The General Election is only a few weeks away
and the media would have us believe the one thing on people's minds
at the moment is whether or not there is going to be a Leaders'
Debate. Having spent a fair amount of my spare time knocking on
doors recently I can't say I've come across much - or to be
honest any - evidence of this. But there is one thing people
do talk about a lot, and that is housing.
For many, being able to afford to put a roof over their
families' heads, or even find a home at all is a real worry. After
years of regarding council housing with suspicion the two main
parties have gradually come to the conclusion that Local
Authorities have an important role to play in providing homes and,
far from being the problem, are very much part of the solution.
ARCH was quick to react to this change and, throughout last
year, we have held regular meetings with the National Federation of
ALMOs to discuss ways the stock retained sector can work more
closely together. This culminated in our joint Housing Manifesto
which was launched at a successful House of Commons reception in
February.
On a purely practical level many of our members are keen to
start building but, not having done so for nearly thirty years,
find they lack the expertise - so we ran a number of well attended
seminars covering self-build and how to set up council owned
housing companies. Sharing knowledge and best practice among
members is a cornerstone of the ARCH philosophy and we will be
running a regular series of topical seminars throughout the country
over the coming months.
If there are any subjects you would like to learn more about, or
are have expertise you are willing to share, do please get in
touch.
Thank you for your continued membership of ARCH. This is very
much your organisation and the Board are always keen to hear your
views, and we look forward to meeting you at one of our events.