoothly.
East Renfrewshire Council wants feedback on repairs, estate management and homelessness from every tenant - not just those of tenant associations.
And to make it easier the council has organised a special phone number and e-mail address.
Councillor Alan Lafferty said: "We want the housing service to be open and responsive to meet the needs of local people, so
we're asking tenants to share their views with the service on a range of issues throughout the year."
Tenants can take part by calling Sandra Scott on 0141 577 3715 or by e-mailing sandra.scott@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk
10:31am today

Cornwall fails to consult tenants on takeover plan

2007-02-01T02:43:00.000-08:00

By Martin Hilditch
Published: 26 January 2007    Inside Housing
Tenants of a flagship arm’s-length management organisation are taking legal advice after its future was thrown into doubt by a ‘hostile takeover’ bid for its parent council. 
Carrick District Council would be scrapped under a proposal by Cornwall County Council to become a unitary authority. 
The move has created major uncertainty for Carrick Housing, one of only three ALMOs involved in a high-profile government pilot examining the feasibility of breaking away from the complex housing finance system. 
With just over a month to go until Carrick Council is due to report back to the Treasury, the bid is making it difficult to work out what effect coming out of the finance system would have on the ALMO. 
The pilot’s findings are meant to help the Treasury decide whether ‘opting out’ would be a viable option for similarly sized organisations. 
Carrick Housing tenants said they were furious that they had not been consulted about the potential impact of the move by the county council. 
Grenville Chappel, chair of the Carrick District Forum of Tenants, said Cornwall County Council had failed to appreciate the implications for the future of the ALMO. 
In a letter circulated to those district councillors who also sit on the county council, he said: ‘We are extremely 
concerned that proposals have been developed and are planned to be submitted to the government that would bring about specific changes for council tenants without the tenants themselves actually being consulted.’ 
The takeover proposal was prompted by guidance from the Communities and Local Government department which said county councils should draw up plans to ensure districts worked more closely together. 
Marianne Hood, a consultant hired by Carrick tenants, said that there could be problems in other areas where district councils had retained ownership of stock. 
‘The whole thrust of the local government white paper is about empowering local communities. Unless 
[the CLG] sorts this out it completely contradicts it,’ she said. 
‘Unfortunately in the CLG paper there was no reminder that if there were district councils with retained stock then tenants should be consulted before decisions [to become unitary authorities] were formed.’ 
A spokesperson for the CLG confirmed stock-owning councils would have to talk to tenants before changes to management could proceed. ‘Tenants should be fully consulted about changes to the management of their homes as set out in section 105 of the Housing Act 1985,’ he said.

Housing Stock Transfer News Monday, January 15th, 2007

2007-02-01T02:41:00.000-08:00

COUNCILLORS IN CRAWLEY have voted to cancel a stock transfer ballot after opinion surveys showed overwhelming opposition among tenants.of a Conservative councillor to the Liberal Democrats over the issue. The ballot had been due in the Spring. 
Posted in Stock transfer | Comment here »
Taunton ‘no’, Sheffield estates ‘yes’
Thursday, December 21st, 2006 
TENANTS IN TAUNTON have voted overwhelmingly against stock transfer. In a ballot result announced by Taunton Deane Borough Council this week, 69% of tenants voted against a switch to Deane Housing and 31% in favour on a 69% turnout.
However, tenants of five estates in Sheffield have voted in favour of transferring their 3,000 homes to Pennine Housing, Acis Group and Manchester Methodist Housing Association. The votes in favour of transfer in the three ballots ranged from 73% to 88%.

Proof – GHA Ltd OVERCHARGING RIGHT TO BUY HOME ‘OWNERS’

2007-01-24T13:52:00.000-08:00

Glasgow Housing Association Ltd is overcharging home owners. 13,387 homes under GHA Ltd management have had cladding work done.Home owners are currently being charged VAT at 17.5% on top of the price for the job when they should be getting charged VAT at 5% for such work. 
The Rendering and Cladding Association say that reduced VAT applies to what they call ‘retro jobs’ this is confirmed by the Governments own Revenue and Customs say that this is the case and further corroboration should it be needed comes from a Government Notice dated August 2006 which would have been sent to many bodies including the GHA Ltd.
 NB……i.e.    a reduced rate of VAT to 5% for the supply and installation of energy

If this is accurate GHA Ltd could possibly have overcharged owners, a collective total of, as much as £10 million mmmmm. 

Is journalism dead  or can you check his out for youself?

DTI - Wallis to Williams
 
This general principle is correct, as it leads to different charges in different locations, ... It should remove VAT on retro-fit energy saving measures. ...
www.dti.gov.uk/energy/review/consultation-submissions/april/individuals-and  

  
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
a reduced rate of VAT to 5% for the supply and installation of energy ... Insulated Render & Cladding Association Ltd. Dr Lynn Jones MP. Kent Energy Centre ...
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/C00/44/houseeneffic_sumresp03.pdf - Similar pages  
[PDF] 
H.M. TREASURY AND DEFRA CONSULTATION: “ECONOMIC INSTRUMENTS TO ...
 
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
a reduced rate of VAT to 5% for the supply and installation of energy ... Insulated Render &
 Cladding Association. Lighting Association ...
www.ukace.org/pubs/consult/Treasury%20&%20Defra%20Economic%20Instruments%20to%
20Improve%20Household%2... - Similar pages

GHA LAUNCHES NEXT STAGE OF CONSULTATION ON RENT STRUCTURE REVIEW

2007-01-24T13:50:00.000-08:00

Every GHA tenant in Glasgow will get the chance to have their say on the principles of a new and fairer rent structure for the association.
The three-month citywide consultation exercise follows three separate independent reports to:
· Compare GHA rents with those of other social landlords in the city 
· Assess affordability 
· Seek tenants' views about rent structures. Speaking at the launch, GHA's Director of Housing Services, Mary Crearie, said: "The current rent structure has not been reviewed for around 25 years and recent research (see Notes to Editors) shows that it does not reflect current quality, amenity or value." "The purpose of this exercise is to produce a fairer and more transparent rent structure for GHA stock. It does not aim to increase rents overall but to produce a more equitable distribution of rents across the stock.

"GHA stands by its promise, made at stock transfer, that the annual rent increase for all sitting tenants will not exceed the rate of inflation until March 2008 and will not increase by more than inflation plus one per cent at least until March 2011. "We are also sticking to another promise made at the same time that we would review the rent structure we inherited from Glasgow City Council and introduce a fairer rent structure for new tenants by 2008."

 The consultation document indicates the general principles that should apply to GHA's new rent structure. These are:
· Consistency and fairness - ensuring that tenants living in similar properties and receiving similar services should pay similar rent and that rent levels should reflect the type, quality and amenity of the house and services provided 
· Transparency and acceptability - the basis for rent setting should be easily explained and acceptable to stakeholders 
· Straightforward and practical - able to reflect changes in stock and housing market conditions and policy priorities. In order to ascertain the views of tenants across the city on the principles of the new rent structure, GHA will send out a questionnaire to all tenants, hold a series of local events and consult with the GHA Tenants Panel. Other groups being invited to take part in the consultation include Local Housing Organisations, Registered Tenants Organisations, GHA staff and voluntary groups and organisations such as Age Concern, Shelter and CAB. Those taking part in the consultation will be asked a range of questions, including whether the age, size, type, location, condition and number of rooms in a property should be taken into account when setting rent levels.  

The GHA Board will discuss the results of this consultation later this year and any final proposals for a new rent structure will be subject to further consultation with tenants and other stakeholders before being introduced. ends 

Notes to Editor 

More than 3,000 people took part in the earlier independent research which helped formulate the principles for the new rent structure. 
Rental Comparability Study 
The Rental Comparability Study involved a survey of all Registered Social Landords (housing associations) and in-depth research in 12 case study landlords, as well as interviews with staff and tenants. It concluded that GHA's current rent structure lacks coherency and fairness and is not transparent to staff or tenants. The study found that: 
· At April 2005, the average basic rent for GHA stock was £54 per week compared with £45 for other Registered Social Landlords 
· Rents for flats are generally lower than rents for houses, but GHA multi-storey rents are higher than average 
· GHA rents are competitive with the cost of purchase for first-time buyers 
· GHA rents are substantially lower than the costs of renting in the private rented sector, where the average is around £93 per week
Affordability Study 
The Affordability Study analysed data on tenants' income and circumstances using information from the GHA Tenant Satisfaction Survey, the Scottish Household Survey and the 2001 Census and Scottish Continuous Recording (SCORE) data collected by GHA from new tenants. It concluded that GHA rents are at the margins of affordability  - particularly for larger properties. It found that: · Only 15% of GHA households contain someone in work 
· A quarter of GHA tenants do not receive Housing Benefit 
· The average income for a GHA tenant is £154 per week

Tenants' Views
This study aimed to assess tenants' views of GHA rents and possible rent structures. This study was based on a face to face survey with a sample of over 2,600 tenants and six focus groups with LHO committee members and members of registered tenants groups. It found that:
· Half of all tenants think that the GHA full monthly rent is good value for money and a quarter (23%) think it is poor value for money 
· Just under half (44%) of tenants think that GHA rents are affordable to those in work while 27% think they are not affordable 
· Tenants thought that condition of the property, area, size and property type were the most important factors to be taken into account when setting rents 
· Tenants felt that multi-storeys should have the lowest rents and semi-detached houses the highest.
'Towards Fairer Rents - Key findings from the GHA studies of Affordability, Comparability and Tenants' Views on Rents' is available here.
For further information contact:
Lynne McEwan
Media and Public Relations Manager
Glasgow Housing Association
Tel. 0141 274 6725
email:  lynne.mcewan@gha.org.uk

GHA STARTS £83 MILLION OF OVER CLADDING WORKS

2007-01-24T13:48:00.000-08:00

Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) is about to embark on its next major stage of home improvement works to deliver warm, dry homes to thousands of tenants – overcladding multi storey flats at a cost of £83 million.GHA’s first overcladding of a multi-storey block is about to take place at Curle Street in Yoker and is expected to take around eight months to complete.

Overcladding not only improves the appearance of the building but also provides extra insulation, which in turn helps cut residents’ heating bills.

The over cladding programme will target a total of 55 high rise blocks and 41 mini-multis (eight storey buildings) across the city within the next four years.
The high-rise blocks benefiting from the programme include 18 in the south of the city, (covering Gorbals, Pollokshaws, Mosspark and Cardonald), 12 in the north and east (covering Sandyhills and Springburn) and 25 in the west (covering Townhead and Knightswood). A further 30 mini-multis are being targeted in the south (covering Craigden, Cardonald, Hillpark and Pollokshields) and 11 in the west (covering Knightswood and Balmore)

The work in Yoker is costing around £1.3 million. Preparation work at the multi-storey block there, which houses 120 properties started in July 2006 and mast climbers have now been erected. The actual overcladding work begins in mid October and is expected to be complete in April next year.  In addition, the installation of new double-glazed windows and a new roof is underway at the moment. Residents will also benefit from new roof safety lighting and perimeter lighting, the renewal of entrance canopies and the provision of replacement communal television aerial system. Further site starts are imminent as part of the overcladding programme and will continue in the Sandyhills area, which is costing GHA around £3.8 million. Mast climbers will be erected there from 11th September onwards with the actual over cladding work expected to begin a few weeks later. 
 
GHA’s Director of Investment and Regeneration, David Hastings said: “GHA made a promise to tenants at the time of stock transfer that we would provide warm, dry homes and the major overcladding work now getting underway will ensure that’s what they get. “This major programme of works is costing GHA £83 million and will dramatically change the face of many high rise blocks and mini-multis in the city over the next four years. 

“This level of investment demonstrates to tenants living in those properties that GHA does invest in multi-storey blocks and we believe many do have a long-term future.”

Beth Willis-New is the tenant Chairperson of Whiteinch & Scotstoun Housing Association Local Housing Organisation (LHO). She explained: "We have been working at Whiteinch LHO for some time now to bring the GHA investment programme to the area for the benefit of local tenants and we are pleased that not only have some works already been done or are now underway, but more are being planned and worked up.  

“Included in this is the project at 64 Curle Street which should see a variety of benefits for residents of the block.  Tenants have complained in the past about the inadequacy of the steel-framed and single-glazed windows, which led to heating and condensation problems.  So not only is this being remedied with the installation of new double-glazed windows but the overcladding system will also improve thermal insulation, making flats easier and cheaper to heat. “We also believe that the whole look of the property will be greatly enhanced and, to top it all off, we are currently discussing a lighting project for the top of the building to create an attractive impression during the hours of darkness!" 
 
ends 
NOTES TO EDITORS:

CONTACT:
Jaelithe Leigh-Brown
Press Officer
Glasgow Housing Association
Tel. 0141 274 5708
email:  jaelithe.leigh-brown@gha.org.uk

COUNCIL EXTENDS HOME BUYING CURBS

2007-01-24T13:46:00.000-08:00

A local authority has been given the go-ahead to extend the suspension of the right-to-buy policy in its area. In May, Fife Council suspended the right of tenants in St Andrews and East Neuk to buy their council homes. Now the Scottish Executive has agreed to "pressurised area status" covering 13 places in west Fife. The aim is to protect housing stock and it is believed to be first time a Scottish council has made a second bid to suspend the right-to-buy. Tenants in Aberdour, Charlestown, Crossford, Culross, Dalgety Bay, Halbeath, Kingseat, Limekilns, North Queensferry, Rosyth, Saline, Torryburn and Townhill will have their right to buy their council properties suspended for the next five years. 
 
