A Manifesto for Change

health Wealth & wellbeing A manifesto for change through housing

OUR

future

direction

Over the last 12 months, we have been doing a lot of thinking. Thinking about our purpose as a housing organisation. Thinking about our role as a home maker. Thinking about our relationship with the people we serve.

We’ve talked with our customers about their needs, with our staff about their experiences, and with our partners about their objectives. We’ve analysed new government policies, debated them with politicians at a local and national level, and discussed their implications for our future strategic direction.

We have been a landlord based organisation that carried out as much development as we could. That approach won’t work any more: it won’t solve the housing bottleneck. It won’t help all those who need our care and support. And it won’t work for the next generation.

We have also had to consider the economic environment within which we work and our customers live. Benefits are being cut. The cost of living is rising. The best way we can support our customers is by helping them into work, so they can become more independent.

Historically social housing has not shown its value to the rest of the public sector, nor the economy. We believe that our housing can help people into work and save the NHS money. It can also help education and reduce crime, but our focus will be on health and jobs.

So we’ve made some decisions about our future direction. Central to these is our commitment to helping those in greatest need, but recognising that the supply of housing will never keep up with demand, and that the solutions to our housing problems must come from using our homes more effectively. In practice this means supporting more residents into work, and out of social housing, so we can help more vulnerable people.

This needs a co-ordinated series of policies to work. We’ll use our financial strength to guarantee low rents and reduce the disincentives of the poverty trap. We’ll give new tenants fixed term tenancies, alongside expert employment support and advice. We’ll develop innovative home ownership and private rented opportunities, and start to unblock the housing bottleneck. If people are old or vulnerable, they will still get a lifetime tenancy. Our existing tenants will not be affected.

Health, wealth & wellbeing A manifesto for change 2012–2015

If 20% of our future residents can move on after five years, we will more than double the number of people we can help each year. Our direction is clear: promoting the health, wealth and wellbeing of our residents, and working for the next generation.

1

One third of our residents are out of work. We want to support them so they can change this.

We want to support them to become more independent, to be more fulfilled and wealthier even in small ways. We have the expertise within our own employment agency. We know it works.

We’ve helped hundreds of people get back to work, so they can move on with their lives. Now we want to support even more people to get back to work – and save the government money at the same time.

We will support 1,000 people to get back to work in three years

2

We will save the NHS over £3 million every year

The NHS needs to save £20 billion over five years. How are we going to play our part?

First, by working with GPs and hospitals to provide home-based services that take the strain off expensive health facilities. And secondly, by promoting health initiatives among our residents, so that their health improves, and they don’t have to visit their GP or be admitted to hospital in the first place. We hope that £3 million a year will be just a start. We believe stronger relationships between health and housing could save much more.

3

We will guarantee low rents for families for the next five years

For families, times are tough. Work is difficult to find. Bills are always going up. And housing is expensive. We want to support families: so we’re going to guarantee them a low rent for the first five years of their tenancy with us. And while they’re our tenants, we’ll support them with training for work, with local community projects and with activities for their children. So they can move on with their lives.

Many of our tenants want to move out of their homes. Many are thinking about buying a home. For most of them, however, the reality is they can’t afford to move. We’re going to develop a new range of home ownership models so that more people can buy their own homes.

And as they buy where they live or move on, so other people – with more vulnerable needs – will be able to move in and have a new home.

4

We will enable 500 existing tenants to buy a new home in three years

We know that not everyone we support or care for will ever be able to move out of social housing. So we will give them a lifetime tenancy, and use our financial strength, to provide them with the highest possible quality of care and support, so they can be healthy, independent and happy. We are committed to those in greatest need and we will use our finances to pilot projects from which we can all learn.

We will invest ÂŁ5 million into our care and support services in three years

Above all, of course, we will continue to be a good landlord.

We know that’s the foundation of everything we do, and what matters most to our tenants. The reality, though, is that we have to change the way we work. Overleaf, we set out some of the ways that this might work: with two types of tenancy, one of which would involve five year, fixed tenancies underpinned by employment support and advice. And on the final page, we highlight a new home ownership model, that could enable more people to be able to afford to buy their own home.

Two types of tenancy Fixed tenancies

General needs tenants under 55 years old, and families with children

Young people aged 16-25

How a fixed tenancy might work Five year fixed tenancy finishes

Five year fixed tenancy starts

Year 1 assessment

Low rent

Move on

Tenant provided with advice about how to move on to other suitable accommodation

Fixed term tenancy

Tenancy renewed for five years at low rent if, for example, tenant in low paid work or still out of work

Home ownership options

General needs tenants over 55

Following an initial assessment, we will develop a tailored support plan, supporting them into work and off benefits.

This might include: employment support;

Disabled tenants

a volunteering placement;

Tenants in sheltered schemes

Tenants in residential care

Affordable rent A home that meets their long-term needs

Lifetime tenancy

If circumstances have changed, for example, tenant now has support needs

specialist training using our links with other agencies;

training courses; one-to-one careers advice; signposting to other services.

Enhanced services

Tenant helped to move on to home ownership through range of home ownership schemes

Year 4 review

Employment support and advice

Lifetime tenancies

Home ownership

Tenancy not renewed

Tenancy may not be renewed if, for example, a breach of tenancy or failure to take reasonable steps to obtain work or training

A new shared ownership model (based on a house valued at £240,000)

For the first five years after purchase Rent = £0.00

Mortgage = £132.00*

Family Mosaic charges the tenant no weekly rent for the unsold equity of the home

The tenant pays about £132.00 per week to a mortgage company, to support the purchase of half the house

Year 6 onwards Rent = £50.00

Mortgage = £132.00*

Family Mosaic charges the tenant a weekly rent of 2% of the unsold equity

The tenant continues to pay about £132.00 per week to a mortgage company

With this new shared ownership model, for the first five years the tenant enjoys a five year rent holiday: in this example it would be worth £12,000 (or the equivalent of a 10% deposit for a mortgage of £120,000). With the £120,000 paid to us, we can build a home to be let on a social rent.

For further information contact Joanna Birch: T 020 7089 1046 M 07960 821 007 E Joanna.Birch@familymosaic.co.uk

Credits Edited and designed by Matthew Grenier, Andrew Kingham * - based on mortgages available online, subject to approval 21-07-12