Congratulations to Nottingham City Homes who were winners in not just one but three categories at the UK Housing Awards 2018 back in May, picking up shiny glass trophies for Innovation of the Year, Outstanding Approach to Tenant Involvement and the prestigious Landlord of the Year.  

Known as ‘the Oscars of the housing world’ the UKHA recognises excellence in the sector at its annual awards evening in London.  Pictured are NCH’s Nick Murphy, Leanne Hoban and Emily Braham with their haul.  Read more about NCH’s successful night here.

Are you a landlord or agent of a private rented property in Nottingham?  Nottingham City Council’s Selective Licensing will come into force on 1st August 2018 which will mean landlords in most areas of the city will have to obtain a license for each property they rent out to ensure it meets safety and quality standards.

A license will last up to 5 years and one license will be required for each private rented property. Landlords and property managers (person receiving the rent) need to apply for a license.  For more information and to apply for a licence visit the city council's Selective Licensing webpages.

Two documents that will help shape the direction of housing in the city over the next few years have been published; Nottingham City Council’s housing strategy and Nottingham City Homes’ Corporate Plan.

The city’s new housing strategy ‘Quality Homes for All’ sets out a vision for housing in Nottingham in which everyone can enjoy a good quality home regardless of tenure and landlord, and is supported by 5 key themes.  

Nottingham City Homes’ Corporate Plan continues NCH’s longstanding vision to ‘create homes and places where people want to live’.  NCH has developed five goals for the lifetime of the Plan reflecting its ambition to be the best social housing organisation in the UK.  

The National Housing Federation visited NCH’s new Lenton Green development and delivered a workshop in Nottingham earlier this week as part of its Great Places programme.

The initiative shows what makes a ‘great place’ and how housing organisations can play a key role in area regeneration.  The NHF’s Ruth Davison, says: “We’re visiting places from across the county with an enquiring, open mind…only people who live in communities understand the kind of value that’s there already, the assets that are there already – historical, cultural or whatever.”  The Lenton Green development is pictured.

Nottingham Community Housing Association doesn’t just provide affordable housing for its tenants – it helps them prepare them for employment too! 

Recognising that housing is just one part of enabling people to live better lives, the housing association offers help through projects such as Workwise which includes employability coaching, career planning and support into volunteer placements and apprenticeships.  This new project was recently spotlighted through NCHA’s Employability Day celebrations – read more here.

Two housing associations with homes in Nottingham are in talks about merging their organisations later this year.  Hanover and Anchor both specialise in older person’s housing and care and could become the Anchor Hanover Group, making it the largest  provider of specialist housing care for older people in England. 

Hanover’s webpage explains more about the benefits of the proposed merger and what it means for its residents. 

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The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 placed new homelessness assistance duties upon local authorities from April this year, but did you know some named public bodies will also have to play their part?  Prisons, hospitals, job centres and others will have a Duty to Refer service users who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to their Local Housing Authority. 

Earlier this year Nottingham City Council delivered several HRA briefing sessions to help its local partners and agencies prepare for the new legislation.  Although these have concluded the Duty to Refer will not apply until 1st October 2018 so there is still time to prepare for it if it applies to you.  Learn more about the new duty in the government's DTR factsheet.

An A4 ‘key points’ summary of the HRA produced by the city council can be downloaded here.

Could your organisation’s CEO give up their bed for one night for charity?  The CEO Sleepout is back for another year; in Nottingham taking place at Meadow Lane on 11th October. 

Raising vital funds for local charities Emmanuel House, The Friary and Notts County Football in the Community, heads of Nottingham organisations are being challenged to give up their creature comforts and sleep outdoors for one night to experience this hardship faced by many people who don’t have a bed for the night.  Click here to sign up and see who’s already committed.

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LA Flex in Nottingham is a scheme new this year aimed at those vulnerable to cold and on low incomes.  PRS tenants and owner occupiers can get financial help with their property’s energy efficiency measures including electric heating upgrades, gas boiler replacements and cavity wall and loft insulation if their household contains a tenant meeting vulnerable to cold health criteria* and meets the household income threshold to the right. 

The scheme is growing fast with 160 applications received by the council’s Housing Strategy team to date. Contact Paul Flowers for more details: paul.flowers@nottinghamcity.gov.uk 0115 876 3537.

 *mental health conditions, physical disability, 65 years and over, young children (0 – 5 years), pregnant women, respiratory conditions (eg childhood asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) or cardiovascular conditions

Energy bills can take up a large part of household expenditure, for some households this can be over 10%. Nottingham City Council and local partners are writing a fuel poverty strategy to further work to tackle energy bills across the city.

To help shape the strategy and ensure the right areas get the right focus we need the help of our citizens: tell us your views on energy bills,  affordability and efficiency by taking our energy survey. But be quick – the survey closes on Friday 20th July.   Call 0115 876 3437 for a paper copy.

Nottingham saw local progress with Fuel Poverty in government (DBEIS) figures released in June using Low Income High Cost indicators.  Nationally Fuel Poverty was up 0.1% to 11.1% (of all households) on the previous year but Nottingham’s figures fell 1.2% to 14.6% of households. 

After having the highest level of Fuel Poverty in 2015/16 of all Core Cities Nottingham now has a lower level of than Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham and only Bristol saw a greater reduction than Nottingham.  See how each of the city’s wards performed here

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The latest UK House Price Index figures show good year on year growth to April 2018 across all property types except flats, where growth  slowed to 2.6%.  Compared with the figures reported in our Spring newsletter (which used Feb 2018 figures) prices across all property types have however fallen slightly.

At 5.0% year on year price growth in the city across all property types remained stronger than both the UK (3.9%) and East Midlands (4.8%) although was lower than that seen in the county (6.4%).  Compared with other key cities Nottingham's house price growth is excellent - the city ranking 5th highest in Hometrack's 20 Cities House Price Index in May 2018.

Nottingham remains a comparatively affordable city with average house prices  being only 60% of the UK average (UKHPI)

According to Hometrack data median rents in Nottingham had stagnated since early 2017.  However, while June 2018 saw a slight fall in rents for 1 bed properties, it also saw a rise for 2 bed (up £5 from £132pw) and 3 bed properties (up £5 from £150pw)

The rise could indicate heightened demand for houses rather than flats, and may also be showing the first signs of landlords raising rents to cope with the impact of various PRS policy changes that are affecting  profit margins.

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