 Fife Council is the first authority to make a second application to suspend the right to buy - this time in the west of its area 
Des McNulty 
Deputy Communities Minister   
However, this applies only to tenancies which began after 30 September, 2002. 
Fife Council said about 237 tenants would be affected by the suspension, which was announced by Deputy Communities Minister Des McNulty. 
He said: "Fife Council is the first authority to make a second application to suspend the right to buy - this time in the west of its area. 
"Once again, it has presented a convincing case, and has provided compelling evidence of substantial pressures on affordable housing in the designated areas." 
Affordable homes 
Councillor Alex Sawers, Fife Council's housing spokesman, said the announcement was good news for the area. 
He said: "We're trying everything we can to make more affordable properties available for those most in need. 
"This year alone over £21m is being spent on creating more affordable homes for people. 
"Keeping valuable council housing stock is also a step in the right direction as well as releasing council land for affordable housing means that we are making some inroads to tackling this issue." 
Five councils in Scotland have successfully applied for the right to buy to be suspended, while an application by a sixth authority, Perth and Kinross Council, is being considered. 
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6262937.stm

Published: 2007/01/15 12:47:54 GMT

© BBC MMVII

HOUSING TRANSFERS - WHAT A SORRY MESS

2007-01-24T13:39:00.000-08:00

Press release
Scottish Tenants organisation In Edinburgh, Stirling, Renfrewshire and the Highlands Tenants have said NO to it That’s why we say with our new campaign
Scotland for Council Housing
On 15th February 2007 the Scottish Tenants Organisation will be meeting with invited MSPs at the Scottish Parliament to breath new life into the case for a sustainable Public Housing policy. It is clear that the current form of ‘regeneration’ ‘aint workin’.  We would be interested in asking Ms R. Brankin the latest Communities minister if she will honour Malcolm Chisholm’s promise that that The Scottish Executive will support Councils where stock transfer has been rejected 

“We look forward to taking up with her the points we raise in our new campaign .” [see below}

Now that the dust has settled on Mlcolm Chisholm’s departure we at the STO must look forward in the hope of achieving the degree of  dialogue with new Communities Minister That has so far eluded us. Before we say our final adieu to Mr Chisholm it should be acknowledged that his departure had little to do with “his principled stance on nuclear weapons” the ostensible reason for his departure from the Communities portfolio being that he did not vote with Jack McConnell on the issue.  

 The principle over loyalty reason does not stand up to historical scrutiny; It is widely believed that the real unpublished reason for Malcolm Chisholm’s feigned glorious exit was a smokescreen to mask the fact that he was sacrificed due to the very public contradictory utterances from the Chair of the Glasgow Housing Association Ltd and himself over an asserted  short fall in the funds of GHA Ltd and a failure to keep Michael Lennon CEO of the massive housing body to his job description.  These two key names aboard the Scottish executives ‘flagship’ policy to encourage the pathological pursuit of profit and power for private developers and landlords, getting the tax payer to foot part of the bill  and calling it regeneration but it was all in danger of becoming just a bit messy.  Malcolm Chisholm and Michaell Lennon had to go overboard.

Despite Ms Brankin’s  less than encouraging reception from leading reports in the Glasgow press the STO intends to do what we can to ensure that the new post holder like her predecessors lives in interesting and eventful times until the Scottish election and after.  Encouraged  by recent ballot success, we look forward to taking up with her the points we raise in our new campaign 

Scottish Tenants Organisation campaign entitled ` Scotland for Council Housing`

The first shots in the latest phase of the battle over Council housing were fired at a meeting last  December 9th, 2006 in Stirling,  held jointly between the Scottish Tenants Organisation and local campaigners from the four Council areas where tenants have recently rejected stock transfer, namely, Edinburgh, Stirling, Renfrewshire and the Highlands.

The meeting launched a campaign entitled ` Scotland for Council Housing` which makes three basic demands on behalf of tenants. The campaign wants Council housing debt written off, direct investment for Council housing, with immediate help for the four no vote areas, and no land sell offs.

S.T.O. Convenor John Carracher stated “ The campaign has initially set it`s sights on politicians in the run up to the Hollyrood E44lections with the view of having housing further up the political agenda. We want first of all to know what financial help will be offered to Councils whose tenants have voted against privatisation and have written to Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm seeking an urgent meeting to put this question on tenants behalf”.

“We also want to know why housing debt write off is only on offer to Councils which give away their housing to a private landlord”

John said further “ The campaign will put politicians on the spot over the lack of a coherent housing strategy in Scotland given all the problems with  rising numbers of homelessness, escalating housing costs and the great land give away”. “ The notion of `affordability` also needs to be defined”. “The campaign will be seeking  support from tenants, Trade Unions, Councils, Political Parties and others to bring about genuine change in housing policy”

Release Ends

Editors Notes

1 Before he left as Comunities Minister, Malcolm Chisholm has stated that The Scottish Executive will support Councils where stock transfer has been rejected. Clarification is needed on what that support entails and we will be seeking a meeting with Rhona Brankin about this.
 
2 Housing Associations are classified by the Scottish Parliament as private landlords 
( Scottish Parliament Information Centre briefing 04/70 ) They are classified similarly by the UK Treasury.

3 The government claims that the transfer of council housing to the private sector is necessary to reduce public borrowing. But as the recent Audit Scotland report `Council housing transfers` points out, debt repayment ( debt write off ) is not a cost to government-“there is no net effect ( cost or benefit) for the Exchequer or the taxpayer when the Treasury provides grant aid to allow repayment of a council`s PWLB loan debt. These are transfers within government” Debt write off can be applied to Councils, provided that time- limited constraints are added to prevent further borrowing immediately afterwards. Therefore the “official” reason for stock transfer does not apply.

4 The Scottish Tenants Organisation ( STO) is the national independent tenants`representative body. It is composed of tenants and residents associations and individual tenants, and any tenant living in Scotland can join. It was formed at the end of the First World War, out of the tenants struggles during the Glasgow Rent Strikes.

For further information about STO and/or its policies contact:

John Carracher, Convenor  - 01698-281488
Jenni Marrow, Secretary     - 0131-476-2359
Iain Mac Innes, Vice-Chair – 07976 718 111

GLASGOW SAVE OUR HOMES CAMPAIGN SECOND STAGE TRANSFER AND THE FREE MARKET A SHORT BRIEFING PAPER

2007-01-24T13:36:00.000-08:00

Second Stage Transfer (SST*) has been trumpeted as Community Ownership which would be the means to deliver decent social housing in Glasgow. In addition we are in formed that all Glasgow Tenants want SST to deliver us from the evils of the Glasgow Housing association Ltd (GHA Ltd). It is utter humbug. Second Stage Transfer (SST) is NOT Community Ownership as any Local Housing Organisations that would take over ownership of housing stock have Codes of Conduct that Tenant Members of their Board have to sign which prevents them from talking to any other tenants about the business of the new landlord: so much for Community Ownership. In addition with Local Housing Organisations(LHOs**) taking over stock there would be amalgamations, mergers and outright takeovers by predatory Housing Associations such as Sanctuary, Homes or Places for People. These three English based Housing Associations have 129,000 properties between them charging market rents south of the border. 

Second Stage Transfer would be nothing more than generating a Free Market in Social Housing which would result in accelerating Demolitions with land sell offs for Private Housing developments as the Private Banking Consortium of HBOS,RBS and Nationwide would be at the heart of driving this process forward.  Secondly at the current time GHA Ltd is carrying out a Rent Restructuring Review stating that it favours differentiating rents.  This process would be accelerated with the further break-up of Housing Stock with differentiating Market Rents being charged to the detriment of tenants. This is especially the case with new labour’s plans to replace Housing benefit with a Local Housing Allowance. 

GHA Ltd recently carried out a survey of tenants and only 5% understood what SST* was. In addition Penilee LHO** carried out a Private Survey of its 2,000 Tenants which revealed that the majority of tenants did NOT support SST.  Real Community Ownership requires that GHA ltd Housing is brought back under the ownership of Glasgow City Council with Tenants being offered the opportunity to take over the Management of Housing stock in their local area through the form of Tenant management Cooperatives (TMCs)where tenants are in genuine control and are protected from predatory Free Market Forces with the protective umbrella of Glasgow City Council. 

The Glasgow Save Our Homes campaign and Glasgow Residents Network will oppose SST in 2007 and we look forward to support from the Scottish Tenants Organisation (STO) in line with its principled policy of opposing Stock Transfer. It is vital that any Conference on Scottish Housing must support genuine Community ownership through housing being returned to Glasgow City Council and oppose SST  at all times. ~  Tel: 07976718111  ~

100 RESIDENTS TOLD TO RIP OUT PORCHES OR FACE COURT

2007-01-24T13:14:00.000-08:00

FURIOUS residents are vowing to defy demands for them to tear down additions to their homes.
More than 100 owners and tenants at flats in Bernard Street in Bridgeton have created porches on the common landing outside their homes.Where the landing only provides access to their property, people have installed windows and doors, effectively extending their homes.

According to residents and the local councillor the porches or "decks" provide extra security and keep homes warm in winter.

But Glasgow Housing Association says the structures are a fire hazard which will hold up its £3million investment plan and must be knocked down - or residents could face legal action.

However, more than 100 locals are challenging the order.

Angry residents recently held a protest meeting which was also attended by the police and fire services. GHA representatives were invited but did not attend, claiming they did not receive enough notice.

Pensioners John and Marie Henderson have lived in their home since it was built in 1976.

John, 65, created his deck more than 20 years ago and has since spent hundreds of pounds on new UPVC windows.

The retired whisky bond worker, who bought the house in 1992, said: "Having a second door is an extra layer of security. It also keeps the house warm."

He added: "My deck was here way before GHA arrived on the scene.

"The tone of the letter it sent was threatening and it didn't enter into any consultation. If GHA thinks we're all just going to knock down part of our homes, it has another thing coming."

Strathclyde Police has backed the residents. A force spokeswoman said: "From our point of view these structures provide extra security to homes."

But Glasgow Housing Association insisted the porches or decks must come down and refused to rule out legal action.

A spokeswoman said: "Consultants found a number of unauthorised structures erected in the shared entrances, which will prevent us from carrying out major investment works effectively.

"They advised that the structures erected by some residents are a fire hazard and will reduce any survival chances.

"Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service has also advised GHA that these unauthorised structures may constitute a fire hazard."

She added: "We want to resolve this issue as soon as possible but if there is no agreement we cannot rule out legal action."

Bridgeton and Dalmarnock Councillor George Redmond vowed to stand by the residents.

He said: "The situation is a shambles. The letter sent by GHA is nothing more than a scare tactic. It doesn't have respect for the residents."

A Strathclyde Fire and Rescue spokesman said: "Although the porches may not represent a fire risk, they do represent an additional barrier for firefighters gaining access to flats."

Evening Times 8:58am Monday 15th January 2007

Scottish Monitoring Group on Housing and Homelessness ... Watching the Executives

2006-12-24T07:35:00.000-08:00

Scottish tenants demand inquiry into GHA

2006-12-21T14:57:00.000-08:00

Following the resignation of Michael Lennon, chief executive of Glasgow housing association (GHA), the Scottish Tenants Organisation is seeking an independent inquiry into the setting up and management of GHA.
John Carracher, convenor of the Scottish Tenants Organisation, said: “From the very beginning, the transfer of Glasgow’s council housing stock and the subsequent re-structuring has been farce. Before the transfer ballot tenants were not given clear, understandable information, or sufficient time to understand the implications of such a huge and complicated transfer.

 “Tenants were selected to sit on forums to decide the future of Glasgow’s public housing, and were confronted with complicated plans and financial projections. Tenants complained that they couldn’t understand the business plan for the proposed housing association. The pressure to ‘deliver a Yes vote’ was THE most important driver of the process, not whether tenants fully understood the consequences of their vote.” Property People

 Within recent weeks it has been revealed that financial calculations for the costs of secondary stock transfer to smaller housing associations had not been included in the original business plan. When interviewed on BBC TV, Malcolm Chisholm, Minister for Communities, was unable to comment on the outcome of a demand for an additional £500 million for secondary transfer. He was also unwilling to comment on Michael Lennon’s 23 per cent salary increase award. Recently, two surveys have been carried out, one by GHA and one by Penilee LHO. The GHA survey showed that only five per cent of tenants understood the issue of secondary transfer; the Penilee survey showed that the majority of tenants didn`t see the need for secondary transfer, since they are already getting their improvements done.

 Carracher said: “This transfer was flawed from the very beginning. It has become a costly gigantic game of monopoly, with handouts from the Scottish Executive. This transfer was never about tenants - the people who the Scottish Executive claim are ‘at the heart of the process’. It was always about privatisation, and multi-million pound finances, and tenants are being damaged in the process. The Scottish Tenants Organisation will be writing to Mr. Chisholm to ask for a halt to all further plans, developments and demolitions until an independent inquiry has been held. We will also be contacting all MSPs to ask for their support for this.” 18.12.06        Property People

MICHAEL LENNON TO STEP DOWN FROM GHA IN NEW YEAR

2006-12-20T15:27:00.000-08:00

Michael Lennon, Chief Executive of Glasgow Housing Association will be leaving GHA on January 31, 2007, after almost four years in post.The Board agreed with Michael that this is a logical point for him to stand down. He expressed a wish to move on once the GHA had achieved a number of milestones. His efforts and contribution have been hugely valued but his desire to leave, to return to Australia with his family, forced GHA to take stock and consider whether this might be an appropriate time for change in leadership.

GHA Tenant Chair, Sandra Forsythe, said: "The Board and the tenants of GHA are well aware of the massive contribution Michael has made to GHA and to social housing in Glasgow. Michael has been an outstanding Chief Executive and the Board will miss his huge commitment to GHA's work on delivering for tenants."

Michael said: "It has been a privilege to work with GHA and its partners, especially its board, staff and tenants who have been supported me over the past few years. I am delighted that the GHA team has achieved such huge results since stock transfer in March 2003 and I wish the association, and the LHO network, every success in the future."

