Kate Russell - Trust's Corporate Services Director collecting the award

The Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust has been named as one of the Times Best Companies Accreditation ‘Ones to Watch’ 2012.

The Trust, a not-for-profit Registered Social Landlord providing affordable homes in Aylesbury Vale, was assessed through the Times Best Companies’ unique employee evaluation, which identifies workplace performance and best practice according to eight key factors relating to employee satisfaction.

Kate Russell, Corporate Services Director at the Trust, says: “We are extremely proud to achieve this accreditation, particularly as our staff played a huge part in it. It provides a true reflection of how our employees feel about the business, recognises our commitment to our people, and gives us the opportunity to make the Trust an even better place to work.

Our results have increased year on year, particularly in four areas – My manager, My Team, Giving something back, and Wellbeing. We have also identified areas which we need to focus our efforts to get performance levels where we want them to be throughout the business. We are definitely moving in the right direction towards our goal of being an employer of choice.

We pride ourselves on the great working environment we have created, our staff training and development programme, and our Health and Wellbeing scheme, which encourages employees to consider their health and wellbeing as a priority to which we offer a number of benefits to aid them in achieving this.

The Trust firmly believes that employees who are happy and engaged in their place of work, are much more productive and provide a greater service, which is critical to our business growth and success.

We are delighted to have achieved the accreditation for the second time and we look forward to building on and improving these results in the future.”

From Monday 13^th February to Friday 16^th March 2012, the Aylesbury Vale Community Safety Partnership will be seeking the views of local residents and businesses on crime and anti-social behaviour to help set the priorities for the forthcoming year. The Partnership would like to find out what types of crimes are of concern and has put together a short questionnaire to complete on line or on paper.

Crime has reduced in Aylesbury Vale by approximately 16% in the last year. The Partnership wants to continue reducing offences and build an even safer district and is keen to hear the views of local people.  Feedback from the consultation will be used to develop a plan for the year ahead to help tackle crime and disorder across the Vale.

Councillor Pam Pearce, Cabinet member for Community Matters said, “Aylesbury Vale is already a safe place and crime is on the decline.  However, the Partnership is working to make it even safer and we need the input of residents to help us achieve this aim”.

The questionnaire is available here: www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/haveyoursay. Alternatively, if you prefer, a paper questionnaire and pre-paid reply envelope is available from the AVDC community safety team on 01296 585014

Kate Russell, Director of Corporate Services

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has confirmed that the Trust is one of their champions for change for the South Eastern region. The Trust takes this significant role along with Thrive Homes of Watford.

Housing Associations like the Trust, are regulated by the Tenant Services Authority (TSA), but this will cease on 31 March 2012. Since the defining moment at the CIH conference 2010, when new Housing Minister Grant Shapps stated ‘the TSA* is toast’, change has been inevitable for the sector. Following research by the CIH and published in their report ‘Tomorrow’s World Today’, it has become obvious that there is both a need and an appetite for change to come from within the sector itself. Forward thinking organisations like the Trust are now taking the lead amid the ever-present challenges of growing housing lists and changes to finance and governance.

Kate Russell, Director of Corporate Services at the Trust said ‘I am delighted that the CIH has recognised the Trust, along with Thrive Homes, as an organisation that is progressive and influential. We may have delivered on our offer promises, but we do not stop there.

‘Housing associations are playing an increasingly key role in developing and maintaining cohesive communities, and yet the environment in which we operate is in a state of flux. Our governance has changed entirely, and funding resources are dwindling, while the demand for and pressure on housing is not.

‘We will be embracing our role as regional change ambassadors and look forward to stimulating debate and ultimately action with our peers on how to improve corporate effectiveness. This will benefit not only our own residents in the Vale, but those across the South East of England’.

There will now be a walkabout in Soulbury on Tuesday 3 July, starting at 9.30am. See schedule page for more details.

Residents are always welcome to join us on walkabouts. You may also download the results of the most recent walkabouts from your area here.

Dean, who was instrumental in launching the Trust’s first ever apprenticeship programme in 2011, explains: ‘I can confidently say that my apprenticeship has played a part in getting me to where I am today.

‘I was an apprentice in carpentry and joinery. I chose the apprenticeship route because it was important to me to get into a professional trade, and do something that I really got a lot out of. Plus I also wanted to start earning money!

