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| Welcome to North Wales Housing |
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20/11/08 - 15:00 Step One Scheme - The chance to own your own home through Step One – Only 1 property left in Menai Bridge, Ynys Mon. Apply now and you could be moving into your new home in the New Year. Contact M Lynne Williams on 01492 563280 for application form (subject to eligibility). What is Step One? Step One is the Assisted Home Ownership initiative introduced by North Wales Housing Association (NWHA) and based on the Welsh Assembly Government’s HomeBuy Scheme. It aims to help those people in our communities who are unable to buy their own home without additional assistance. With Step One the homebuyer provides 70 per cent of the cost of the property, generally through a mortgage, while NWHA funds the remaining 30 per cent through an ‘equity loan’. The first houses available through this scheme are at Tyddyn Mostyn in Menai Bridge where the Association is providing a small development of twelve houses and two flats. Six houses will be available for purchase with the remainder being for rent. The open market valuation has been assessed at £140,000 which means that potential buyers will need to be able to raise £98,000 (70% of value) through mortgage and capital/ savings. The properties will be allocated on a priority needs basis in that the homes at Tyddyn Mostyn are 3 bedroom 5 person and will be allocated to families with children. If you are interested in purchasing a property through Step One on the Tyddyn Mostyn development, apply now! Application forms are available from Isle of Anglesey County Council, telephone: 01248 752294 or North Wales Housing Association, telephone: 01492 572727. Please return your application form as soon as possible as it is anticipated that we will commence allocations during October/ November with a view to instructing solicitors during November/ December. We anticipate handover of the houses in December 2007/ January 2008. Also you will need to make general mortgage enquiries to find out whether a mortgage can be provided for you and how much you would be able to borrow. It is important you are sure you’ll be comfortable making the mortgage payments on top of your normal household bills. Do not enter into any financial or legal commitments at this stage. For further information regarding the Step One scheme, please click here |
29/07/08 - 15:00 At NWHA’s AGM on 10 July two new members were elected to the Board. Mike Parkin and Peter Gibson are the newcomers, replacing outgoing members Chris Drew and James Sutton. The Association is committed to advertising vacant Board
places in the interests of Mike Parkin is a qualified accountant who is currently Director of Finance and Resources with North Wales Police. He has been vice chair of a large Arms Length Management Organisation in Manchester and previously worked for the Novas Housing Group. Peter Gibson is a solicitor whose last role before retiring was as Director of Tourism and Leisure for Conwy Council. He had previously been Assistant Chief Executive at Clwyd County Council. Amongst a number of voluntary roles that Peter has carried out, he is the Chair of the Trustees of the Welsh Mountain Zoo. In welcoming Mike and Peter, NWHA was sorry to say goodbye to James Sutton and Chris Drew. Both decided to retire from the Board. James made a really useful contribution to the Board over the past two years. Unfortunately other commitments mean that it had become difficult for him to continue. But Chair Helen White paid special tribute to Chris: “We’ll all really miss Chris, who has been a Board member for six years. In particular he has given me great support as Vice Chair over the past three years and our best wishes go with him for the future.” NWHA’s new Vice Chair is Alice Robinson, who is extremely well-known in voluntary sector and local government circles and has the unique distinction of being a founder member of the Association. |
29/07/08 - 13:00pm The Conwy Empty Homes Partnership between North Wales Housing Association and the Strategic Housing Unit of Conwy County Borough Council has launched its Empty Homes Pilot Scheme. The objectives of the Empty Homes Pilot Scheme are: - To return as many long-term empty homes and other appropriate empty
buildings as possible back into residential use. For the first 6 months of the pilot, activities will centre on the area covered by the Baylife Initiative, an urban area in the centre of Colwyn Bay where there is a disproportionately high number of empty dwellings. The Conwy Empty Homes Partnership defines an Empty Home as “a dwelling that has been vacant for more than 6 months that the owner has no viable plans to bring back into occupation.” As at the 1st of April 2008 there were in excess of 1000 Empty Homes in the borough. The Conwy Empty Home Partnership intends to bring Empty Homes back into use in a number of ways: - Advice and Assistance There is robust evidence that Empty Homes are not only damaging to the built environment, but constitute an unused source of affordable housing and in these times of increased financial uncertainty can no longer be an ignored resource. If you:- Own an Empty Home Know of an Empty Home in your area that is causing a nuisance Or would just like more information Please contact David Lowe, Affordable Housing Development Officer on 01492 575983 or 01492 563281 or via email at david.lowe@nwha.org.uk NWHA’s Business Development Director, Phil Danson, is fully behind the scheme and commented “In these times of financial uncertainty it is common sense to make best use of existing resources, we are really pleased to be working jointly on this project with CCBC. It is such a good opportunity to achieve a double win by helping to provide more affordable housing and reduce the potential problems caused by empty properties to other local residents” |