GHA is at the end of the first main phase of the GHA project and is ahead of target on promises made to the tenants of Glasgow when they voted for stock transfer. Its core investment programme is running ahead of schedule and by year end it will have invested almost £450m in tenants' properties. Early in 07, it will disaggregate its central services and back room functions by moving over 200 staff out to front-line services within the LHO network.

Therefore, the Board has accepted that it is both an appropriate time and in the best interests of both parties for Michael's contract to end now. In reaching the decision, the Board was mindful that once a senior member of staff indicates that he or she wants to leave, it can be difficult for that person to sustain momentum.

The Board now has the opportunity to consider the kind of leader GHA needs from here on. Plans to recruit a new Chief Executive are underway and an interim Acting Chief Executive will be appointed early in 2007.

Donna Stevenson, Director of Strategic Services, who was due to step down in March, will extend her contract to oversee the next crucial period of the Community Ownership Intentions process.

www.gha.org.uk

Watchdog raises questions over �442m efficiency savings - The Herald

2006-12-20T14:27:00.000-08:00

Watchdog raises questions over �442m efficiency savings - The Herald

Glasgow Residents Network Social

2006-12-11T14:07:00.000-08:00

Residents Network Social - drinks, socialising, and a chance to meet other
residents groups from across the city Saturday 16th, December... Glasgow Residents Network Social - Come Along After Your Christmas Shopping...[BYOB] - 5:45 pm onwards, the Quakers Friends Meeting House, Elmbank Crescent. Come along and meet others involved in the residents movement! Anyone who can bake cakes or bring along sandwiches would be graciously received...
--
www.glasgowresidents.wordpress.com
Glasgow's Residents Movement

Compromise over home seizures

2006-12-01T02:05:00.000-08:00

Ministers last night offered a compromise over a new law which could lead to people losing their homes for debts of just £3000 but failed to silence all their critics. The Scottish Executive relented in the face of fierce opposition from homelessness charities, legal experts, citizens advice bureaux, and back-bench MSPs. However, their plan was criticised for not going far enough. Under the Bankruptcy and Diligence Etc (Scotland) Bill, which is due to complete its final parliamentary stage today, creditors will be able to use "land attachment" orders against people with more than £3000 of unsecured debt, such as credit cards or catalogue debts. If, after six months, the debt is not repaid, the debtor's home and land can be sold. Although ministers say there are more than 20 hurdles to clear before a sheriff allows a house sale, critics fear thousands of families will be made homeless. They claim the mere threat of losing their home will panic people into borrowing yet more money – possibly from loan sharks – or result in them neglecting mortgage payments, risking repossession by the bank. Citizens Advice Scotland calls land attachments the "nuclear option" for debt recovery. In light of the attacks, Deputy Enterprise Minister Allan Wilson last night tabled an amendment to the bill giving ministers the power to exempt homes from land attachments if, at some unspecified date, they feel they have worsened homelessness. The amendment would also allow ministers to give sheriffs more discretion in considering whether house sales should go ahead. Mr Wilson told TheHerald: "I don't think it's a climb-down, I think it's a reasonable solution. I have added to this bill by giving ministers the power to deal with unintended consequences." However, Gavin Corbett from Shelter Scotland, the housing and homelessness charity, urged MSPs to ensure that homes were exempt from land attachments from the outset, rather than wait for the system to go wrong. He said: "Recovering debt through these means is heavy-handed and excessively harsh. We could see homeowners with a debt of as little as £3001 losing their home to repay creditors. If we have a chance to avoid laws that could make people homeless, then we should do so." Mike Dailly, the secretary of the Scottish Association of Law Centres, said in its original form the land attachment provision was "the most regressive piece of legislation ever introduced into the Scottish Parliament". Even in its amended form it would cause problems, he warned. "How will ministers know if this causes homelessness? What will happen is people will neglect their secured debts to get the land attachment off their back, and end up in court having their house repossessed. "There's no way to track those figures, so ministers will never know the impact of this law. If they don't exempt homes, they should at least give courts the power to consider people's personal circumstances when considering a warrant sale, as happens in England." The bill has also stirred trouble within Labour's own ranks, with Gordon Jackson, the MSP for Glasgow Govan, asking for a full, and possibly embarrassing, review of the system within 15 months of it passing into law. This would force the executive to reveal the number of people made homeless as a result of the system and the debts recovered. Alex Neil, the SNP MSP, who has tabled an amendment which would immediately exempt homes from land attachments, said the minister's deal was unacceptable. Citizens Advice Scotland said debtors would still be intimidated by land attachments under the amendment, and urged MSPs to exclude homes from the system. 
Herald November 30 2006

Funding Decent Council Housing

2006-11-24T07:32:00.000-08:00

New DCH Motion in Parliament - ask your MP to sign
Funding Decent Council Housing

Austin Mitchell MP has tabled a new motion (EDM 136 Funding Decent Council Housing) following the Queens Speech. Ask MP(s) to sign to demonstrate their support for the ‘Fourth Option’ for council housing, a ‘level playing field’ and real choice for council tenants (email your MP).

149 MPs backed motion EDM 48 in the last Parliament. Ask all tenants and trade union organisations to write to local MPs urging them to sign up. Tell your MPs to lobby the Treasury for the ‘Fourth Option’ to be included in the Comprehensive Spending Review next spring and ask them to join the House of Commons Council Housing group.

Majority of tenants’ ballots voting NO
The majority of ballots in 2006 have gone against privatisation including 4/4 ballots in Scotland. Tenants, trade unionists and councillors opposing privatisation are still massively out resourced by one-sided council campaigns but we have showed we can stop them when we organise effectively. If a council is pushing transfer, ALMO or PFI in your region please help campaign against (see list) in forthcoming ballots to finally kill privatisation off.

Meeting at DCLG
On Tuesday (Nov 21) Austin Mitchell led a delegation to meet DCLG officials to examine the financial issues. This meeting was promised a year ago by David Miliband and Yvette Cooper. They were unable to defend Ruth Kelly’s dramatic assertion at the Labour Party conference that the ‘Fourth Option’ would cost £12billion and we are now demanding a detailed costing of how much it would cost to meet Decent Homes for all council housing.

Debt write off
The No votes in Scotland very starkly put the focus on a ‘level playing field’ on debt write off. If the Treasury will write off council housing debt on privatisation why won’t they write off (or take over) council debt when tenants choose to keep the council as their landlord? Put this question to all politicians – including those who are considering standing for Leadership and Deputy Leadership of the party in government.

Affiliate, order material and donate
Encourage tenants organisations and trade unions to distribute copies of the DCH national newspaper and the ‘Case for Council Housing in 21C Britain’ pamphlet. Make sure your organisation is affiliated and agree a generous donation to enable DCH to campaign locally and nationally.

Please forward this email to tenants, trade unionists, councillors and others…

Further information on the campaign website.

Highlands Against Stock Transfer A VICTORY FOR COMMON SENSE STOCK TRANSFER A DISCREDITED POLICY

2006-11-22T13:09:00.000-08:00

Press release 22-11-2006 Naturally we are delighted but not at all surprised at this result.   With a total budget of under £900, we were unable to match the huge sales campaign mounted by the Highland Council, the Scottish Executive and the Housing Association which was funded by vast sums of public money and utilising considerable numbers of housing staff along with Public Relations companies.”But by getting our message across in a simple but effective manner and telling the truth about Housing Stock Transfer, we have exposed the false promises of the stock transfer policy. 
This vote is yet another nail in the coffin of housing privatisation and a vindication of those who chose to stand up to it against overwhelming odds.

We congratulate Highland Tenants for having the courage to vote NO to this stock transfer scam, that we as tenants did not ask for, did not want, and in the end totally rejected.  

We now urge our fellow tenants to lobby their local politicians to fight for adequate funding for Local Authority housing, and for the Housing Debt to be written off without the need for transfer of stock.

We call upon the Highland Council to join with the majority of Scotland's Councils, tenants, and trade unions and demand that our public housing is properly financed. 
We say 'Drop the Debt' and let us enter an age of well-maintained low-cost housing for rent.

HAST also calls for the immediate resignation of the Housing Committee Chairperson, 
Cllr. Margaret Davidson and of the Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm MSP. 

Mr Chisholms linking of funding for so called "Affordable Housing" to the issue of Housing Stock Transfer was absolutely reprehensible, the lack of affordable housing both to rent and buy is a huge issue in the Highlands and has nothing whatsoever to do with the issue of changing landlord.   We now call on the Communities Minister, or hopefully his immediate successor, to make adequate funding available to make a real impact on this crucial issue.
 
Cllr Margaret Davidson has shown a total unwillingness to listen to the views of her tenants and even at times to common sense.  We would also question the wisdom of her taking a paid position as Non Executive Director of Communities Scotland at a time when the same organisation was the main driving force behind the policy of Stock Transfer in the Highlands.

Cllr Davidson should immediately relinquish her position of Chair of Housing and Social Work with Highland Council and her paid position on the Board of Communities Scotland.

“HAST will soon wind up as an organisation and go in to abeyance, but we will be ready to re-form and fight the threat of any further stock transfers if the need arises.”

The Housing issue has now been put back firmly on the political agenda in Scotland.
I call upon my fellow tenants to lobby all political parties to ensure that the spectre of Housing Stock Transfer is dead and buried. To lobby for the write off of housing debt and for adequate funding to be made available for the crucial issue of housing shortage in the Highlands.

As Chairperson of HAST, I would firstly like to thank all of the tenants, from all over the Highlands, who assisted us in getting our message across to our fellow tenants, on the scam that is Housing Stock Transfer.

I would also like to thank the members of the following trade unions and political parties for their assistance with the campaign:

Unison Highland Branch for allowing HAST to have our say in their newsletter to tenants, the TGWU for their advice and assistance, thanks are also due to various members of the Scottish National Party, Solidarity, and the Scottish Socialist Party who assisted us with leafleting in various areas of the Highlands.

At the end of the day, we gave it our best shot with the resources and people we had available, we fought the good fight, to resist a stock transfer that we as tenants most certainly did not ask for, and we won.

Yours Donnie Kerr, Chairperson Highlands Against Stock Transfer (HAST)

For further information and comment contact:

Donnie Kerr 01463 223578 or email donniekerr@yahoo.com

No Housing Stock Transfer in Inverclyde !

2006-11-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

Help the campaign for a NO VOTE We need YOUR help to get our case to as many people as possible. We will be distributing info through people’s letter boxes *this week. If you would like to volunteer *this week* doon the water Phone 07976 718 111 as soon as you can.Hope you can join the campaign. Pass this message on to a friend today!
*THE SCOTTISH TENANTS ORGANISATION*
Call 07976 718 111,(01698) 281 488, 
or 0131 476 2359.PEOPLE OF SCOTLAND
Housing Stock Transfers …. the  Truth!
They are unfair, unwanted and unnecessary.

Housing stock transfers were introduced by the Thatcher government as a means of getting rid of public sector housing. Up until this time governments in Britain since the nineteen twenties, had assumed a responsibility for public housing and had provided investment to councils to back that responsibility. After 1979 it was all change as far as the Tories were concerned and successive governments have tried to reduce their responsibilities for the provision of public housing. Councils have been deliberately denied access to cash to invest in their housing in an attempt to force them into the private sector. New Labour continues to implement the same privatisation policies. 

This tenure change agenda is being pursued despite the governments promise of universal choice and despite the fact that investing in housing and a change of landlord are two quite separate issues. 

Tenants are being told that if they wish their homes repaired and upgraded then they must choose a new landlord. However the new landlord is one of the governments choosing and must be a private landlord ie: a Registered Social Landlord. 

The Chancellor has said that the Treasury will take on the outstanding housing debt of Councils which transfer their stock ( Debt Write Off ), but refuses to do likewise for Councils which retain theirs.  

This is deeply unfair and undemocratic!

The Scottish Tenants Organisation believes that the way to change these unfair policies is to vote against transfer!

Drop The Debt!

The historic housing debt is a burden on all tenants, not just those who transfer out of the public sector. If the Chancellor can find the means to let the Treasury take on the debt of some councils, then why can`t it be done for the rest?  Removing the historic debt from Councils would solve most of the housing investment problems in one go and would not cost the country one penny more than at present. It could also happen tomorrow if the Chancellor would act fairly in tenants interests. So do not believe anyone who tells you that there is no alternative. 

The Tide is Turning

Change of policy now a possibility

The Labour Party Conference in 2005 overwhelmingly voted to end stock transfers. However, the government chose to ignore the democratic decision of the Conference and continued to promote privatisation. This caused huge unrest within the Party and pressure has been put on the Office of the Deputy prime Minister (ODPM), whose Department has responsibility for housing in England. Opposition from tenants organisations, Trade Unions, campaign groups, MPs as well as many tenants voting NO has caused a rethink at Westminster. The ODPM has set up a working party to examine ways of allowing councils to access the housing investment they need. Campaigners believe that a change of policy is now within reach. 

Here in Scotland things are also moving. Tenants in Edinburgh, fed up being treated unfairly, sent shock waves through the government by voting No to the privatisation of their homes. With the help of other tenants facing transfer, we can win! Don’t be fooled by the spin.

Recently our own Finance Minister reminded us that the Treasury has £1.5 Billion of Scotland’s money in reserve, of which he was minded to release £800 Million for various purposes next year. Government has also over the years spent £62 Million promoting stock transfers. Meanwhile public housing is allowed to deteriorate and the lie is perpetuated that there is insufficient funds to repair and maintain our homes. 

Stock transfers are the governments agenda, not tenants. Nowhere in Scotland are tenants clamouring for a new landlord. Yet the idea is still being foisted on us against our will. Tenants are being used as pawns in the Scottish Executives social engineering exercise and being handed responsibility without any real power. 

DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE

Housing Associations are being created specifically to fulfil the Executives aim of privatisation. The Boards of these purpose built creations are self appointees carrying out the Scottish Executives bidding and do not work in tenants interests. 

