Housing Hits!

Here's a small selection of recession-busting good-news stories from the Manchester housing world . . . bricks-and-mortar proof of a buzzing city!

Apprentice - your hired!

An award-winning housing partnership is helping local people open doors to the world of work.

Renaissance - a partnership between not-for-profit landlord Adactus Housing Association, Lovells the builders, and private funding bodies - was chosen by tenants and the Council in 2007 to manage and renovate council estates in Miles Platting and to transform the area. It has just won a top national award for improving local communities.

As well as improving homes, facilities and the environment, their Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is building a stronger community by offering employment and training opportunities for local people.

Life-changing

A life-changing apprenticeship scheme is opening doors into the construction industry. The scheme was one of the conditions we set when we agreed the PFI. In spite of the economic downturn, it's been a huge success, with 18 apprentices signed up in its first year-and-a-half.

The picture (top right) shows one of the apprentices with the award from the Homes and Communities Agency.

The apprentices combine on-the-job training with learning sessions at specialist colleges. Some of them are the first in their family to have a job for three generations. It's all helping to build a brighter future for Miles Platting people.

Find out more about the Miles Platting PFI.

Smart homes mean sense of community

Miles Platting isn't the first area to take the PFI road to regneration. Around 1,000 City Council homes around Plymouth Grove and Stockport Road in Ardwick switched to the 'Grove Village' scheme in 2003.

Council tenants' homes have been upgraded so they share high-spec features, and a modern architectural style, with the smart new properties for sale in the area .

It's all working incredibly well. People who live there tell us they're delighted with their new homes. The change to the estate is dramatic. New kitchens, bathrooms and windows, new roofs, rewiring, decoration and significant structural repairs have brought 660 council homes well beyond the government's Decent Homes standard.

High quality

Over 400 demolitions freed-up space for lots of high quality new homes for sale. The fact that the council-owned homes and the new homes for sale share a similar look and style is one reason for the good sense of community here, says the chair of the local resident association, Dave Tomlinson.

"This scheme has bred neighbourliness and continuity," he points out. "Local people haven't had to move out as the neighbourhood improves. People who've lived here for many years feel safer, and have a renewed sense of pride in their community."

Find out more about the Grove Village scheme.

Warmer, greener, cheaper

The green agenda has really moved centre stage in Manchester. We have joined the Climate Change Call to Action, with its challenging target for cutting carbon emissions by one-third by 2020.

And for almost a decade our special housing energy group has been helping Manchester people make small changes to their homes and lives to make a big difference to the energy they use and the money they save.

In Manchester 34% of households are likely to experience fuel poverty; they'll either put up with a cold, uncomfortable home, or heat their home and get into debt because of it. That's 11% higher than the national average.

"It's hard to believe people should still have to go into debt or sacrifice basic necessities to heat their home," says Alison Hartley, Principal Energy Manager. "So we use a range of resources, knowledge and skills to help more people live 'healthy, safe and warm'".

Cut-price energy efficiency

Our Warm Homes scheme, and the government's Warm Front scheme, have provided cut-price energy-efficiency measures for over 21,000 homes around the city.

Last year we installed ten kilometres of draught-proofing, and insulated 2,238 lofts - that's enough insulation to reach the top of the Beetham tower in town, with the CIS building on top! We've put in enough radiator panels to cover five Olympic swimming pools, saved enough harmful C02 to fill 805 hot air balloons; and saved the average household £135 in fuel bills!

Our special eco-house in Miles Platting is kitted out with the latest energy-saving products. Come and see first-hand the energy efficiency measures that could work in your own home.

Find out more about energy efficiency.

Mediation moves on

Manchester's groundbreaking mediation services has been solving neighbour disputes and stopping conflicts spiralling out of control for many years.

Giving free, expert advice to individual neighbours is still our bread-and-butter - but we have now expanded to offer other top-notch services:

• We use 'community conferencing' to tackle large-scale, whole-street disputes, with input from agencies like street wardens, police, youth workers, social services, and ward co-ordinators.
• Our 'private renting' mediators work with landlords and tenants to solve their disputes, and can help people who live near a problem-property.
• We now offer free mediation in schools too, helping teachers, pupils and parents settle disagreements - about a child's education needs, or about behavioual or academic issues.
• We can even help if you have a problem with a work colleague, or you're in dispute about responsibilities, working practices or communication.

Our mediators work in pairs to improve communication and open dialogue. They visit each party to get the facts, listen without taking sides, look at ways of solving problems and help find an agreement everyone can live with.

And it pays off: 79% of neighbours still enjoy their peaceful solution when we follow them up months later.

See if mediation could help you, or find out how to become a volunteer mediator yourself. See Mediation Services.

Pack up your debt troubles

A new twist on good old-fashioned debt advice is preventing hundreds of tenants and homeowners from losing the roof over their heads.

The economic downturn means there's more danger of people losing their homes - because they haven't paid the rent, or not kept up with the mortgage. So our debt advisers have stepped up their efforts to stop a tide of tenants-in-trouble and mortgage defaulters becoming homeless.

Debt advice enquiries to the council are up 40% in a year. Because housing debt is the number one priority, we now offer a drop-in advice and representation service in the courts to help victims of the 200-a-month eviction warrants. Last year we took on 525 new complex cases - 42% up on the same period last year.

Self-help

But among this vital work to help people in crisis, we mustn't neglect those with lower levels of debt.

So a new self-help debt advice pack will help more people manage their own finances. "It takes you through the basics, in plain language and easy steps," explains Sean Finnegan of Manchester Advice. "It can help you draw up a personal budget: income, expenses, priority debts, money for credit debts and so on. There are letters to get creditors to hold off action, restructure debts or accept new payment terms; and leaflets on budgeting, and dealing with debt."

It's a great example of the helping hand we can offer Manchester people to get through the economic downturn in the best possible financial shape.

Go to the Manchester Advice Kit website for lots of credit-crunch beating tips - including an online version of the debt advice pack. Or see how to get your own copy by contacting Manchester Advice.