14/04/08
- 12:00pm NWHA is
the first housing association to provide an online forum for all tenants
and Alternatively
just browse the categories to pick up handy tips or to find out what
is going on in your area. The forum has a wide variety of uses from
discussing handy North Wales
Housing Association will be out and about in various estates over There will also be quarterly prizes for the most useful topic started. |
14/04/08
- 10:00am RESIDENTS have been given help to protect themselves from fire related danger. People living in Gerddi’r Morfa, Bryn Awel, Bryn Felin and Cilfan in Conwy and Maes Myrddin in Llanrwst have been given thermostatically controlled deep fat fryers in exchange chip pans, which are known to have caused a high number fires in the county. The fryers were donated by North Wales Housing Association to those most vulnerable to fire risk. John Shepherd, Customer Liaison Manager, said: “Our priority is to ensure the safety of our tenants, and by working side by side with North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, we are ensuring that they know all about how to prevent fires in the home and how to protect themselves if a fire does occur.” Pictured: Members of North Wales Fire Service and North Wales Housing Association who have been helping residents with fire safety. |
30/08/07 - 12:30pm North Wales Housing Association is about to begin a major review of how it manages its maintenance service. The review has been commissioned by the association’s Corporate Management Team and authorised by the association’s Board. The aim of the review is quite simple: “To put in place effective and efficient maintenance arrangements within the association” We will be looking at the whole of the maintenance service including current policies and procedures, repair standards and proposals for new ways of doing things. While the project is underway the opportunity will be taken to make interim changes where possible that will tie in with longer-term improvements. One of the first areas we will be looking at is Better Budgetary Management - which means that we will be scrutinising potential repair expenditure in greater detail from the beginning of September. As part of this we intend to make a few immediate changes, some of which have already been considered and approved by the Board and they include:
Some of the above are not changes but are simply the Consistent Application of Policy in the Tenants Handbook. As part of the project we also intend to carry out a new Stock Condition Survey to assess our maintenance and investment needs. Pending the completion of the survey we will continue to carry out essential repairs on kitchens, bathrooms, windows and fencing, however we will not be replacing these large items unless through a Planned Maintenance scheme. This is so that we can get better value for money for our tenants. Another area we will be looking at is that of Service Charges – for things like grounds maintenance, cleaning of communal areas and windows. We have been in consultation with tenants who pay service charges for some time and we know this is an important area where we can make improvements. Over the next few months we will be considering how best to make the improvements tenants have requested within the resources we have available. I know that you view the maintenance of your home as one of the most important services we provide and I would like to assure you that we are confident that when the review is complete, a better service will be the end product. Over the next few months as new ways of working are tried I would ask for your patience and understanding and I hope that together we can make real improvements. If you would like to know more about what we are doing or would like to make suggestions about ways of improving this key service, please complete and return the enclosed feedback sheet. We will then keep in contact with you and let you know how the review is progressing. Additional information will be posted on the association’s website and we will be updating residents in the next edition of “What’s The Score” Paul Diggory |
12/06/07
- 11:40am Cher Williamson has now joined the Association as the Business Improvement Manager. Gwilym Bury, the previous postholder, is leaving to work for the Wales Audit Office. Cher will be leading the work of the Association on service reviews to identify further ways to improve the performance of the Association. She will also be coordinating the Association’s improvement action plan that was agreed with the Wales Audit Office following their recent successful inspection. Prior to joining the Association, Cher was working in Scotland for Angus Council as their performance manager and has considerable experience of continuous improvement and raising the standards of service delivery. |