Slick glossy advertising masquerades as information. But this so called information is a one sided peddling of Executive propaganda designed to brainwash tenants. Do not be fooled by any of it.  

The Scottish Tenants Organisation is asking tenants to take a firm stand against the injustice of these privatisation policies by rejecting the lack of real choice, rejecting a move out of the public sector and rejecting the Chancellors strictures on housing debt.       When the time comes   –  Vote No! 

STOCK TRANSFERS ARE A LAND GRAB – STOP THEM IN THEIR TRACKS   
Housing Stock Transfers …. the  Truth!

They are unfair, unwanted and unnecessary.

 

STOCK TRANSFERS ARE A LAND GRAB – STOP THEM IN THEIR in THEIR  TRACK
 

Tenants 'blackmailed' into housing transfers

Matt Weaver
Friday October 29, 2004

The Guardian

Claims that ministers are trying to blackmail tenants into accepting new 
management of council housing are justified, according to a government researcher.

Academic Hal Pawson, who has carried out a series of official studies for the 
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, has delivered a scathing attack on the 
government's troubled housing policy.

Writing in this year's UK Housing Review he claimed that that it was misleading 
of ministers to claim that their policy of switching homes to new landlords 
promoted choice in public services.

Mr Pawson, senior research fellow at Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt university, said it 
was "hard to contest" campaigners' claims that tenants were being blackmailed 
into voting for new management of their homes.

He said: "Ultimately, the 'choice' offered to the vast majority of tenants 
consists of no more that an opportunity to endorse or reject a single option, 
with rejection potentially incurring a heavy penalty in the form of debarred 
access to capital investment. This is, arguably, hardly a choice at all."

The government has a target of ensuring that all council homes are bought up to 
a decent standard by 2010. But it insists that the extra resources to achieve 
this will only be available to councils that switch their homes to housing 
associations, private finance consortia or arm's length management organisations.

Mr Pawson's comments are the latest blow to this policy. In September the Labour 
party rejected the policy by backing a resolution calling for direct housing 
investment in areas where tenants have voted to retain the council as their 
landlord.

Mr Pawson pointed out that the decent homes standard was itself an "unambitious 
yardstick", and even if it was achieved it would not represent a 
"transformation" of council housing.

He also noted that nearly a fifth of transfer housing associations run into 
trouble with the regulator after being set up.

Mr Pawson said that tenants were rarely consulted about council's decisions to 
go for housing transfers, and even when they were the tenants involved were not 
representative of general tenant opinion.

He wrote: "It is hard to present transfer as genuinely part of the 'customer 
choice' agenda. Proposals are hardly ever bottom-up in the sense of being 
motivated by tenant preferences."

He accepted that describing housing transfer as 'privatisation' was tenuous. But 
he added: "The 'fat cat' image of housing association chief executives and the 
perception of bigger pay differentials than are the norm in local authorities 
are presented as lending some credence to the 'privatisation' argument.

"Housing association board member payments, as now introduced in England, may 
well provide further ammunition for this line of attack."

The review is published jointly by the Chartered Institute of Housing and the 
Council for Mortgage Lenders. They pointed out that Mr Pawson was writing in a 
personal capacity.

SocietyGuardian.co.uk © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

Glasgow Residents Network

2006-10-17T03:26:00.000-07:00

2nd Conference of the Glasgow Residents Network — Glasgow community action discussion day

Community and Community Planning Glasgow: The proposed humungous Tesco at Yorkhill

2006-09-28T04:33:00.000-07:00

Community and Community Planning Glasgow: The proposed humungous Tesco at Yorkhill

Glasgow Residents Groups Network - Campaigning activities

2006-09-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

Our campaigning activities

Proposals for discussion at the moment include holding a permanent protest outside Granite House, targetted protests at intransigent LHO offices, staging a GHA tenants and homeowners roadshow to raise awareness of the issues across Glasgow communities

Working for a rejection of housing stock transfer in Renfrewshire

2006-09-06T03:13:00.000-07:00

Your help is wanted and needed. You can also call 07976 718 111 to say you want to help. There is to be a ballot of all council tenants in Renfrewshire on the proposal to transfer from the council to Renfrewshire housing association ltd, starting on September 19th.  We have been working for 2 1/2 years in preparation for this, and are
    confident that we can win a NO vote to put further pressure on government
    following the NO vote in Edinburgh last year.  However, Renfrewshire council
    have been spending millions of pounds in recent weeks to bribe tenants with
    glossy leaflets, bus adverts, and canvassers. 
     
    THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN.  The groundwork has been done.  Our own surveys
    suggest that we are just ahead, but we need to consolidate our vote and
    dispel the myths in the next few weeks. WE NEED AS MANY VOLUNTEERS TO COME
    TO RENFREWSHIRE AS POSSIBLE TO LEAFLET AND CANVASS.  Call 07976 718 111
    today.... Please !
     
    Every Thursday night until the ballot we will be meeting at 6.30pm in the
    Lagoon leisure centre carpark in the centre of Paisley (access from Mill
    street, opposite the police station and council building).  If people are
    arriving later, or wish to leaflet or canvass on another day, they can phone
    me for materials and details of where to go. 
     
    We would greatly appreciate any help other branches, groups or individuals
    can give.  A NO vote here would be likely to sink this policy for Scotland,
    and force them to invest the money directly.  Please spread the word. 
     
    Many thanks
     
    Gerry McCartney
    secretary of Renfrewshire Defend Council Housing. 
    Contact - oldgeriatrix@hotmail.com  or 0798
    554 5872.

From the forgotton to the ridiculous

2006-07-22T23:32:00.000-07:00

"They'd have been better spending the money doing up houses."A GLASGOW tower block is set for worldwide fame as the colourful star of a new TV advert.

The empty multi-storey high rise in Queen's Court, Toryglen, will have thousands of gallons of paint blasted across it by fireworks as part of a multi-million pound campaign for Sony's high definition Bravia LCD TV.

The first Bravia television advert featured 250,000 coloured balls bouncing down a street in San Francisco.

It was set to a song called Heartbeats by Jose Gonzalez, which went on to become a big hit.

The high-rise has already been rigged up for the blasts and surrounding houses have been covered with huge tarpaulins.

Today giant cranes were moved into the area.

Ironically, anyone hoping to see the site where the advert was filmed will be disappointed as the building will have been demolished before the advert is shown.

Top director Jonathan Glazer is directing the new advert which should be aired by the end of the year.

Shooting was meant to start yesterday but was delayed for 24 hours because of worries about rain showers. It is not known what music has been chosen to accompany the film.

Preview filming started today ahead of the 'big bang' which is expected to take place around 6pm tomorrow.

Glasgow was selected after an international search for a location. The filmmakers, led by award-winning director Glazer, were looking for a giant building they could use to demonstrate the realistic colours displayed on the TV.

A spokeswoman for the electronics giant said: "We needed a building with a lot of space and greenery around it and not just any old building. When we considered Glasgow the decision came really quickly because we are such a well developed creative industry that is really geared up to helping filmmakers.

"We've had phenomenal support from the Glasgow Housing Association and the council has been a great help making everything very easy. Glasgow has everything you need for filming."

Local company Mallinson TV Productions is working closely with London agency Sallon on the campaign. Not all locals were impressed. One man said: "They've gone from San Francisco to Glasgow's Bronx.

"They've even put curtains in the windows to make it look like people are still living there and the council have finally got around to cleaning the place up.

"They'd be better spending the money doing up houses."

But Scott Hussain, 25, from Fairdeal grocers, said: "They've treated people really well and almost everybody is really excited about it. It's nice to see lots of friendly faces around and they've promised to clear up afterwards."

A local mum whose house is next to Queen's Court said: "It's a bit of a carry on but it's a great laugh.

"They've put a big tent over my house, although you can see through it, to stop the paint getting on it but the kids think it's a laugh.

"The company have also been running clubs for the kids during the day and in the evening.

"All the people who have been disrupted are getting taken to the seaside and there's a big disco in the community centre tomorrow night. Everybody is going to be there and we're all looking forward to it."

Glasgow Housing Association manager Margaret Brittain said: "We are thrilled that Sony has chosen Glasgow to shoot its latest Bravia advert."

Sony plans to publish regular video diaries from the Glasgow set during every stage of the shoot.

21/07/06

Survey shows most tenants not in favour of second stage transfer. & Right to buy group demand moratorium on bills

2006-07-16T00:50:00.000-07:00

South West Area Tenant Controlled Housing (SWATCH) have carried out a survey showing more than half the tenants surveyed (Penelee, Cardonald) are not in favour of second stage transfer. Tenants see the transfer as detrimental to their concerns and will leading to more fragmentation

Also . A Glasgow wide group "Right to Buy" will meet with Michael Lennon sometime in the week of 31 July. The group will demand a moratorium on all bills and legal cases until an independent investigation is carried out concerning the "Glasgow home improvement" scheme.
Michael Lennon is Chief Executive of The Glasgow Housing Association Limited (GHA)

Upmarket Development Branded 'A Disaster'

2006-06-21T01:18:00.000-07:00

Residents at one of Glasgow's most upmarket developments have claimed that the former Sheriff Court conversion has been plagued by problems.Homeowners have formed a residents' association to resolve complaints about the building, which was converted by Persimmon Homes a year ago.

They claim to have suffered flooding several times and say they were left without heating or hot water in winter.

A Persimmon Homes spokesman said it was aware of various snagging issues.

Some residents paid about £215,000 for a one-bedroom luxury flat in the former court building.

Stephen Elliot, 32, a sales performance coach and resident, said the amount of snagging problems were difficult to calculate because there were so many.

"This has been an unremitting disaster and a nightmare for the majority of residents," he said.

"I know a man who has been flooded out five times. I have been decanted for two weeks to get some outstanding work done.

"When I came back, to add insult to injury, the floor was damaged.

"The amount of snagging problems are difficult to calculate as there are so many.

"This is really not good enough when you consider that this is one of the most expensive developments in the city."

The 62-apartment project retains the court's B listed neo-classical exterior but blends it with a modern interior, including an open-air central courtyard.

Another resident, Jane Kelsy, 34, said the finish in the entire development had been "a major problem".

"People have even started a residents' association to try to get their issues resolved," she said.

"I have been here a year and if I'd known what it would be like, I would never have moved here.

"The heating broke down threee times over the winter period, leaving people without hot water or heating.

"This isn't a luxury development, it's a disaster area."

A spokesman for Persimmon Homes said it had not been contacted by residents as an association but was working with individuals through its customer care department.

Snagging at the development
Persimmon has promised to rectify any problems

"We would like to assure those involved that we take matters of this nature extremely seriously," he said.

"Balfour Beatty was employed as the main contractor on this development and where they have failed to complete snagging works we have employed others to assist in closing down any outstanding issues."

"We can confirm the two residents named in this article have had all but one issue resolved, that being the replacement kitchen floor tiling work, which has been agreed to be completed.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused to the purchasers at Sheriff Court."

He added that any residents who had an issue with their new home should contact the company.

"We will make every effort to rectify the situation promptly," he said.

Would you pay rent to live here

2006-06-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

Housing experts probe rural needs > BBC article

2006-06-19T03:29:00.000-07:00

Sheildaig Community Council working with Albyn Housing Association, and housing conference for rural areasTHE REST

People power saves pitches at city park - Evening Times

2006-05-29T01:16:00.000-07:00

People power saves pitches at city park - Evening Times

2006-04-16T13:09:00.000-07:00

Click image for details

Dump Your Factor If They Are Rubbish

2006-04-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

OAPs win landmark battle with factor over £80,000 *SHELTERED housing residents - including a 99-year-old woman - have won a landmark legal fight with their factor over £80,000 of disputed charges.
Pensioners at Millbrae Gardens, on Glasgow's southside, have defeated a bid by Hanover Housing to make 19 elderly people pay up to £6000 each. The case was sparked after homeowners in Langside were hit with bills for backdated charges after they used new laws to dismiss their factor. Most of the 35 homeowners had withheld management fees after an arbiter ordered 

Hanover, which built the development, to appoint an independent factor nine years ago. However, bosses at Hanover appointed themselves as the original factor and pursued the unpaid charges after the OAPs used the law to ditch them. But the defiant OAPs vowed to fight the writs. Residents, including Emily Hinds, 99, who was being sued for more than £5000, were warned it would take more than three years to challenge the fees. But this week the Court of Session in Edinburgh threw out Hanover's claim. 

Millbrae resident Margaret Reid, 82, said: "It's absolutely wonderful news but it was ridiculous they let it go so far. "We have had this threat hanging over us for years and it's a massive weight off our shoulders." Miss Hinds, who will be 100 in September, said: "We are all owner-occupiers and we were not willing to be dictated to by a management company." Solicitor John McCormick, of Glasgow firm McSparran McCormick, who acted for the residents, said: "This is a huge relief for all the elderly residents. "They should be congratulated for their stamina in seeing off Hanover, who continued in their pursuit of the fees. 

"This decision will be significant for sheltered housing residents all over Scotland." In 2004, the pensioners became the first homeowners in Scotland to dismiss their factor and appoint new property managers under the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003. The Act gave sheltered housing residents the same rights as owners of tenement flats. Stewart Kinsman, chief executive of Hanover (Scotland) Housing, said: "We are still awaiting legal advice as the ruling has only just been issued. "We took this action to protect the minority of the residents who continued to pay the charges." 12/04/06 Evening Times

2006-04-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

Click image to enlarge (Map)

City Strolls - events - meetings

2006-03-22T10:46:00.000-08:00

Stronger communities is what will sustain community housing, not hollow promises from housing bosses

City Strolls - events - meetings

2006-03-22T10:42:00.000-08:00

City Strolls - events - meetings Thw publics right to be heard

Executive publicly rules out full second stage transfer

2006-03-17T11:49:00.000-08:00

The Scottish Executive has publicly ruled out the second stage transfer of Glasgow Housing Association's homes to all the network of local housing organisations.
 Addressing delegates at the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland conference in Aberdeen this week, communities minister Malcolm Chisholm said a full transfer to all 63 LHOs would not take place.'The fact that there will not be 63 second stage transfers is widely recognised, including among Glasgow's local housing organisations,' he said.
 
