Press

'> PR related enquiries

Contact Joe McLoughlin on 07939 825 164 or e-mail joe.mcloughlin@home-connections.co.uk

Links to online articles featuring Home Connections

Read “Housing Employment Connections” (Harrogate CIH Conference Report 2009)

Read “A Job well done” (Inside Housing 12 December 2008)

Read “Second life: Clicks and Mortar” (Daily Telegraph 20 October 2007)

Read “Choice can build community bridges” by Emily Twinch (Inside Housing 1 December 2006)

Read “Accessible Housing Contract Awarded” (Inside Housing 7 April 2006)

Read “Capital’s landlords to form choice-based lettings firm” (Inside Housing 14 January 2005)

Press Releases

Home Connections forges job links for Choice Based Lettings

Home Connections has been commissioned by the Greater London Authority to run an innovative project to develop the linkages between choice based lettings (CBL) with employment opportunities and services. The project is called the Housing Employment Connections project (HECs) and it will run for 8 months and is supported by several local authorities, housing associations and specialist employment providers across London.

The project will seek to introduce and integrate employment information and services to existing and potential social tenants when they bid (apply) for properties in London.

“Home Connections is excited about forging links between CBL and jobs. We want to transform the culture of housing lettings services from one of dependency to empowerment” said Chief Executive of Home Connections Ninesh Muthiah.“We’re looking forward to working with our partners on this project to create a new dynamic between employment services and CBL opportunities” he adds.

The practice and functionality developed in this project may be incorporated into existing CBL schemes and any future pan London choice based lettings and mobility scheme. Cambridge University will be involved in monitoring and evaluating the outcomes from the project.

London has the highest proportion of adults in England outside the formal labour market. Within the capital there is a growing link between worklessness and housing tenure: almost two thirds of all workless households in London now occupy social rented accommodation. Just over 50 per cent of all social renting working age households are not in work, compared with 19 per cent of private renters and seven per cent of owner-occupiers.

Home Connections awarded Capital Moves Phase 1

Home Connections awarded contract to develop pilot Accessible Housing Register for London

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has awarded a contract to develop the first phase of the London Accessible Housing Register (AHR). The Register will form a key part of Capital Moves – the scheme to deliver pan-London choice based lettings and mobility – giving Londoners with disabilities better information on accessible housing in the Capital. Details will be announced tomorrow at the Mayor’s annual Disability Capital Conference at the Novotel Hotel in Hammersmith.Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said`As part of the Capital Moves partnership I am committed to increasing opportunities for Londoners to make choices about where they want to live. The Register will deliver the aims of my London Plan and the London Housing Strategy to ensure that these choices are as real for disabled people as other groups. `Disabled home seekers in London can look forward to being far better informed about their choices and to a more consistent approach to accessing housing in the Capital.‘Trish Pashley, Chief Executive of Greater London Action on Disability, said `There is a desperate shortage of accessible housing in London and we receive a regular stream of phone calls from disabled people living in unsuitable homes. We are delighted that the London Accessible Housing Register has now been commissioned. There is still a long way to go to make sure that disabled people get the same housing choices as non-disabled people but we hope that this project will be a catalyst for a culture change amongst housing providers in London.’

The winning bid to develop the AHR is led by Home Connections, with a team of experts in choice based lettings and mobility, AHRs and the social model of disability.

Home Connections wins Top European Award

Read “Home Connections wins Top European Award”. Home Connections won the European Telecities Award for “re-engineering local authority services”. Home Connections was the holder of this prestigious award until October 2004. Also read the Deloitte press release “e-Citizenship for all” that discusses the award and the context in more detail.