07/06/07 - 11:00am Student cash boost for hostel Student Volunteers Bangor raised £300 at a Grease themed night to boost funds at the St Mary’s Homeless Hostel. The hostel has two buildings, one off Love Lane that has eight beds and another behind Boots the Chemists with four beds. Lisa Capper from the hostel said: “We are a direct access hostel which means that theoretically anyone can come in from the streets and can stay for up to three months during which time we’ll try and help them find a home.” |
| 17/04/07 - 11:30am New director for Association’s new era A new director has been appointed at North Wales Housing Association (NWHA) to lead the way as the organisation breaks new ground in terms of providing affordable housing. Phil Danson takes on the newly-created Business Development Director role as NWHA prepares to launch Step One, it’s Assisted Home Ownership initiative based on the Welsh Assembly Government’s HomeBuy Scheme. Phil has spent the last 11 years as Leaseholder Marketing Manager with Clwyd Alyn Housing Association which is part of the Pennaf Housing Group, having previously built-up 16 years experience in the residential and commercial estate agency trade. Married to Ysgol Brynhyfryd teacher Julie, and with four grown-up children, Phil is looking forward to his new role which will see him broaching new ground for the Association. “Part of my previous role involved developing non-grant funding and this is experience which will be useful to NWHA as we move down the road of providing more affordable housing without social housing grant,” said Phil. “This is something to which the Chief Executive and Board of Management at NWHA are very committed and are investing significantly in. A key part of what we do in this area will be through Step One which aims to bring home ownership within the range of people who are not able to afford it without some assistance in the first instance. “It’s all about giving more choice and making affordable housing available to a wider range of people. It will also help to take some of the pressure off social housing rented lists by meeting people’s needs in another way.” A keen mountain biker, Phil added: “In a climate of rising property prices and homelessness, the provision of affordable housing is moving up the agenda and not just at housing associations like ourselves. There are lots of opportunities for organisations to work together to meet society’s housing need and this is an area I’m keen to explore on NWHA’s behalf.” NWHA is based in Llandudno Junction, owning and managing more than 2,100 homes across Conwy, Gwynedd and Anglesey. Its Chief Executive Paul Diggory said he was delighted to welcome Phil to the Association. “This is an exciting point in the Association’s development as we enter a new era in terms of affordable housing provision. We are confident that Phil, as our Business Development Director, will put us on the path to success that will see applicants off housing waiting lists and into fantastic new homes,” he commented. |
| 28/03/07 - 10:00am Inspection thumbs-up North Wales Housing Association (NWHA) has been given the thumbs-up by the Wales Audit Office for the way it operates. The Llandudno Junction based Association which owns and manages more than 2,100 homes across Conwy, Gwynedd and Anglesey, was inspected by the Wales Audit Office in March ’06. In their report on the inspection published today (March 28, 2007) the inspectors recognised that NWHA is securing continuous improvement and raising standards in service delivery. In all eight of the areas considered by the inspection, the Wales Audit Office felt the Association was providing a satisfactory service and they highlighted areas of good practice such as tenants access to information, evaluation of ‘probationary’ tenancies and a robust and effective approach to ‘Best Value’ which has resulted in significant service improvements. Paul Diggory, Chief Executive of NWHA, welcomed the long awaited report. “The inspection report is a fair reflection of our service delivery at the time the audit was carried out last March although, I am pleased to say, we have moved on considerably since then,” he said. “It is very important we are recognised as securing continuous improvement and raising standards in service delivery as it means we are heading in the right direction. “We now need to translate what we have learned from taking part in the inspection process into improved services for our customers. That is our priority as we remain committed to improving services and helping to build decent and inclusive communities.” An action plan was drawn up following the inspection, and is with the Lead Inspector for agreement, to further improve service delivery in certain areas. “We recognise that there will always be opportunities to improve what we do and how we do it. We have taken steps through the action plan to identify these and, for the most part, have already implemented improvements,” added Paul. March
2006 Inspection NWHA
Inspection Response |
North Wales Housing Association is supporting Jordan Bailey North Wales Housing Association is supporting Jordan
Bailey who is about to embark on the trip of a lifetime to build homes