The admission follows revelations of a £350 million funding gap preventing full scale second stage transfer (Inside Housing, 3 March).
 
Chisholm admitted that second stage transfer 'does pose tricky financial issues' but said no organisations, including Glasgow Housing Association or the city's local housing organisations, were asking for more money to support the project. He said LHOs were now looking to join up to reduce the number of transfers.
 
The CIH in Scotland called on the executive to announce the exact number of second stage transfers that will take place.
 
'The minister's announcement came as a surprise,' chair John Mills said. 'This really is important as it raises questions about how large an organisation can be, yet still be seen as delivering community ownership.'
 
Chisholm reaffirmed the executive's commitment to community ownership. 'It has been suggested in some quarters that the recent Edinburgh no vote would result in a change to our policy on community ownership,' Chisholm said. 'Nothing could be further from the truth. Suggestions that the Treasury will write off Edinburgh's debt without transfer will not come to pass.'
 
But speaking later at the conference, Mark Turley, director of services for communities at Edinburgh Council, said it was time for the executive to rethink.
 
'What I will say to the executive: we have done our damnedest to make your policy work in Edinburgh,' he said. 'We now have to accept that the people have spoken.
 
'A responsible executive now has to reconsider its own policy and accept that what works in Argyll & Bute isn't going to work everywhere. All they keep saying is we won't change our position and within that it's forcing it down people's throats.'
 
Early findings from MORI, commissioned by Edinburgh Council to establish why its tenants voted no, show concerns about the transfer in Glasgow came top of the list of reasons. Fear of change and the perception of privatisation also ranked highly. 
 
A full report detailing MORI's findings is expected to be published in April.
 
This week also saw the first meeting of a new group established by the executive to guide second stage transfer, chaired by deputy communities minister Johann Lamont (Inside Housing, 3 February).

MORI brought in to save Edinburgh transfer plans (Inside Housing)

2006-01-29T15:06:00.000-08:00

Edinburgh Council has commissioned opinion pollsters MORI to canvass tenant 
opinion in an attempt to resurrect its stock transfer plans for the Scottish 
capital.MORI is to interview a sample of tenants to find out why the council's December 
ballot delivered a resounding no vote, despite previous tests of opinion 
indicating support for the move.

 

The council is expecting to find that controversy over the Glasgow Housing 
Association's second stage transfer process at the time of the ballot had 
impacted on the result (/Inside Housing/, 18 November).

 

Sheila Gilmore, executive member for community safety and housing at the 
council, said it was now reassessing the potential for stock transfer. 'The 
issue that came up about Glasgow is such a technical one and it's about 
something we weren't even proposing for Edinburgh,' she said.

 

'We have to look at all the options again.' As well as reconsidering full stock 
transfer, the council is also discussing rolling out a series of partial 
transfers, from the council to local housing associations.

 

'It was not the best option when we looked at it before,' Ms Gilmore said. 'We 
have to go back and look at whether it would be a good enough solution.'

 

The council is to lobby the Scottish Executive to write off housing debt for 
partial transfer as the government does in England. Ewan Fraser, chief executive 
of Dunedin Canmore Housing Association, which took over 212 homes from Edinburgh 
Council last year, said it was keen to take on new stock.

 

'We have got quite a bit of experience in that now and I think we have got a 
good track record on working with tenants' groups,' he said.

 

But he also warned that unless the executive changed its rules on debt 
write-off, partial transfer might not take off.

 

'I think the Scottish Executive has got to decide what the best interests of 
tenants in the long term really are,' he said.

 

Alistair Berwick, association consultant at Tribal HCH, said if the executive 
relaxed its debt write-off rules, it would mark a sea change in the Scottish 
transfer programme.

 

'If [the council] do persuade them to change it then it would completely rewrite 
all the rules. It would be the end of the large-scale transfer programme,'

 

Councils would not bother gathering support for large-scale transfer if they 
could work through a series of small-scale transfers with similar financial 
benefits, he said.

 

Tenant representatives, however, feared that the council's deliberations could 
make the tenant ballot a meaningless exercise.

 

Sean Clerkin, campaign co-ordinator for the Scottish Tenants' Organisation which 
helped lead Edinbugh's anti-transfer campaign, said: 'I think it's tantamount to 
the breakdown of democratic participation.'

 

/Give your views in Your Forum /

*Published: 27 January 2006*

*by Hannah Fearn  *

Four year deadline on homelessness (Inside Housing)

2006-01-28T17:28:00.000-08:00

Scottish local authorities have been given four years to increase the number of 
homeless families deemed high priority.Communities minister Malcolm Chisholm has told councils that by 2009 they must cut by 50 per cent the number of households that they assess to be of lowest need for accommodation.

 

The new target was part of Mr Chisholm's long awaited statement to the Scottish 
Parliament on how the sector will meet its legislative commitment of housing all 
unintentionally homeless households regardless of their circumstances by 2012.

 

'This is an administrative rather than a legislative target,' he said. 'Its 
purpose is twofold - to ensure that we maintain a steady pace towards 2012 but 
also to identify particular problems in local areas.'

 

Councils must now report annually on their delivery of their homelessness 
strategies, including their progress towards the 2012 target. Mr Chisholm also 
announced a review of allocations policy, and a new funding pot to support 
homelessness prevention strategies.

 

But he said concern about a rapid increase in the number of homes being 
allocated to homeless families in the run up to 2012 had been exaggerated, and 
the housing sector should 'keep the issue in proportion'.

 

Gavin Corbett, head of campaigns at Shelter Scotland, said the new 2009 target 
was within the reach of the Scottish sector. 'I think it is achievable,' he 
said. 'It's in the scope of housing associations and authorities together to do 
that.'

 

But he warned that Mr Chisholm needed to give local authorities more direction 
on how it might be achieved, such as whether certain age groups should be 
prioritized in the move towards offering all homeless

families accommodation.

 

A close eye must be kept on authorities to check they are pulling their weight, 
he added. 'We're asking Communities Scotland if they can take on a different 
monitoring role to ensure we can pick it up if there are examples of authorities 
that aren't making progress towards 2009.'

 

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations welcomed the review of 
allocations policy, including section 5 of the Housing (Scotland) Act, following 
fears from its members that associations would be flooded with homeless 
allocations from councils.

 

David Alexander, director of Alexander Consulting, said the minister had done 
little to pick up the recommendations of the homelessness task force on 
cross-departmental support for the 2012 target.

 

'One thing that strikes me is that it's not just up to housing providers to 
deliver on the housing targets,' he said. 'Up to this point it does seem as 
though it has fallen to housing providers to do this. It does appear to be very 
much a departmental statement - Malcolm Chisholm speaking with the remit he has 
rather than overlapping into other ministers' remits.'

 

Nick Fletcher, policy and practice officer at the Chartered Institute of Housing 
in Scotland, said: 'My initial reaction was that it was quite basic. It talks a 
lot about guidance and change to the way structures work, but

my concern was that there was a lack of recognition about housing supply issues.'

 

/Give your views in Your Forum /

*Published: 06 January 2006*

*by Hannah Fearn  *

Scottish councils demand funding reassurances (Inside Housing)

2006-01-28T17:26:00.000-08:00

Scotland’s councils are seeking an urgent meeting with communities minister 
Malcolm Chisholm about changes in the way housing development funds are 
distributed. Under current rules councils which transfer their homes to 
community landlords expect to take control of development funds. But the 
Scottish Executive is in the early stages of a review of housing investment 
(Inside Housing, 29 October). It now wants a consultation group to consider a 
new network of housing market area boards which would ‘allow local authorities 
to play a strategic role in influencing investment decisions’. The consultation 
group is to include the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, the Scottish 
Federation of Housing Associations, Communities Scotland and private sector 
representative Homes for Scotland. COSLA housing spokesperson Douglas Reid told 
Inside Housing that councils wanted reassurances from the minister that local 
authorities would continue to have a strategic role in housing. ‘Personally 
speaking, we hear a lot about the bonfire of the quangos, but now it seems new 
quangos are on the way,’ he said. SFHA chief executive David Orr said the 
organisation was not convinced that transferring management of development 
funding to councils was the best option. ‘We are getting involved in the working 
group to see what alternatives can be developed, and whether these can better 
benefit our members,’ he said. The group is scheduled to meet today, finishing 
its work by mid-December. Ministerial decisions will follow and detailed working 
arrangements will be finalised between January and April 2005. A spokesperson 
for Communities Scotland said all authorities ‘would be expected to take part in 
any new strategic arrangements to ensure that housing investment decisions 
nationally are made on a more strategic basis’.

/Give your views /

*Published: 05 November 2004*

Scottish Water cash boosts development

2006-01-28T17:24:00.000-08:00

Investment in Scottish Water by the Scottish Executive is set to increase by 
£200 million a year, opening up new areas for the development of affordable 
housing as infrastructure improves.Domestic water charges are to be held at the rate of inflation for the next five 
years, but capital for future investment in Scottish Water will be raised by 
increasing the charge paid by construction firms to connect new developments to 
the water mains.

Affordable housing developments are to be exempt from the charge increase, 
introduced in the Water Services (Scotland) Bill passed this week.

David Bookbinder, policy coordinator at the Scottish Federation of Housing 
Associations, said: ‘The announcement today is giving Scottish Water the green 
light to go ahead and provide these vital services which in many cases are the 
only thing holding back major developments of affordable housing.

‘We and others have been raising this issue for some time and it is very good 
news that the executive has recognised the extent of the problem and is doing 
something about it.

Now, Scottish Water must deliver.’ But developers are angry at the charges. 
Homes for Scotland executive director Bruce Black said: ‘Ministers have 
continued the practice of shifting expenditure from the public purse to the 
private sector through the introduction of yet another regime of developer 
contributions, this time for the infrastructure costs of new development.’

/Give your views in Your Forum <http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/forum>/

*Published: 18 February 2005*

Edinburgh Council are not happy because tenants voted the 'wrong way', so they are considering having another go at it!!

2006-01-25T08:40:00.000-08:00

Edinburgh City Council spent millions pushing a policy of stock transfer. They 
used every trick in the book, from phone calls and door knocking to billboards and radio adverts, but still tenants voted No. What is the response from the Council to this democratic decision….ignore it and try again!Today’s Evening News (Monday 23rd Jan) states that the Councillor Sheila Gilmore is “actively considering” partial stock transfer. Why will she not actively consider listening to tenants vote?

For the last year the council has said that whole stock transfer is the “only game in town”. Yet suddenly they say that there are other options. How many more lies will the council tell us?

If you think the council should respect tenants vote, then you need to act. Write a letter to the Evening News explaining why you voted No. Contact your local councillor, ask them if they will speak out publicly against these plans and will they sign the Fair Deal for Scottish Council Housing statement (attached and pasted below) committing them to fight for a future for council housing? We have been told time and time again by councillors that being approached by a constituent makes a real difference.

Let’s make the vote stick, please act now.

Fair Deal For Scottish Council Housing

The vote by Edinburgh tenants against stock transfer is a clear rejection of the 
blackmail that says investment must be linked to a change of landlord. The Executive and Westminster should respect the tenants’ choice and should release the funds for council housing that would otherwise have been made available through stock transfer.  We demand the following:

•Debt write-off not linked to a change of landlord

• Create a financial level playing field for council housing

• Bring council homes in Edinburgh and throughout Scotland up to a decent standard

I/we wish to add our support to this statement………………………………

Return to:
EMAIL stopstocktransfer@hotmail.co.uk 

WRTE: Lothian Trade Union Centre, 
Basement 26/28 Albany Street,
Edinburgh, EH1 3QH

  Fair Deal For Scottish Council Housing_

The vote by Edinburgh tenants against stock transfer is a clear rejection of the blackmail that says investment must be linked to a change of landlord. The Executive and Westminster should respect the tenants’ choice and should release the funds for council housing that would otherwise have been made available through stock transfer.  We demand the following:

Debt write-off not linked to a change of landlord*

Create a financial level playing field for council housing

Bring council homes in **Edinburgh** and throughout **Scotland** up to 
a decent standard*

*I/we wish to add our support to this statement…………………………………*

Return to:

EMAIL  stopstocktransfer@hotmail.co.uk 


  WRITE:         
 Lothian Trade Union Centre,
 Basement 26/28 Albany Street,
 Edinburgh, EH1 3QH

Edinburgh tenants no vote

2006-01-13T16:53:00.000-08:00

Sez it all

Defend Council Housing - Who has voted NO

2005-12-19T02:11:00.000-08:00

Despite all the money that councils spend on glossy PR campaigns to win ballots more thane 50 transfers have been defeated by tenants - 1 in 4 of the votes taken place

Former council leader suspended in housing row

2005-12-19T02:04:00.000-08:00

The former leader of Middlesbrough council has been suspended by the Labour party over his opposition to plans to demolish 1,500 homes under John Prescott's controversial housing renewal programme.

From: Glasgow "Save Our Homes"

2005-12-16T08:26:00.000-08:00

Glasgow Tenants Send warmest congratulations to EAST and all the Edinburgh Tenants who voted NO on an awesome victory over the Council Housing privateers.
Victory is Sweet

Defend Council Housing
(Note) Defend Council Housing (DCH) - campaign against council housing English campaign opposes privatisation of council housing and is campaigning for direct investment. DCH is a real tenant led campaign supported by MPs (Scotland?)

