HouseMark support Welsh Rugby
HouseMark has made a significant contribution to the Welsh Rugby team of the future. Our Welsh Manager, Lisa King, gave birth to a bouncing potential prop forward on the 22nd January 2010. Mother and Caidyn ‘Cai’ Thomas are both doing well. Remember where you heard the name first!
During Lisa’s maternity leave, her role is being undertaken by HouseMark Associate Consultants:
- Anne Delaney tel: 07799 476566 anne.delaney@housemark.co.uk
- Alan Crowder tel: 07711 855715 alan.crowder@housemark.co.uk
Customer services
HouseMark now has 860 members across the UK, including over 40 in Wales. We are making a concerted effort this year to ensure our Welsh customers get the best value out of HouseMark products, by carrying out a programme of customer ‘relaunches’, showcasing the whole range of our services. Successful visits have already been made to North Wales and Pembrokeshire Housing Associations. One customer said:
‘We didn’t know HouseMark offered such a range of tools that will improve the service we provide for our customers.’
If you are a HouseMark customer and would like a visit from our team, please contact Alan Crowder.
HouseMark Cymru News
HouseMark Cymru News remains one of the first places our customers go to keep abreast of the rapidly changing housing scene in Wales. The weekly newsletter is e-mailed to all of our customers’ staff, and a unique feature is that, unlike many other housing publications, it uses a ‘country filter’ to ensure that information and publications of particular relevance to Wales are prioritised.
HouseMark knowledge and good practice
Make sure your services keep up to date with fast-changing developments in practice in Wales and beyond. HouseMark’s members have access to an unrivalled online collection of up to date good practice information, and our database is being added to constantly. Members can make use of our telephone and email practice enquiry service, and can participate in our online good practice forum, which is now the prime discussion forum for housing professionals across the UK.
HouseMark and PSOW
The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has now signed up to Ombudsman Says, a project run by HouseMark to make Ombudsman housing case digests available online. Case digests for Wales are now available on the Ombudsman Says site.
HouseMark benchmarking services
The changing approach to housing association regulation in Wales gives associations much greater responsibility for self assessment and for providing robust evidence of their own performance. HouseMark believes that benchmarking is a key ingredient in self assessment for both housing associations and local authorities. Our benchmarking services include business overview benchmarking, which provides essential information to help analyse and control costs, and a range of specialist benchmarking services.
HouseMark Events
HouseMark runs a range of events for practitioners throughout the year:
- the next Performance Improvement Club meeting will be held on 10 May in Llandrindod Wells, and will focus on Estate Services
- a Learning Event on self assessment and citizen centred services will be held on 12 May in Cardiff
HouseMark Consultancy Services
HouseMark consultancy services are aimed at improving social landlords’ performance in a rapidly changing environment. We offer a variety of specific services, as well as bespoke solutions to meet the particular needs of individual organisations.
We’d like to wish the very best of luck to Newydd tenants we have been working with, who have been short listed for ‘Tenant Empowerment Team of the Year’ at the 2010 Housing Heroes Awards on 14 May!
HouseMark publications
HouseMark issues a wide range of publications to support practitioners. Recent publications include:
- ‘Regulation Watch Wales 2’ – an up-to-date outline of the most recent changes in the field of housing association regulation in Wales
- ‘Delivering Quality in Housing Related Support’ – based on a study undertaken with Cymorth Cymru
- ’Sustainable procurement in an economic downturn’ – views from the social housing sector and stakeholders in Wales
Further information on our publications can be found on www.housemark.co.uk
Visit HouseMark on Stand No. 50 at Tai!
We will be demonstrating the whole range of HouseMark products, and you will also have the chance of winning a state of the art digital camera simply by leaving your business card!
Anne Delaney will also be giving the HouseMark perspective as a speaker at the conference session on ‘Single Domain Regulation’, and will be available throughout Tai to answer any questions about how HouseMark can help organisations in the changing regulatory environment.