for the homeless from scratch in a ‘mission’ trip to Mexico. Jordon is providing all the funds for the trip himself. He has already proved himself to be a hard worker and has raised more than £400 packing bags in Asda and Somerfield. Paul Diggory, Chief Executive of North Wales Housing Association, was also impressed by Jordan's determination. He said "I saw an article on the front page of the North Wales Pioneer and it immediately caught my imagination that someone of Jordan's age going to such distances to contribute to society in such a way. Obviously I am the Chief Executive of a Housing Association which exists to provide homes for people in need. I felt it was encouraging to see people of Jordan's age wanting to get involved and make a difference to others who are disadvantaged by where they live". Jordan was thrilled by the £200 donation from North Wales Housing Association: "I cant believe it" he said. " I would just like to say thank you". This article was written by Bethany Bennett and first appeared in the newspaper The North Wales Pioneer on 14 February. |
Staff Conference focuses on Customer Service “If they could choose you, would they choose you?” was the question posed to staff at North Wales Housing Association by business guru Geoff Burch. Geoff was speaking at the Association’s annual Staff Conference and said being their tenants’ housing provider of choice should be the goal when it comes to customer service. He pinpointed marketing and controlling customer expectations; attitude and behaviour as being key factors in customer service as is keeping everyone at all levels of an organisation informed and in tune with its ethos and aims so that they can be effective ambassadors. “We show people tiny glimpses of what their job is and not the bigger picture of things. North Wales Housing Association has at its heart some core values. When you understand what they are, you can choose very simply to be either an ambassador or an assassin,” Geoff said. “It is the front line people who make the biggest impact on customers. People will ask the people who threaten them least, like the maintenance guy who comes to fix the sink, and it’s important, if these people are to be ambassadors that they have the knowledge they need to be able to inform people.” Listening to, and acting on, complaints helps to drive customer service forward while controlling behaviour and attitude, particularly when dealing with difficult people, can give you the upper hand. “Complaints are good things to have because they tell you what things you should be doing. It’s not satisfied customers we should be listening to but those who want more,” he explained. “The way we behave, the attitude we adopt, the body language etc, all work towards us being able to take control of situations that previously had been outside our control.” North Wales Housing Association is based in Llandudno Junction and has 2,172 properties across Conwy, Gwynedd and Anglesey. This is the fourth annual Staff Conference they have held, providing the opportunity to focus on the challenges that lie ahead, new initiatives that are underway like a sustainability project and a group exercise looking at ideas that could be used to have a positive impact on the world. Chief Executive Paul Diggory highlighted the steps the Association has in place for tackling the issues of Affordable Housing, Homelessness, an increasing Ageing Society and Respect. He said: “If this year has been about looking inwardly and taking stock of things, next year will be about change and positive action. We need to have a different sort of outlook and be a much more positive, outward facing organisation in ’07 and we have all got to try and capture that.” |
| Housing association’s
office officially opened
North Wales Housing Association’s new office in Bangor has been officially opened by the Leader of Gwynedd Council Councillor Richard Parry-Hughes. The new office in Dean Street is just around the corner from the Association’s previous High Street location and continues its commitment to maintaining a local presence for the convenience of its customers in Gwynedd and Anglesey. Cllr Parry-Hughes and other invited guests were welcomed to the opening ceremony by Helen White, Chair of North Wales Housing Association. She said: “There has been a recent trend for organisations like ourselves to close area offices in favour of becoming more centralised. We have consulted with our customers in Anglesey and Gwynedd. They like being able to come and see us at the same time as doing their shopping but thought the office’s facilities could be improved. “The move to our new offices in Dean Street fulfils both of those requirements. We keep our convenient local office while giving much better facilities to customers and staff alike in terms of more space, private interview areas and a larger front counter.” The Association has 2,172 properties across north-west Wales, 36% of which are located in Gwynedd and Anglesey. It employs 10 people in Bangor providing localised bilingual access to the services it has to offer its residents. |
| New