HOME TRUTHS - why many are still fighting the move

2005-12-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

The Glasgow Housing Association website offers a tantalising glimpse of a bright new future. An old man, his tartan clad Scotty dog by his side, smiles underneath a happy quote about his brand new kitchen. The casual viewer would come away with the impression that social housing is surging forward unhindered into a brave new world.

They would be wrong. In 2002, Scotland's largest city transferred ownership of its 80,000 council houses to the private, but not-for-profit, social landlord the Glasgow Housing Association (GHA). The ambitious project was the biggest of its kind in Europe but the process, known as stock transfer, has been mired in controversy. As Edinburgh tenants await the result of their own transfer ballot, those against the move are again claiming tenants were lied to, blackmailed and fed false promises by a multi-million pound government spin machine. They say transfer has created "social apartheid" in Glasgow where the homes of the few are transformed while thousands are "left to rot" in their multi-storey flats.

On December 15, Edinburgh's council leaders and housing officials will discover whether the capital's tenants will follow their west coast counterparts. A fierce, often bitter and vindictive argument has preceded the vote. Both the Scottish Executive and Westminster believe that stock transfer is the only way social housing will meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard - the benchmark that all homes must reach by 2015. The pro-transfer lobby have tapped into a war chest of around £8.5 million to sell the move in its best light while the anti-transfer campaigners, armed only with a fraction of the money, have done the best they can with leaflets and rallies. Despite senior politicians hailing the ballots as good examples of local democracy, the Executive has only funded one side of the fight.

"You've got this situation where David and Goliath are fighting against each other. The vote was won narrowly in Glasgow and now tenants have been left with a complete mess," says Jenni Marrow, executive member of the Scottish Tenants Organisation and a leading figure in the anti-transfer campaign.

 The battle is not just a central belt spat; it is being fought out across Scotland. Aside from Glasgow, the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway councils have transferred their homes. The Western Isles council also voted for transfer in a recent ballot. However, Dundee and Aberdeen councils have resisted the proposals, on the basis that "there is no evidence of any obvious demand for full stock transfer or a change of landlord". Stock transfer is a policy cooked up in Westminster by Gordon Brown, and promoted across Scotland by the Executive. The thinking behind it is simple. Scottish councils — burdened with over £200 billion of debt from building and maintaining publicly-owned homes - transfer the houses to a private sector housing association. The treasury writes off the debt and the new not-for-profit housing body raises cash from banks, financial companies and rent to build and maintain new homes. Any profits made are ploughed back into new stock.

 Sandra Forsythe, Tenant Chair of GHA, says it has taken time for Glasgow tenants to see the real benefits of transfer, but she claims they are now coming home to roost. "When people see the windows being done, heating getting put in, they start to see what it was all about. It was always going to be a case of 'we'll believe it when we see it' and now the place is buzzing and excited. I'm certainly happier in my home and warmer. I don't miss the waterfall that used to come in my window." Sheila Gilmore, Edinburgh City Council's executive member for housing, says transfer is the best of a limited number of options open to Edinburgh council's 23,000 tenants. Housing debts are so bad, she explains, that 41 pence in every pound of rent paid by tenants is spent servicing the debt, not on renovation or maintenance. The net result: only basic repairs have been carried out over the last 10 years and there is no money to tackle Edinburgh's chronic housing shortage. Gilmore believes the city needs 10,000 new homes and transfer is the only way to get them.

 We didn't wake up one morning and decide to do this. We have been looking very hard at all the options. But when I have people come to me and say, 'why can't we have a house in Edinburgh?', 'can we have a bigger home to give our children more space?' or 'why can't my gran get a ground floor flat?' - in that case an ideological argument doesn't cut any ice," she says.

 Gilmore says Edinburgh faces a stark choice between transfer and rapidly escalating rents. She is supported byjacqui Watt, chief executive of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA). "The city is 10,000 houses short and we have to do something radical to provide for the future," she says. Although many housing professionals support transfer as the only realistic way forward for Scotland's social housing, many privately question the political conditions that have created the necessity for the policy. Despite the not-for-profit nature of housing associations, anti-transfer campaigners say moving homes out of the public sector is simply privatisation, designed to give banks and businesses the leverage to make money from tenants.

 Several Scottish housing professionals argue that chancellor Brown could have cancelled all the council's housing debt, but refused to do so for political reasons. New Labour, it is claimed, has no confidence in local government to do the job. This is a conclusion backed up by a call to the Treasury, where a spokesman says: "The UK government believes that to repay all local authority housing debt would send the wrong signals to authorities about their responsibility for servicing any future borrowings." Translated into plain speech: you've made your bed, now lie in it. We're only going to help you if you do what we think is best.

Sean Clerkin, campaign manager for the Scottish Tenants Organisation, says the 'best' option -according to New Labour in Westminster and Holyrood — has created a situation where "half the tenants are getting improvements and others have had no improvements of any kind". He says thousands are "left in limbo" because they live in homes under review for demolition. The number of homes, especially multi-storey tower block flats, scheduled to be pulled down in Glasgow has almost doubled from the number proposed before the transfer.

 lain Maclnnes, a Glasgow Govanhill tenant, who campaigned against stock transfer, is even more forthright:"They are being left to rot. They don't want to spend money on buildings that will come down. Glasgow Housing Association is an inhumane landlord guilty of antisocial behaviour." GHA deny this allegation and say they have put £8m aside to carry out basic repairs on homes due for demolition. But the fact of the matter is that many tower blocks are under review. Effectively, their tenants are kept in the dark; getting by on whispers, never really knowing whether their home will be pulled down — a difficult thing to deal with for the often elderly and vulnerable tenants. However, no matter what the shortfalls of stock transfer, the governments at Westminster and Holyrood believe it is the only way that social housing will meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard.

Stock transfer may not be universally popular but in the current political climate many believe it is the best option on the table. Gilmore points to Birmingham where a stock transfer ballot resulted in a no vote. Campaigners hoped this would force a change of direction from central government, but they were wrong, Birmingham's local authority has been left to struggle on with massive debts. Gilmore, especially, says "she can't talk ideology with somebody who is desperate for a home when there is a solution sitting there". But whether that solution will lead to a bright future of new kitchens and happy Scotty dogs, or more vulnerable people forced into the margins, confused and uncertain, is a real and worrying question. 

Agnes Ferguson, 68, from Sighthill, has lived in her flat since 1988. It has now come under the ownership of Glasgow Housing Association and she is unsure when it is due for demolition "I voted against transfer. I didn't really want it, but what can you do? We were promised new kitchens and bathrooms and then we heard the block might be coming down and today I'm none the wiser.

 "I'm like any other woman, I like to be able to change my mind, but just now I don't know where I stand. I'd like to do some more decorating but there's no point if they pull the place down. I just don't know. All I know is we are under review for demolition and we'll find out for definite later on.

 "You hear so many rumours you don't know who is telling the truth and who's not. I really don't want to leave this wee house - it's comfortable and I've put a lot of work into it. The only thing I'm annoyed with is the size of the kitchen - it's far too small.

 "There are a lot of people who have been here 40 years. No matter where else I decide to go, my nice carpets aren't going to fit. I've got no faith in the politicians. They make promises to you and they don't keep them. Personally I would rather stay where I am until the good lord takes me." 
Sourse:Peter John Meiklem. Big Issue

Homeless in Aberdeen go unseen

2005-12-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

"A damning report last month on the treatment of homeless people by Aberdeen City Council has prompted swift action, but workers in the city say that more funds are needed from the Scottish Executive if the situation is to improve."

"promises of home improvements in Glasgow are turning into dust"

2005-12-04T05:42:00.000-08:00

Shocking new revelations revealed yesterday show that pre-transfer promises of home improvements in Glasgow are turning into dust. 

The new landlord plans to spend less than a third than other Glasgow Housing Association Ltd's spend, on its homes. Please have a look at the attached article (pasted below). What is also notable about the article is that it is from the Glasgow Evening Times, this paper had strongly advocated transfer but it seems that the pressure of failed promises have forced it to change its view on transfer. Let us learn from the failures in Glasgow Vote No To Privatisation And make sure all your friends and neighbours Vote No Thousands lose out in city housing upgrade THE dreams of tens of thousands of former council house tenants in Glasgow have been dashed.

 Housing bosses have told them they cannot afford to bring their homes up to the standard enjoyed by the city's traditional housing associations. Glasgow Housing Association has admitted it cannot match the spending of the city's smaller social landlords.

 Bosses say they have only £22,000 to spend on each home, compared with the £70,000-£75,000 available to traditional community housing associations. GHA is spending £1.3billion over 11 years to improve the stock it took over from the city council three years ago.

But GHA chairwoman Sandra Forsythe said: "GHA estimates the gap between the investment and development finances in our business plan and those in other housing associations is at least £1.5bn based on conservative estimates." Her words will be of no comfort to the Glaswegians who expected the housing stock transfer to deliver vastly-improved homes.

 Last month the Evening Times told of sisters-in-law, Angie and Allison Palmer. Both are on benefits but their lifestyles are very different. Allison lives in a new two-storey home with front and back doors she rents from Blairtummock Housing Association.

 Angie lives in a GHA slum tenement – its close daubed with graffiti – with her five sons sleeping in just one room. Cynics call this Glasgow's housing lottery. Asked by the Evening Times whether GHA could close the gap between its homes and those of other housing associations, Mrs Forsythe said: "No. GHA is funded quite differently to other transfer models.

 "Under the traditional model, housing associations are funded on an average of £70,000-£75,000 a unit, based largely on replacement and renewal of stock. "When tenants voted for stock transfer it was clear GHA would be funded on an average of £22,000 a unit, based largely on refurbishment of existing stock. "That's still enough to deliver major improvements to housing but not in the same league as the smaller housing associations."

 Ms Forsythe also raised the spectre of a different GHA in the future. Answering 20 questions we put to her, she hinted the planned break-up of GHA could be very different from that originally thought.

 GHA is made up of 64 tenant-led local housing organisations, designed to become fully-fledged housing associations in their own right through a process known as second-stage transfers.

 Ms Forsythe said second-stage transfers would not be deliverable for 64 LHOs. She said: "We believe it is possible, within current financial parameters, to transfer stock to a smaller number of organisations."

 Ms Forsythe denied pilot projects for second-stage transfers had stalled. But more than 18 months after pilot negotiations began, GHA and its own LHOs are no nearer to agreeing a price for their stock.

 A Scottish Executive spokesman said: "We do not recognise these numbers. The Glasgow stock transfer package of £1.7billion covers bringing existing homes up to standard and allowing thousands of new homes to be built." 

 Tenants need home truths about the GHA 

REVELATIONS that Glasgow Housing Association lacks the £1,5billion required to bring the city's former council homes up to the same standard as those of other social landlords are deeply disturbing. When Glasgow tenants voted for transfer they did so believing they could look forward to the end of the city's slums and a new era of modern, aspirational homes.Theirs was the right decision - and the only viable escape from the decades of chronic underfunding and decay endured under cash-strapped municipal landlords. Yet that dream, it seems, can never be fully realised. 

With a woefully-inadequate budgetary allowance of just £22,000 per home, GHA has no hope of reaching the standards achieved by other Scottish housing associations - who enjoy state support of up to £75,000 per home.There is no doubt that the consequence of this shortfall is dire. Far from delivering new homes and communities of the quality achieved by housing associations such as Queen's Cross, GHA will never have the funds to resolve the city's desperate social housing problem.In the GHA's defence, its refurbishment programme already has made a welcome difference to many lives.

The installation of new doors, windows and kitchens, however, can only go so far and GHA simply does not have the capital for the radical building and renewal programme Glasgow actually needs.But as Europe's biggest social housing stock transfer project prepares to move to the next stage of its evolution, serious questions must be asked - and answered - as to why it finds itself in this iniquitous and damaging position.The money men, of course, will claim the figures have always been there for all to see.Tenants, however, have every right to ask why the politicians who created, then sold them this transfer model, did so without explaining the full consequences.

Ultimately, only one group of people can sort out the sorry financial mess that is now the GHA - and those are its architects, the Scottish Executive.And if Scotland's politicians are to pay more than lip service to the social renaissance Glasgow needs to end its appalling deprivation, then they must give the GHA cash for bricks, not just straw.

Tenants from local authority flat complexes across Dublin meet for launch of Tenants First booklet

2005-12-02T14:13:00.002-08:00

Report from last night's well-attended meeting.
Around 75 community and housing activists from across the city gathered in the Macro Community Resource Centre on North King St last night, for the launching of a new Tenants First booklet, entitled "The Real Guide to Regeneration for Communities: Making The Right Decision About Urban Regeneration". The booklet has been in production for several months, and five thousand copies have been printed up for distribution around local authority flat complexes and housing estates right across Dublin City.

"SAVE OUR HOMES" CITY WIDE NOTICE OF MEETING Thursday December 1st.7.30pm

2005-11-29T05:03:00.000-08:00

Seasons Greetings to You All This will be Last meeting for this year of 2005.
the Quakers Meeting Place 38 Elmbank Crescent, Glasgow G2 4PS 0141 248 8493
Agenda includes:
Feedback from EAST + the Law is an Ass (John)
Updates and Media Reports (Sean)
Combating Eviction (Iain)
GHA Ltd. / Scottish Executive’s Breach of EU Law
Monitoring Concierge Deal
No Care & Very Low Maintenance
Add your concerns / points for discussion

Contact agahst2003@hotmail.com

Tenants Auction Housing Leader's House!

2005-11-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

At, 10.00 am yesterday, on the 23rd of November, tenants in Edinburgh slipped into fancy dress and auctioned off City Council Housing leader, Sheila Gilmore's home for £899 pounds

Edinburgh. No to housing sell off

2005-11-12T10:19:00.000-08:00

Property People (The independant voice of housing)

2005-10-28T06:29:00.000-07:00

Tenants whose homes are earmarked for demolition resorted to a sit-in demonstration last Friday at the offices of the housing association that owns all of Glasgow’s former council homes.

