Renegade housing association Irwell Valley has kissed and made up with the National Housing Federation.
Irwell Valley left the NHF in early 2001 after a disagreement over a perceived "southern bias" of the organisation and its "limited support" for Irwell's work to promote a Gold Service Initiative.

These differences have been resolved and the registered social landlord will rejoin on 1 April.

The timing will mean Irwell Valley misses having to pay its share of the £700,000 bill for the NHF's image revamp. All other members have paid a 15% levy on top of their subscription fees.

Irwell Valley's board met on Monday night to discuss rejoining the federation, but chief executive Tom Manion denied the issue of paying for the rebranding had been discussed at that meeting.

However, he said he was eager to share his knowledge of the perception of the sector that he had encountered during the two years Irwell Valley spent outside the NHF.

"One of the first issues the sector should address is the name 'social housing'," he said. "You might as well substitute 'social' for 'loser' in the eyes of young people looking for a career."

Source

Housing Today