home for Housing Association in Bangor Customers of North Wales Housing Association are benefiting from improved facilities at their new offices in Bangor. The Association, which has 2,172 properties across north-west Wales, has moved from its previous High Street location into newly-built offices just around the corner in Dean Street. The move is the result of consultation with the Association’s residents in Gwynedd and Ynys Mon which showed that while they appreciated the central location of the office and the bilingual service that the Association’s staff delivered there, they would also like additional facilities. Jude Horsnell, Operational Services Director for North Wales Housing Association said the new offices fit the bill perfectly. “They are centrally located, so easy for residents to get to; bigger, offering more space for our staff as well as private interview facilities and have a larger front counter area so we can serve a number of our customers simultaneously cutting down on waiting time at busier periods,” she explained. “Our old offices were well visited by residents and received a big vote of confidence in terms of their location. We are confident that they will like our new premises, and the more personal, efficient service we are able to deliver there, even more.” North Wales Housing Association has around 10 members of staff based in Bangor providing localised bilingual access to the services it has to offer its residents. “Having a local presence, conveniently located for our tenants is still very important to us. Our aim is to provide our residents in Gwynedd and Ynys Mon with a wide range of services on their doorstep to save them having to contact our head office in Llandudno Junction,” said the Association’s Chief Executive Paul Diggory. “The office move will also enable us to accommodate dedicated maintenance and rent arrears staff at Bangor expanding the localised services still further.” The new offices will be officially opened by the Leader of Gwynedd Council Richard Parry-Hughes and Helen White, Chairman of North Wales Housing Association, on Friday July 21. |
|
| Vice Presidency for local housing
association chief
The head of North Wales Housing Association has been elected Vice President of the professional body for those working in housing. Paul Diggory, Chief Executive of North Wales Housing Association, took over as Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Housing at their annual conference in Harrogate. The appointment means that after a year as Vice President, Paul will take on the President’s mantle for the following 12 months. Paul has been a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing for some 30 years since beginning his career in housing as an estates trainee for Wreekin Council. Since then he has moved through the professional ranks working for Telford Development Corporation, Chester City Council, the former Delyn Borough Council and Conwy County Council before taking on the leading role with North Wales Housing Association in 2000. The Chartered Institute of Housing has more than 19,000 members working in the housing sector for local authorities, housing associations and private companies across the UK and Asia Pacific. Its purpose is to maximise the contribution that housing professionals make to the well being of communities by raising standards, training and education. Paul Diggory said: “I feel honoured to be made Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Housing, an organisation of which I have been proud to be a member at various levels for many years now. “One of the challenges that we face is to show that investment in housing has made a real improvement – not just in people’s homes – but in other areas of their life. I am pleased to have this opportunity to influence the profession, and those outside it, on the value that people in housing can bring to today’s society.” |
| North
Wales Housing Association (NWHA) has elected four new members to its
Board of Management. The election took place at the Association’s Annual General Meeting at the Celtic Royal Hotel, Caernarfon. It follows the resignation of four Board of Management members – Dafydd Ifans, David Scott, Charles Haste and Eric Howe – who between them have served NWHA for 29 years. Association Chair Helen White gave a vote of thanks to the departing members saying “the contribution they have made over the years has been invaluable to the way the association has developed”. The new Board members include NWHA tenants Gerry Davies from Llandudno, a retired self-employed painter and decorator and Chair of the Association’s Parc Clarence Residents’ Association; and Adrian Baugh from Colwyn Bay, a retired businessman with experience in engineering and the building trade. Adrian said he hoped his building and business experience would be a useful contribution to the Association’s Board of Management. “ Also, as a tenant of the Association and able to see things from their point of view, I hope to have a greater understanding than a Board member who is not a tenant,” he added. Also new to the Board are barrister and former Clwyd West MP Gareth Thomas, a Welsh-speaker from Ruthin; and James Sutton from Abergele, Head of Management Information with North Wales Police who has extensive experience of performance management, measurement and strategic business planning. James explained that he was looking forward to the new challenge that joining NWHA gave him. “This is an opportunity to develop and use my skills in a completely brand new area. Housing associations have an important part to play in society and I am keen to ensure that we are delivering a good service,” he commented. |
|