What has changed, Herald editorial - Public housing and the GHA

2005-10-28T05:01:00.000-07:00

UNISON support of Edinburgh tenants

2005-10-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

 Investment without strings, not stock transfer
  That is what UNISON is campaigning for in the run up to the tenants’ ballot which could come as early as November this year.
  That is why the Branch AGM in February voted unanimously to campaign against stock transfer. When housing staff are farmed off to new employers, the evidence from all around the country is that they will be at the mercy of broken promises on conditions. 
  Colleagues in other areas report poorer conditions and the focus moving away from the range of housing support tasks to rent collection only. 
  That is why UNISON wants to make sure there is a real debate before tenants are balloted. We believe the huge sums being poured into consultants and glossy propaganda in the campaign for a yes vote would be better spent on improving housing.
  UNISON is opposed to housing stock transfers for a number of reasons including 
   the implications for staff, 
loss of democratic accountability 
the costs of transfer 
reduced choice for tenants. 
 
  A more effective alternative is direct investment using investment allowances, creating a level playing field between the different options. 
  Staff transfer 
  Normally staff who spend 50% or more of their time on the services the new housing body will provide will be transferred. But what about the rest? 
  Other transfers have brought problems for IT, wages and other staff. The Glasgow DLO lost the contract and had to lay off staff. l
   Staff transferring to the new organisation will NO LONGER be council employees. At the point of transfer the council gives up all responsibility for staff. 
Transfer of Undertakings regulations (TUPE) only offer
protection at the moment of transfer. 
Pensions are not covered by TUPE. 
Eventually the new employer will want to impose their own terms. Edinburgh Leisure refused to honour a national pay award.
Glasgow Housing staff are facing redundancy threats as £1.7 million is cut from the staffing budget. The GHA also wants to replace annual pay awards and increments with performance related pay. 
The new organisation will be much smaller with fewer career opportunities and little chance of redeployment. 
 
  The principle at stake 
   Stock transfer means privatisation of an essential public service.
Once transferred, there is no going back for staff or tenants. 
Democratic control and accountability through elected councillors will be lost. Take Edinburgh Leisure - they often say things are the council’s fault for cutting money. The council says it’s a separate organisation and they can’t interfere. No-one appears to be responsible.
There is no demand from tenants for a change of landlord.
Tenants are denied real choice. Real choice would mean the council having the same access to funds as a private body. 
The £1 billion promised is public money and should be directly invested publicly without strings. 
The Treasury can write off debt for a private body, so why not for the council? 
 
  Staff provide a good service 
   The Housing Dept is not a failing organisation, so why break it up?
The Modernising Housing Agenda and Neighbourhood Management initiative shows the service is developing and forward looking 
The plans are at odds with the much vaunted joint working with social work, for example. 
It is ironic that just recently Housing staff were being told that a merger with Social Work was the best way forward. The hidden costs 
 
  Stock Transfer is not Best Value 
   Vast sums are spent on publicity, set-up costs, consultants, solicitors etc that could be spent directly on improving housing. 
The Parliament Public Accounts Committee reported that Stock Transfer costs £1,300 per tenancy more than councils doing improvements themselves. 
The National Audit Office reports repairs and improvements are expected to cost a third more after transfer - about £1.3billion - than if councils did the work themselves. 
 
  Alternatives to Transfer
   Direct investment in Council Housing without strings 
Take council spending on housing out of the Public Sector Borrowing Requirement as other European countries have done.
Urge the government to give an Investment Allowance as revenues stream that would let councils borrow using the new Prudential Borrowing arrangements. 
 
  The Government can be challenged 
   Westminster is coming under more and more pressure to make concessions to councils and tenants demanding fair play and a level playing field. 
The Prudential Borrowing Framework was introduced in April 2004 and allows some councils to borrow more. This was a significant concession to the campaign to defend council housing. 
The House of Commons Select Committee on Housing called on the Government to end the injustice of tenants being financially penalised for voting to keep the council as their landlord. 
After pressure from the trade unions and the Defend Council Housing campaign, the last Labour Party Conference demanded that the same ‘stock transfer’ funds should be available to councils if tenants vote to stay with them. 
 
  UNISON NEWS

Cedar Tenants Association New Blog, see side link

2005-10-16T04:52:00.000-07:00

October and the meeting room (Friday, October 14, 2005)
In September a member of Cedar Tenants Association had attended a meeting of the STO - the Scottish federation of tenants associations and tenants organisations - and had told them of Cedar Tenants Association's trouble in getting the GHA to allow us access to our own meeting room and facilities. On the back of the case presented to their meeting, the STO was motivated to write to the GHA on behalf of Cedar Tenants Association, such was the flagrant abuse by the GHA of its publicly available policies on tenant participation.

Glasgow Save Our Homes… A Major Victory For Tenants Power

2005-10-14T16:50:00.000-07:00

Glasgow Save Our Homes can announce that after sit-ins, demonstrations and petitions, the Tenants of Glasgow have forced the Glasgow Housing Association Ltd (GHA Ltd) to halt their plans to get rid of the 24 Hour Fixed Sight Concierge Service. Instead the the 24 Hour Fixed Sight Concierge Service will be maintained with Concierges being on throughout the night. Two Concierges will on each fixed sight throughout the city.
This is a major victory for Tenant Power in Glasgow but we have to monitor how the concierge system as agreed with Concierge GMB Union representatives works from this point onwards to ensure that there is no backsliding by the GHA Ltd who still want to destroy communities.

Glasgow Housing Association Limited have stated in their New House building Strategy document ( annexe 3, page 33) which is on their website,

that they plan to demolish 11,423 Multi Storey Homes in Glasgow, when there is a total of 23,000 Multi Storey Flats in the city; thus they want to raise to the ground 50% of Multi Storey Flats in Glasgow. This would destroy whole communities.

EU ruling 'could jeopardise housing policy'

2005-10-05T15:27:00.000-07:00

Scotsman.com Heritage & Culture - Revealed: top 100 modern Scots buildings

2005-10-02T13:52:00.000-07:00

big Picture
It would figure the winner in this country would be falling to bits. Just like our council housing

Former GHA chief hits out

2005-10-02T13:43:00.000-07:00

CONTROVERSIAL plans to axe the 24-hour concierge service in Sighthill will be scrapped, according to the former chairman of Glasgow Housing Association (GHA).Sam Harper, who stood down from his GHA post last year, believes widespread opposition from tenants has left the housing association with no option but to back down.

Three months ago, GHA announced plans to replace the on-site 24-hour concierge staff at Sighthill's multi-storey flats with a mobile call-out service.
But Mr Harper, speaking out for the first time since standing down as GHA chairman, told the Herald that the association has been forced into a rethink.
He said: "I believe these proposals will not be carried through.
"The main thrust of the 2003 housing stock transfer was to better the lives of tenants and enhance the prospects of staff. This would not happen if the 24-hour concierge was taken away.
"I lived in the Red Road area for many years. I know that tenants are concerned with these proposals and the impact they would have on safety.
"They simply don't want to see the concierge service downgraded and the GHA have duty to listen the tenants' views. I am confident it won't happen."
Mr Harper, who led GHA through Britain's biggest stock transfer, also called for better communication between the housing association and its tenants over the proposed Sighthill demolition programme.

He said: "The stock transfer was a necessity, but GHA's housing strategy has to be put across in a way that tenants understand it. That has not happened so far and there has to be a clarity of information.
"A lot of tenants are sitting wondering if their flats will be the next to come down.
"They don't understand that this is a 30-year programme designed to bring Glasgow forward and that it won't all happen overnight.
"There has to be better communication between GHA and tenants and we also need strong management."

He added: "Not every multi-storey in Glasgow can come down, we live in a metropolis and sometimes people want to live in flats - GHA must come to terms with that.
"But also, people have to understand that the housing strategy is designed to lead Glasgow forward and benefit the city in the future."
Mary Crearie, GHA's director of Housing Services, said: "GHA itself, and this housing services review in particular, has always been about seeking opportunities to radically improve services for tenants.

"We are reviewing the consultation feedback and are confident that we can incorporate views given by tenants and other stakeholders, together with the improvements in services.

"This includes extending the 24-hour service to all multi-storey tenants and allowing LHOs the flexibility to provide local housing solutions to local housing needs.
"Tenants may be pleasantly surprised at the scope and scale of the final proposal being discussed by the GHA Board this week."

27 September 2005
Kirkintillock Today    Springburn Herald

HOME FRONT: Jenni Marrow is fighting the council's housing transfer plans.

2005-09-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

Residents hit out at city homes transfer 'disgrace' 
 Gareth Edwards
Resedents opposed to plans to have every council home taken over by ahousing association are to mount a protest against the controversial proposals. They have criticised a business plan for the proposed transfer of Edinburgh's 23,000 council houses for a "serious lack of financial detail". 
Campaigners have also accused the council of rushing through a ballot of residents which will decide whether the scheme can go ahead. They say the suggested ballot date in November is too soon to allow tenants to look at the proposals properly. 

Now members of Edinburgh Against Stock Transfer (East) are planning to protest outside the City Chambers on Thursday, ahead of a council meeting expected to rubber-stamp the proposals. 

Jenni Marrow, 59, a member of East and a resident of Pennywell Court, said: "The problem with the business plan is the lack of financial details, including the cost of the demolition, the cost of the new development, and how the housing association will meet those. This is privatisation of the council houses and while rent may be tied to inflation for five years, there is nothing to stop it going up after that, or to stop service charges being increased. 

"It is a disgrace that the Scottish Executive are saying people are not entitled to these improvements unless they hand over control to a private company, and it seems clear the council is rushing to hold this ballot before people understand the real consequences of the transfer." 
Tenants will make the final decision on the proposed housing stock transfer, which the council says will unlock more than £2 billion of funding for the city over the next ten years. 

If it goes ahead, 4000 of the city's most run-down houses will be demolished and thousands more renovated and refurbished. 

Run-down high-rise flats in Gracemount and North Sighthill, Leith's once notorious Fort flats, 1960s maisonettes in Pennywell and tenement homes in Royston and Wardieburn will all be flattened if the plans are approved. 

But East campaigners say that after looking at the business plan they are more concerned than ever that council tenants are being "bribed" to give up their rights to affordable social housing. Under the plans, the council's crippling £310 million housing debt would be written off by the Treasury, with increased funding provided to build new houses and provide extensive renovation to others. 

But East campaigners have asked why the Executive and the Treasury cannot provide this funding without handing over control of its housing stock. 
And they do not believe promises to keep rent at inflation for the full 30 years of the business plan will be kept, and fear rent could even go up within the first five years despite a legal agreement with the council preventing this from happening. 
They believe that service charges will be increased, allowing the housing association to effectively put up rent while sticking to their agreement, something the council's housing department insisted would not happen. 

East member Luke Henderson, 36, from Polwarth Crescent, said the City Chambers protest was designed to make sure councillors were aware of the opposition. 
He said: "We have seen from other stock transfers that promises on rent and improvements have not been met, and the speed with which the council want to press ahead with this ballot is a very serious concern. 

"There will certainly be a lobby group outside the meeting to get our point across." 
Mark Turley, the council's director of housing, said: "Delivering long term affordable rents to tenants is what this is about. The business plan covers 30 years and is based on inflation-only rent increases during that whole period. This is legally guaranteed for the first five years after transfer. This is a real win-win for our tenants and the only way to deliver these improvements while still keeping rents affordable. 
"We are confident that this is a robust business plan and demonstrates its ability to finance the delivery of all the key promises."

Latest News on the housing situation in England

2005-09-23T00:32:00.000-07:00

15 Constituency Labour Parties have submitted motions to the Labour Party conference supporting the ‘fourth option’ for council housing. This significant number demonstrates the strength of feeling amongst tenants, councillors, trade unions and MPs. Last year delegates voted 8:1 for a level playing field for council housing. Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, promised an inquiry – a commitment he later withdrew.

With 92 local authorities (that we know of) opting for ‘stock retention’ and rejecting the government’s three privatisation options pressure is increasing on Ministers to concede the ‘fourth option’. Last week Communities Minister, David Miliband, conceded for the first time that the government will fail to meet its Decent Homes manifesto commitment. Direct investment – what tenants and many councillors want – would enable the commitment to be achieved. Miliband, has also said "I think that where tenants want to remain with the council as their landlord it's important to respect that decision."  It’s time to make ‘tenants choice’ a reality!

Defend Council Housing will be lobbying delegates to the conference and asking them to sign an open letter to the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott. The letter has already been supported by MPs, trade union general secretaries and councillors. A fringe meeting is taking place at 5.30pm on Tuesday 27 at the Belgrave Hotel with MPs Austin Mitchell and Frank Dobson joining trade union leaders and tenants.
If you can help please in Brighton on Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday get in touch. 

Please also contact your local Constituency Labour Party delegate (before they leave for Brighton on Saturday) and ask them to prioritise the ‘fourth option’ for council housing for debate and to sign the open letter to John Prescott: ‘A Promise Is A Promise’

Useful Contacts & Links for Info (housing)

2005-09-22T01:08:00.000-07:00

Glasgow Save Our Homes
Save Our communities
Tel. 07976 718 111 or 07940 937 241 or 0141 881 3338.

Scottish Tenants Organisation
Tel. 07976 718 111 or 07790 214 857

Residents hit out at city homes transfer 'disgrace'
EAST (Edinburgh Against Stock Transfer)
Tel. 07977294 865

Websites: Tayside Tenants
Tel. 0138 277 4370
Taysidetenants.org
http://www.taysidetenants.org

City Strolls
www.citystrolls.com

Scotland Indymedia
scotland.indymedia.org/newswire/display
/2079/index.php - 33k –

Defend Council Housing
Defend Council Housing (DCH) - campaign against council housing ...
Defend Council Housing
English campaign opposes privatisation of council housing and is campaigning for direct investment.
DCH is a real tenant led campaign supported by MPs.

