CHIC CHAT

News From the Sector

Former housing and community’s secretary James Brokenshire has launched measures to tackle the negative portrayal of social housing and help end the segregation of residents, with aims for a stronger sense of belonging and encourage social interaction in communities.

With only 8% of social renters being unemployed out of the 4.1m social homes in the UK, is it about time that the misinterpretation of social renters changed and the positive impact they have on their communities to be the main headline.

In other news

Children Commissioner’s Bleak Houses report revealed some concerning facts about the current state of family homelessness in the UK. There are currently 62,000 homeless families living in temporary accommodation in England with 124,000 children, 80% more than in 2010.

Further investment into house building, a formal target to reduce the number of children in temporary accommodation and the requirement to inspect the quality of accommodation before administering accommodation for new families are amongst the suggestions made to tackle the crisis.

From April 2021, and until its end in March 2023, Help to Buy equity loans will only be available to first-time buyers. There is the possibility this could be extended as the new secretary of state reviews its potential.

NHF launches final Great Places Commission Report. Some key highlights from the report include a proposal for the government to develop an ambitious new national regeneration strategy, mandatory good design standards to be implemented for all new developments and to provide local authorities with a sustainable future funding settlement, so they can rebuild their capacity and skills. Click Here to read the full report.

A recent campaign by Age UK and Habinteg Housing calls for better accessibility standards in new homes. 6.5m people are currently living with mobility problems in the UK with 1.2m wheelchair users in England. Only 7% of England’s housing stock provides basic features of accessibility and with an ageing population, this may prove quite problematic for housing providers in the coming years.

The Future of Fire Doors

Following months of speculation and uncertainty, the fire door industry is once again on the move. This CPD accredited workshop hosted by CHIC's supplier Nationwide Windows & Doors in association with industry leading organisations, aims to update anyone involved in social housing specification and commissioning of fire doors, it will explain the latest facts, including the new CE legislation which comes into effect from November 2019, as well as showing the latest solutions available for compliance.

What will delegates gain from the day?

• Earn continuous professional development credits (CPD)
• Get an overview of the Composite fire door market since Grenfell (June 2017) through to today
• Understand the current status of the Composite fire door market and the minimum requirements to supply
• Get the latest updates and guidance as issued by MHCLG, Element (BMTrada/ Warrington Fire) in an easy to understand format
• An Overview of the requirements specific to composite fire doors as detailed within governments ‘Building a safer future implementation plan’ & the CDM Regulations
• Learn about the requirements of CE Marking and its effect on the external fire door market.

The day will be relaxed with plenty of opportunity for questions and debate with an expert panel. The session will take place in Rugby on the 19th of September from 9:30am to 3pm and refreshments will be provided.

During the day you will hear from the industry leading organisations;

• Association Composite Door Manufacturers (ACDM)
• Fire Door Systems (FDS)
• Element (BMTrada/ Warrington Fire)
• Nationwide Windows & Doors

To book your free place, please contact Curtis Coulson at ccoulson@chicltd.co.uk

News from the Supply Chain

George Boyd is a part of Saint Gobain, one of the World’s Largest Building distribution organisations, covering the whole of the UK. Established for more than 150 years, George Boyd is a specialist part of the organisation for commercial doorsets, including fire doorsets and ironmongery in timber or steel. They offer solutions to help refurbishment and new build.

George Boyd have a list of qualified and approved installation solutions to help with fitting, making it easy to use. Their values denote ethical behaviours in context of Fire Safety and the Grenfell Enquiry, best practice, the Hackitt Report, MHCLG notifications and chain of custody, FSC and PEFC with Industry expertise.

“Rest assured, if you are looking at which way to turn for compliance and Fire Door Programme’s, we can help.The issues are replicated across the UK, voids, planned, new build, what to use, delays, delivery issues etc., it’s not straightforward. However, time is of the essence and the Industry is likely to be busy and will get busier from September.”

Chris Brockwell

Business Development Manager

George Boyd are completely transparent. They are open on what they do and can present all the detail you need to make qualified and informed decisions on your Fire Door or Ironmongery requirements. They offer reports and certification from FD30 onwards, dual tested, primary, CE Marked, including Front Entrance Doorsets, Riser Doors, communal doors, bin chutes, etc.

To find out more, please visit their website at: https://www.saint-gobain.co.uk/ or,

Download their Commercial Doorset Brochure

For future meetings help or assistance call the UK team and in the first instance, Chris Brockwell on 07889 408 560.

What's Happening at CHIC?

CHIC is undergoing many new projects during 2019 /20, one of them being a complete revamp of our website to help explain our services. We want to give you the opportunity to showcase some of the amazing outcomes that your organisations achieve, so we ask that if you have any people-orientated multimedia that you wish to showcase, send it over to us at ccoulson@chicltd.co.uk.

More News at CHIC…

Following the success of our Phase 1 planned procurement resulting in 40 new suppliers being appointed, we are progressing with Phase 2 of our new Building Works Framework procurement, covering the supply of a broad range of internal and external building works for use in the housing and related construction sectors.

Please see the link to bid: https://www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-Birmingham:-Construction-work./AR9G6B7Q8Z

Other notable outcomes this year include 13 new jobs created for people with restricted opportunities and 191 new homes being built through our frameworks. If you missed out on the launch of our annual report at CHIC Conference back in June, you can download it HERE.

With that in mind, we are pleased to announce that our annual CHIC Conference will be taking place on Wednesday 10th June 2020 at Sixways Stadium! As it will be our 10th anniversary, we’re going to do something special next year, so hold the date and keep your eyes peeled on our social media @CHICltd.

ARK Academy

ARK has established an excellent reputation for providing innovative training and personal development solutions tailored to the needs of their client.

The ARK Academy brings together lots of expertise to provide a portfolio of training solutions to assist organisations to develop their people, enhance individual and organisational performance and support career progression.

Utilising the skills and expertise of their housing professionals they have also developed a range of workshops and seminars providing a wide range of training from asset and housing management, through to regeneration and new build, financial advisory services, governance and procurement.

ARK’s training programmes are designed to be engaging, challenging, creative and fun. Our non-traditional learning techniques make delegates think differently about how to approach work and leave delegates motivated, energised and inspired.

UPCOMING TRAINING PROGRAMMES

If your organisation is a CHIC member, you are eligible for unrestricted access to the early bird rate discount.

Mental Health Champion – 9th October 2019
Success under stress – 6th November 2019
Coaching your teams to high performance – 26th November 2019
Time isn’t just seconds, minutes and hours, it’s a commodity – 4th December 2019

If you would like more information on ARK Academy, or to discuss bespoke training for your organisation, please contact us – academy@arkconsultancy.co.uk.