Industry news Big merger of London housing associations announced
Notting Hill Housing and Genesis have announced they are in merger talks to create a 64,000 home social landlord and one of the largest housing associations in the country. They claim the new organisation, to be
called Notting Hill Genesis, will be the largest provider of shared ownership homes in the country once the merger is completed early next year. Kate Davies, chief executive of Notting Hill, has
been named chief executive designate, with Dipesh J. Shah, current chair of Genesis, appointed as the chair designate. A spokesman decribed the deal as “a merger of equals”. The two associations have combined reserves of
£3.1bn and loan facilities of £3.5bn, with a turnover of about £700m and a net surplus of more than £120m. Together they aim to deliver 2,700 new homes every year, 400 more than they would build separately. A planned merger between Genesis and
Thames Valley Housing was cancelled last year when the latter pulled out, citing differences of views over future merger deals. Ms Davies said: “Bringing together two housing
associations with similar backgrounds, shared values and a strong social purpose will allow us to
provide more of the homes London needs, for those who most need them. “This is an exciting challenge for all of us and
I’m very much looking forward to leading this new organisation, which has the will and resources to be even more innovative, ambitious and influential together than we could separately.”
Mr Hadden said: “I have always believed there
should be more consolidation within the sector so that our capacity can be utilised better to provide more homes and improved services for our customers. To that end, this merger makes complete sense and I am pleased to have been involved in getting it off the ground.”
New DFG portal offers speedy solution to home adaptations
A new portal designed to speed up the approval and installation of home adaptations that allows vulnerable people to live independently in their own homes, has been launched by a national body. The DFG Tenders – Home Adaptation Portal
uses an advanced customer relationship management platform to bring home adaptation surveyors and local builders together to speed up the process and reduce costs. It significantly reduces the time taken from the
award of a disabled facilities grant (DFG) by local councils to the work being carried out. Some 40,000 people a year receive a DFG to pay for a wide range of adaptations, from ramps and stairlifts to wet floor rooms and extensions. The figure is set to rise to 85,000 by the end of the decade following an increase in Government funding to £500m in 2019/20. Foundations is the national body for England’s
200 home improvement agencies (HIAs) and handypersons services. It has completed a pilot phase of the portal with 20 HIAs and it is now fully operational. DFGs are awarded by local authorities and are predominantly delivered by home improvement agencies based in local authorities, housing associations or run as standalone charities.
INDEPENDENT HIAs and handyperson service providers are local organisations dedicated to helping older
people, people with disabilities and vulnerable people to live in safety and with dignity in their own homes. Services are focused on ensuring existing
housing is fit for purpose and vulnerable people are able to continue living independently as long as possible. The online portal is free for both local
authorities and HIAs and allows them to add customers to the system who want to apply for a DFG. For the first time, surveyors will be able to award projects by price, speed of delivery and – in time – client satisfaction. The average time taken from assessment
to completion of works is 34 weeks and the portal immediately cuts that by four weeks. But it will reduce the duration even further by bringing greater efficiency to the process and freeing up time for surveyors to handle more DFG projects. The prototype was first developed by
Foundations’ director Paul Smith while he was working at Cannock Chase District Council, when it won a Home Improvements Innovations and Achievement Award. Mr Smith said: “We know that in many areas of
the country, there are complaints about the amount of time it takes to process DFG applications. A speedy adaptation can be the difference between living independently at home in a safe environment and hospitalisation.
ADAPTATIONS “Launching this portal on a national basis has long been a personal ambition. I know it will bring greater clarity to the process for clients, surveyors and local builders.” Research published last year by Foundations
found those who have had adaptations and later move into care do so some four years later than those who have not had adaptations carried out via a DFG.
HOW THE PORTAL WORKS: 1. Schedule of standard works items is produced for standard adaptations 2. Local builders submit prices for each item 3. Surveyor inputs quantities for each job 4. System generates instant quote from every contractor
5. Surveyor chooses successful quote, creating instant email to contractor
6. Contractor goes out & completes job and can take photos of the work and upload them to the portal for the surveyor to view
A video has been produced that describes how
the DFG Tenders – Home Adaptation Portal works:
http://foundations.uk.com/about- us/procurement-services. For more information about the portal or to
sign up contact Paul Smith:
pauls@foundations.uk.com
www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMM September 2017 | 19
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