Meeting the housing needs of tomorrow’s elderly Sheltered accommodation has had its day in terms of meeting the housing needs of future elderly generations. Built during the 70s and 80s to funding constraints, small bedsit flats are getting increasingly hard to let as pensioners become more discerning as to their accommodation needs in later life. These were the stark messages delivered by Nigel Appleton, a consultant on older people’s housing issues and former director of Anchor Housing Trust, the UK’s largest provider of accommodation for older people, at North Wales Housing Association’s recent Annual General Meeting at the Celtic Royal Hotel, Caernarfon. Mr Appleton explained that forthcoming retired populations are used to being ‘consumers with rights’ who will be coming at their future housing needs from a different perspective, questioning the standards of facilities and conditions of tenancy. Likely to be homeowners, they may be keen to remain as such and will also want to maintain their lifestyle, independence and control over their lives as they grow older. “Most of us will manage to be pretty independent until the last two years of our lives. We will want the same choices over the common things in life – where we eat, what we eat and with whom, for instance – at 84 as we did when we were younger. Older people also want to maintain control as things change and the ability to access help, that’s relevant to their needs, when they need it. We need to be encouraging people to maintain the capabilities they have, not trying to take them away from them,” warned Mr Appleton. “We have to be more realistic about where we are going with the pattern of housing provision for our elderly. People want somewhere to live, not somewhere to wait to die.” The aim should be to provide flexible, manageable and accessible housing either for rent or shared ownership. There should also be a variety of forms of extra care that can support a lifestyle but have the potential to cope with a range of dependency. “We need the right mix of freedom and security. People want the freedom to be able to go on living their lives, being treated as citizens and engaging in the relationships and activities that make their lives worthwhile while also having the security that as their needs become more pressing, they can be met,” said Mr Appleton. He called on accommodation providers to look at their own housing provision for the elderly from a personal perspective. “Do you aspire to end your days in the settings you provide for your older tenants?” he asked. “If the answer is no, if it is not good enough for you, what on earth makes you think it’s good enough for them?” |
Assisted Home Ownership Scheme North Wales Housing Association (NWHA) is to build a small scheme of houses in Menai Bridge. Six of these homes will be available for purchase through the above Assisted Home Ownership scheme. These houses will be three bedroom semi-detached with off-road parking. With this assisted purchase, you would need to have mortgage/ capital available to you to purchase the property at 70% of its total value. NWHA would provide the remaining 30% in the form of a loan which would be secured against the property by Legal Charge. If you are interested in this scheme, it is suggested that you make general mortgage enquiries in order to establish whether lending facilities are available to you and identify the maximum amount of that you would be able to borrow. It is important that you are satisfied that you would be comfortable with these repayments along with all other household bills etc. Please contact Miss M L Williams on 01492 563280 for application pack. |
Improved services in Gwynedd and Ynys Mon 2006 will see the completion of a new larger office in Dean Street, Bangor to provide an improved locally based service for residents living in Gwynedd and Ynys Mon. As a result of a previous Best Value review on service delivery in Gwynedd and Ynys Mon the Association realised that residents wanted the Bangor office to be able to deal with all their enquiries without having to phone the Association’s office in Llandudno Junction. The new office will have a larger reception area and a spacious private interview room. We will inform you of the details you need nearer the time. As a customer, we hope you’ll find it an improvement. |
New scheme in Llanfairfechan The Association and our partners Conwy Council have been successful in attracting funding for a new “extra care” scheme at Llanfairfechan. The £7 million project will be funded largely from social housing grant through the Welsh Assembly Government and from private borrowing. Work is set to commence in 2008. Chief Executive Paul Diggory said:” Although it is a couple of years before starting on site, it is a really exciting project and the Association is delighted to be working with the Council. It represents a substantial investment for Llanfairfechan and a significant step in delivering the Council’s strategy for older people.” Conwy has more people over 65 than any other county in Wales. Some 11.6% are over 75, compared with a Welsh average of 8.2%. A central theme of Conwy’s strategy is to help older people maintain their independence by ensuring that appropriate care, support and housing are available to meet their needs, and that all services promote independence. The key elements of extra care housing are:
The new scheme will feature residents’ lounges, shop, hairdressing / manicure / pedicure facilities, fitness / physiotherapy room, restaurant / café, laundry and guest bedrooms. There will be a mix of one and two bedroom apartments. The development will be undertaken in two phases and it is expected that the scheme will be fully open by late 2010 |