Viewpoint

31 January 2023: A whole storm of difficult issues face ALMOs and the rest of the social housing sector over the coming year, writes NFA Managing Director Eamon McGoldrick. A crowded, fast-moving policy landscape takes in building and fire safety, and improved levels of accountability to residents. And, of course, from April landlords will have to start collecting data geared to the new tenant satisfaction measures. All this, and making sure we support our customers’ efforts to cope with the most severe cost of living pressures in generations.

The Regulator is on the march Read More »

The Building Safety Act received royal assent in April 2022. Its provisions began to come into force in May and all provisions will be live by mid-2024. At Your Homes Newcastle, we have always striven to keep our residents and the structure they live in safe. And since the Grenfell Tower Fire in 2017, of course, safe buildings have explicitly and consciously been a key priority for every member of our staff.

Building and fire safety: Preparing for new legislation Read More »

Decarbonising social homes is an urgent necessity, says a new report. The lower energy bills and decent living conditions that zero-carbon work delivers are as vital for tenants as progress towards the government’s zero-carbon targets to halt climate change. ‘Decarbonising Social Housing: Lessons from the ALMO sector’ is published today by the NFA which represents the managers of more than 300,000 social homes in England.

Housing can’t wait: why social home decarb is urgently needed Read More »

Housing First and early work to prevent homelessness have become key strategies for NFA members who help their parent councils deliver their duties to the homeless.
The fact is that few other types of housing provider work on so many disparate front lines, and the wraparound quality of NFA members’ work really came to the fore during the pandemic. Their often ground-breaking work has continued as we all grapple with the cost of living crisis.
On World Homeless Day, we showcase the frontline homelessness work of three NFA members in Derby, Wolverhampton and the London Borough of Barnet.

Getting everyone in: World Homeless Day 2022 Read More »

What causes poor mental health? As we now struggle with a cost of living crisis alongside the post-pandemic mental health crisis, that question has never been more relevant. People who work in housing also know that mental health is determined by much more than an individual’s resilience; it’s a structural issue driven by how wider social, financial and cultural factors affect each individual, their family and their community.

Mental health is a housing issue Read More »

Bidding for Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund pilot grants opened in late August 2020 and closed barely eight weeks later, a nail-biting deadline for housing providers. NFA member Northampton Partnership Homes got a successful bid in by the skin of its teeth, but sustainability manager Paul Tucker tells the NFA he believes the fund is a disrupter that can change the way we think about retrofitting homes to meet 2050 zero carbon goals.

SHDF and whole-house retrofit: A carrot that really can cut the carb Read More »