Dealing with debt: Finding your feet (pdf)

2005-09-11T13:52:00.000-07:00

Your local service - Money advice Cost - free and confidential

This leaflet gives details of agencies in your area that give free,independent, impartial,confidential money advice.You will find addresses,phone numbers and e-mail and website addresses where they are available.

Demolition Derby

2005-09-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

Dundee Tenants have rejected housing stock transfer with its danger of secret deals and unnecessary demolitions. So those who are managing the privatisation ofpublic assets (the Scottish Executive’s  neo liberal economic agenda via Communities Scotland) have decided to proceed anyway but locals "know the score."It is not surprising that the, right wing, Daily Record should wish to show the 
Dundee Council in a bad light just as the publicly funded Glasgow housing 
Association Limited is happy to show itself in up as being a terrible and 
heartless landlord to those tenants it wishes to manipulate, encourage and bully 
into clearing themselves out in order to vacate or ‘free up the land ‘ for 
private development.

Glasgow Save Our Homes Camaign Tenants also want answers. It is time the 
Scottish Executive engaged in genuine dialogue about housing policy and ensured 
that landlords adhered to the TENANT PARTICIPATION as contained in the 2001 
Housing Act for Scotland.  Tenants are being denied their legal right to shape 
the decisions that  affect their lives. 

 

Daily Record7 September 2005 wrote: 

TENANTS FIGHT TO SAVE MULTI-STOREYS 
ANGRY tenants are battling council bosses to save their multi-storey homes. The five blocks, which are near Dundee's Ninewells Hospital, have been earmarked as part of a £2million demolition programme. City housing chiefs said the 14-storey blocks - with great views over the Tay -were structurally poor and unwanted. Many of the 2000 residents have formed an action group claiming their tight-knit community is "being dtroyed." The group, called Defend Dundee Council Housing, claim the city council has refused to release all the information surrounding its reasons for demolition. Group spokesman Tony Cox said: "All we want is answers to our questions but they are making us jump through hoops.

Ministers to rethink homes demolition plan

2005-09-09T02:41:00.000-07:00

The government has admitted that a programme to demolish thousands of houses in the north of England will need to be reviewed after it was revealed that house prices in the areas targeted have more than doubled. In response to a select committee's concerns about the controversial housing market renewal initiative, the government has suggested that it wants to scale back the number of homes bulldozed under the scheme. It said that those running the programme in nine "pathfinder" areas of the north and Midlands would have to take account of changing market conditions. The response revealed that since the programme started in 2002, average house prices at the cheaper end of the market in those areas has risen from £22,000 to £49,000 - an increase of 122%. The figures question the rationale of a programme that is designed to tackle failing housing markets through a mixture of demolition, replacement and repair. 

The response said: "We expect pathfinders to be able to respond to the changing market. We will examine critically the proposed balance between refurbishment, new build and demolition." The government also said that changes to the housing market was one of the reasons why it would not commit long-term funding to the initiative. But the government still expects some demolition to take place. "In some areas, the only option for providing a mix of housing meeting present day expectations is to replace less desirable homes with new ones," it said. In a sentence that will alarm conservation organisation it added: "Pathfinders should look at all options for refurbishments, but they also need to recognise that in some areas refurbishment has been tried many times before, often at very significant cost, but it has not solved the problem of low demand." 

The document was released unannounced on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website last Thursday. It was the government's formal response to a critical review of the programme by the urban affairs select committee published in March. The MPs' criticism reflects growing concern about the programme. Earlier this month the government was forced to hold a two-day meeting with residents and conservation groups alarmed at the scale of demolition being contemplated. In February public spending watchdog the Audit Commission also queried the purpose of the programme after discovering that house prices were rising at a faster rate in the north of England than in the south. "Policy makers and practitioners need to ask themselves, would recovery in the pathfinder areas happen anyway, even without intervention?" it asked.

High-rise flats set to keep their all-night concierges

2005-08-27T01:38:00.000-07:00


Glasgow Housing Association hoped to pilot controversial reforms to its concierge service at three tower blocks in Anderston's Blythswood Court.But the proposal to replace on-site janitors with a 24-hour telephone hotline sparked uproar among tenants who feared their homes would be invaded by "undesirables".And today, GHA confirmed Blythswood Court would not be part of a pilot programme across Glasgow to reform concierge services. Anderston councillor Alex Mosson helped bring all-night concierges to Blythswood Court 14 years ago and he led the campaign to stop them being taken away. Mr Mosson welcomed the GHA's U-turn, but added: "This is only a battle. I want to win the war." Argyle Local Housing Organisation, the body which represents Blythswood Court tenants, has pulled out of the pilot.

A spokeswoman for GHA denied this was because of Mr Mosson's concerns about the red light district. She said the LHO simply felt the blocks were too far from the proposed call centre. Many residents in Blythswood Court are elderly and some chose to live in the blocks because they have all-night security. Mr Mosson, a former Lord Provost, said: "People feel much more secure when they know there is a concierge on site." The GHA wants to introduce a call-out service which will mean all high-rise residents have access to some kind of help at night.

At present, only some blocks have concierges on site at night. A consultation on GHA's proposals will end later this month before three areas -Sighthill, Pollokshaws and Knightswood - try out on-call concierge services.

Meanwhile, Mr Mosson has written to Michael Lennon, chief executive of Glasgow Housing Association, warning him many Labour councillors would have opposed the housing stock transfer had they known of the reforms. He said: "I am certain that if my colleagues on the council had realised this would happen, perhaps a different attitude would have prevailed regarding the transfer. "The spirit, in principle and intention, was to ensure the quality of life remained for tenants and owner occupiers alike. This does not now seem to be the case."

Demolition threat in Glasgow

2005-08-26T01:21:00.000-07:00

Glasgow housing news and beyond -Tayside tenants

2005-08-26T01:13:00.000-07:00

Welcome to TaysideTenants.Org!TaysideTenants.Org has been set up by independent tenants groups in the Hilltown, and the Menzieshill area of Dundee – groups that were formed to counter the Council’s plans to demolish our homes and which we believe will destroy our communities. However we know that what is happening to us is part of a much bigger crisis in Dundee housing, and we hope that this website will be used by tenants across the city to share information and get our voices heard. Please send us your views/experiences/ideas.

you can contact us on info@taysidetenants.org

or take part in our on-line Message Forum.

Let's Create - A DIY GUIDE To Starting a Residents Group

1990-06-14T01:37:00.000-07:00

LET’S CREATE STRONG AND ACTIVE RESIDENTS' AND TENANTS' GROUPS IN EVERY STREET, BLOCK, SCHEME AND NEIGHBOURHOOD!

Local community action

- What we can do as residents and tenants -

A DIY GUIDE

· Would you like to meet people, and to share ideas, local information and experiences?

· Would you like to see people supporting each other, and more community spirit in your block or neighbourhood?

· Do you want to see a safer and better environment, better conditions, more facilities and social justice for you and all your neighbours?

· Do you believe people should speak up for themselves about what they need and want?

If so, why not set up a residents and tenants group in your street, block of flats, scheme or local area - or join one that’s already active?

How can we, as local residents, make a real difference to our communities and neighbourhoods?

In any community a whole range of positive, practical things can be organised and encouraged which bring people together, build up community spirit and improve our local neighbourhoods. Some examples of things you could do that are already going on in local areas around the city:

· encourage informal discussion and communication in your street, block and neighbourhood
· do local door-to-door leaflets and newsletters about local issues
· hold public meetings on topical local issues
· organise street parties and other social events
· set up skills and resources sharing schemes
· campaign for play and youth facilities and activities
· demand traffic calming
· take up people’s housing problems and conditions
· resist obnoxious or inappropriate development schemes
· defend useful community facilities threatened with closure
· make sure communal areas and streets are kept clean, and pavements and lights are repaired
· promote recycling projects
· get the council to plant more trees in local streets
· organise picnics and other activities in local parks
· start a ‘park friends’ group, and protect and improve all local green spaces
· set up and support parents’ groups in schools and playcentres
· do local residents’ opinion surveys
· organise local art and creativity exhibitions - and plan community murals
· find positive ways of reducing anti-social behaviour
· make sure local historical sites and buildings etc are protected
· support and set up local clubs / interest groups (gardening, music, sports, local history)

The possibilities are endless… with an active residents association you could start to do them all!

Kicking things off

The trick is to get organised and active. By encouraging neighbours to get involved, and being as positive and friendly as possible with everyone, it is amazing what people can achieve. Why not get together with two or three neighbours you know and start meeting regularly in each other’s homes or in a friendly local community hall? Give yourselves a name. Call a meeting of local residents to publicly launch a residents group..

Discuss what people feel are the important issues, and things you can start to do together - deliver reports of these discussions to all interested neighbours. Contact the authorities to find out what’s going on about various issues - when ready, lobby them and take action for the improvements your community wants. It’s all about taking ‘ownership’ of our own neighbourhoods and our own lives.

Stick at it!

Encourage local initiative. Gradually build up a list of more and more members/contacts. Organise public meetings and events, local campaigns and so on. Leaflet door-to-door. Start an e-list for members. Most importantly, stick at it and you and your community will be stronger for it.

You’re not alone!

There are many residents' and tenants' groups in local areas around Glasgow. We can share our news and experiences, discuss and pursue issues of common concern and support each other.

homes not houses

Independent Working Class Association - national website

Independent Working Class Association - national website

Campaigners Save Greenfield Site (from The Herald )

ACCOUTANCY TRICKS IN CALCULATING SOCIAL HOUSING NEED

Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee

Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee

Plans unveiled for Red Road’s £20m homes

HOUSING CONFERENCE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10TH 2007

Housing Conference Saturday, February 10th 2007

We wus conned - As we said all along - Ministers 'knew of GHA split cost'

Residents in the news - Struggles and victories

Housing chiefs want tenants’ feedback Evening Times 31/1/07

Cornwall fails to consult tenants on takeover plan

Housing Stock Transfer News Monday, January 15th, 2007

Proof – GHA Ltd OVERCHARGING RIGHT TO BUY HOME ‘OWNERS’

GHA LAUNCHES NEXT STAGE OF CONSULTATION ON RENT STRUCTURE REVIEW

GHA STARTS £83 MILLION OF OVER CLADDING WORKS

COUNCIL EXTENDS HOME BUYING CURBS

HOUSING TRANSFERS - WHAT A SORRY MESS

GLASGOW SAVE OUR HOMES CAMPAIGN SECOND STAGE TRANSFER AND THE FREE MARKET A SHORT BRIEFING PAPER

100 RESIDENTS TOLD TO RIP OUT PORCHES OR FACE COURT

Scottish Monitoring Group on Housing and Homelessness ... Watching the Executives

Scottish tenants demand inquiry into GHA

MICHAEL LENNON TO STEP DOWN FROM GHA IN NEW YEAR

Watchdog raises questions over �442m efficiency savings - The Herald

Glasgow Residents Network Social

Compromise over home seizures

Funding Decent Council Housing

Highlands Against Stock Transfer A VICTORY FOR COMMON SENSE STOCK TRANSFER A DISCREDITED POLICY

No Housing Stock Transfer in Inverclyde !

Glasgow Residents Network

Community and Community Planning Glasgow: The proposed humungous Tesco at Yorkhill

Glasgow Residents Groups Network - Campaigning activities

Working for a rejection of housing stock transfer in Renfrewshire

From the forgotton to the ridiculous

Survey shows most tenants not in favour of second stage transfer. & Right to buy group demand moratorium on bills

Upmarket Development Branded 'A Disaster'

Would you pay rent to live here

Housing experts probe rural needs > BBC article

People power saves pitches at city park - Evening Times

Dump Your Factor If They Are Rubbish

City Strolls - events - meetings

City Strolls - events - meetings

Executive publicly rules out full second stage transfer

MORI brought in to save Edinburgh transfer plans (Inside Housing)

Four year deadline on homelessness (Inside Housing)

Scottish councils demand funding reassurances (Inside Housing)

Scottish Water cash boosts development

Edinburgh Council are not happy because tenants voted the 'wrong way', so they are considering having another go at it!!

Edinburgh tenants no vote

Defend Council Housing - Who has voted NO

Former council leader suspended in housing row

From: Glasgow "Save Our Homes"

HOME TRUTHS - why many are still fighting the move

Homeless in Aberdeen go unseen

"promises of home improvements in Glasgow are turning into dust"

Tenants from local authority flat complexes across Dublin meet for launch of Tenants First booklet

"SAVE OUR HOMES" CITY WIDE NOTICE OF MEETING Thursday December 1st.7.30pm

Tenants Auction Housing Leader's House!

Edinburgh. No to housing sell off

Property People (The independant voice of housing)

What has changed, Herald editorial - Public housing and the GHA

UNISON support of Edinburgh tenants

Investment without strings, not stock transfer

Cedar Tenants Association New Blog, see side link

Glasgow Save Our Homes… A Major Victory For Tenants Power

EU ruling 'could jeopardise housing policy'

Scotsman.com Heritage & Culture - Revealed: top 100 modern Scots buildings

Former GHA chief hits out

HOME FRONT: Jenni Marrow is fighting the council's housing transfer plans.

Latest News on the housing situation in England

Useful Contacts & Links for Info (housing)

Dealing with debt: Finding your feet (pdf)

Demolition Derby

Ministers to rethink homes demolition plan

High-rise flats set to keep their all-night concierges

Demolition threat in Glasgow

Glasgow housing news and beyond -Tayside tenants

Let's Create - A DIY GUIDE To Starting a Residents Group

Housing Conference Saturday, February 10^th 2007