‘Applying what I learnt in college directly into the workplace, whilst learning new skills on the job, gave me a solid foundation to progress up the career ladder at a faster rate.’

As a significant local employer the Trust is keen to improve both school to work transitions and youth employment prospects within Buckinghamshire. As such last year the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust took on apprentices in plumbing, carpentry and electrical installation for the first time – and have plans to launch another apprenticeship programme later this year. This will be in a different area of the business and details will be announced on our website www.vaht.co.uk.

Dean continues: ‘We want to have a positive impact on the local community, and give individuals a good opportunity to kick start their careers in professions that offer skills for life.

‘In the current climate, where not only youth unemployment is at an all time high but university fees are making young people look very seriously at their career options, we recognise the importance of apprenticeships as a viable career route – that is why we are giving our support to National Apprenticeship Week.’

Click here for Dean Gill’s full career profile showing his journey from apprentice to director.

In this issue:

• Important news of the Rent Rise in April 2012
• Furnished Tenancies
• Affordable Rents Explained
• Warm Home Discount Scheme

Click here for the January edition

Five key local charities are £1,000 better off, thanks to Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust’s 5th anniversary celebrations. Florence Nightingale Hospice Trust, Stoke Mandeville Hospital Neonatal Unit, Young Carers Bucks, Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust and Aylesbury Homeless Action Group were each presented with their donation at a special reception at Fairfax House.

As part of a programme of 5th anniversary events, ’5-for-5′ invited employees at the Trust to nominate local charities that they thought should benefit from one of 5 donations of £1,000 each. The team came up with an amazing 22 worthy causes, and so a round of voting was held to carry out the difficult task of reducing the list to just five.

The employees who had originally nominated each of the final selection were called on to make the presentations, and were able to find out more about how the money would help each organisation.

Matthew Applegate, Chief Executive of the Trust, said ‘We decided that we wanted to give gifts for our anniversary, to organisations that, like the Trust, are committed to strengthening communities and improving lives.

‘The team come up with a fantastic list of local charities doing invaluable work. What is more, many of the employees nominated organisations that they had first hand experience of, either at a volunteer, or because they had benefitted from the support or service that charity provides, and knew personally how important their work is’.

Pictured are:

Back row, l-r Lindsey Fealey, FN Hospice Charity; Lynne de Looze, Young Carers; Rachel Hunter, Chiltern Air Ambulance; Karen Warner and Sylvia Brown, AHAG.

Front row, l-r: Trust employees Rick Smith, Julie O’Rourke, Kim Crook, Liz Hardy and Richard Midgley

The Background

The Coalition Government announced a series of cost saving plans in the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) – a Treasury-led process that allocates resources, based on the Government’s priorities, across all government departments.

The affordable housing budget, which housing associations use to build new homes, has been drastically reduced by approximately 48% – from £8.4 billion to £4.4 billion. The Government are looking to create 150,000 new properties on this budget over the next four years, through the Affordable Rents programme, to address the affordable homes shortage in England.

If the Trust, along with other housing associations want to continue building new homes, then higher rents have to be charged on some properties in order to fund them. The Government have announced that rents on new tenancies will be charged at 80% of local private market rents.

The Affordable Rent Programme

The Affordable Rents Programme will enable housing associations to offer individuals who are not able to afford adequate housing in the private market with an alternative to Social Rent.

The key differences between Affordable Rent and Social Rent are: 

Flexible Tenancies

The programme will offer shorter tenancies, which are a fixed term tenancy rather than a tenancy for life. The Trust will be offering a fixed term tenancy of six years, at a rate of up to 80% of local market rents on a selected number of properties.

The proposal is intended to make the housing system faster and more flexible allowing individuals on the waiting list and in overcrowded conditions, to be housed more quickly.

Who are they for?

The Flexible Tenancies will only be offered to new tenants only on a fixed-term tenancy. Existing tenants will not be affected, and will continue to have tenancies for life.

As an existing tenant, what happens if I need to move?

If you need to move, and the home you wish to move to is an Affordable Rent property, you will need to give up your tenancy for life. The same applies if you transfer to a different housing association.

When will flexible tenancies be introduced?

Changes are likely to come into effect from January 2012.

For more details on Flexible Tenancies click here or for further information please contact the Neighbourhood Services team on 01296 732600.