The gossip column where it never rains but it purrs
Taking stock
Stock transfer took a battering in Wales recently when tenants in Wrexham rejected the idea in the country's second full ballot. But it's not all doom and gloom: when neighbouring Denbighshire council was choosing its preferred option for its stock, dozens of tenants took to the streets to protest in favour of transfer.

Plastic fantastic
Had Wrexham's transfer ballot returned a positive vote, its new housing association would have been setting up home in an old Lego factory. The building will now be used for the council's housing department. Perhaps Lego has been undeservedly overlooked as a "modern method of construction"? A Wrexham-based pilot scheme is called for, methinks.

Gimme, gimme, gimme
Eager to tackle low demand, it appears that Northern regions have been a bit enthusiastic in lodging their bids for extra funding from July's comprehensive funding review. Two groups have submitted separate bids for a total of more than £550m.

First came the Chartered Institute of Housing and National Housing Federation's bid for £350m to deal with low demand via the regional housing boards. It was followed by a separate bid from the three regional housing forums and the Northern Housing Consortium for £200m to do pretty much the same job. It's all about partnership, isn't it?

Strutting and fretting
Tom Manion is a name that frequently crops up in the social housing world, perhaps not least in this august column.

So imagine my surprise to come across it in another context altogether when a leaflet for Hamlet at the Old Vic dropped through my door. The name of the actor playing the murderous uncle Claudius? Why, Tom Mannion. Could it be that the chief executive of Irwell Valley has taken to moonlighting?

Stop crying your heart out
A tenant who breached an injunction against playing loud music 15 minutes after it was granted narrowly escaped being taken into custody last week. Robert Rhodes, a tenant of New Charter, was given a 21-day suspended sentence for playing Oasis songs at full blast. "I remember Don't Look Back in Anger," said one neighbour, "but most of the time it was the sort of records you hear in nightclubs." Sounds like hell.

Partying is such sweet sorrow
Leaving do's – they're the social events everyone is talking about this season. Norman Perry is due to get his send-off from Maple House, headquarters of the Housing Corporation, on 30 March, while Genie Turton will bid farewell to the ODPM on April Fool's Day. As ever, my invitations to these events appear to have been lost in the post, but I'll endeavour to bring you the post-party verdict.

Pressure points

Stressed-out staff at Birmingham council will soon have a shoulder to cry on: the local authority is to appoint a “stressbuster” to come up with a plan for helping staff cope. The news will doubtless go down well in the much-maligned housing department as it races to meet its ambitious target for clearing its backlog of housing repairs. However, the move will have caused consternation in some quarters where the dividing line between stress and pressure isn’t quite so clear cut. According to the council’s current draft policy, pressure should give employees a buzz.

Source

Housing Today