Home Connections CEO shortlisted as ‘Inspirational Leader of the Year’
We are excited to announce that our CEO, Ninesh Muthiah, has been shortlisted for the Housing Heroes Awards 2019, which is jointly organised by Inside Housing and the Chartered Institute of Housing. Ninesh is one of the finalists in the Inspirational Leader of the Year category.
Ninesh established Home Connections nearly 20 years ago and since then he has led the development and expansion of the company. Possessing in-depth knowledge of Social Housing Issues, Information Technology, Social Services and Social Enterprise on a European level, his expertise helped to shape Home Connections as a European Award winning customer-focused service with an emphasis on access for vulnerable home seekers.
The Housing Heroes Awards showcase the people who help housing organisations do the vital work they do. The ‘Inspirational leader of the year’ award recognises an individual capable of truly inspiring others through their leadership, who leads by example and produces the best results by getting the best out of the people they work with.
To see the full lists of the finalists, click here.
New Homefinder UK's project supports domestic abuse survivors relocate to safer areas
We are excited to announce that Homefinder UK, the national mobility scheme delivered by Home Connections, launched a brand new project to help domestic abuse survivors find new homes and start a new life in a safer environment: the Revive project. Supported with a grant from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's (MHLCG’s) Fund for Domestic Abuse Services, Revive works alongside many different agencies, including specialist Domestic Abuse organisations, such as DAHA (Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance) and Women’s Aid.
Ninesh Muthiah, Home Connections’ CEO says: “Currently, survivors of domestic abuse compete against other high priority groups seeking affordable social housing. Revive will provide a brand-new and faster route to safe and secure social housing".
Through Homefinder UK's extensive national network, Revive can access immediately available social housing properties for rapid relocation of domestic abuse survivors. Over recent years, more than 400 households have been rehoused into permanent social housing nationwide, with some of those being domestic abuse survivors. "We have a proven model with an established national network of social housing organisations keen and willing to help”, Ninesh adds.
Brenda Fraser, the project manager for this new project, explains that Revive will go beyond providing a safer home for domestic abuse survivors. "Increased financial stability, strong support networks, awareness from cross-sector professionals and most importantly the belief that domestic abuse survivors can live free from violence will be at the forefront of scheme’s case management services", she says.
According to Women’s Aid 2018 report, domestic abuse accounts for around one in ten of all homeless applications. Meanwhile, waiting times for social housing for families across local authorities in England and Wales can range from between 3 and 10 years.
To find out more about how a partnership with Homefinder UK can benefit your organisation and your tenants, contact our team on 0207 619 9705 or email landlords@homefinderuk.org. For more information about the new Revive project, click here.
Join Home Connections at the Housing Festival in Glasgow
The biggest housing event in Scotland will return to Glasgow on the 12th and 13th of March. Bringing you expert keynotes, top-level debate, hands-on knowledge, innovation and focused on the biggest issues in the housing sector today, the Housing Festival will provide something that suits everyone from the sector.
Home Connections is excited to participate in this event once more, so join us & Homefinder UK at the stand 35 to learn about Rapid Rehousing Transition Plans, the best housing solutions on the market and relocation options in the UK.
Scotland's Housing Festival 2019
When: 12th & 13th March 2019
Where: Scottish Event Campus Ltd (SEC), Glasgow, Scotland, G3 8YW
This event has now ended
Revive Launch
Visit our stand 35 to also find out how we can better support victims of domestic abuse through the new Homefinder UK's project: Revive. This new project will focus on helping domestic abuse survivors find new homes and start a new life in a safer environment. Supported with a grant from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's (MHLCG’s) Fund for Domestic Abuse Services, the Revive project is proud to be working alongside many different agencies, including specialist Domestic Abuse organisations, such as DAHA (Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance) and Women’s Aid. In addition, Homefinder UK have also partnered with organisations such as the National Probation Service, ACCM UK, and attended MARAC (Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences).
Hope, the Homelessness Reduction / Case Management software to be launched in Scotland
Our Home Connections Scottish User Group will be returning to Glasgow on the 10th of December and you are invited for the launch of hope system and its brand new app in Scotland!
This fully configurable case management system is ready to support Scottish local authorities and Housing Associations to assess homelessness cases, record and provide advice as well as accommodation options. At this seminar, you will have as well the opportunity to hear from Trans Union on Fraud Detection, a speaker from the Netherlands on the Circular Economy and much more!
Date & Time: Monday, 10th December 2018, 12:30 – 16:30
Location: Wheatley House, 25 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, G1 1H
Confirmed speakers:
* hope, the Homelessness Reduction / Case Management software launch - Kam Basra, Home Connections Operations Director
* Fraud Detection - James Underhill, from Trans Union (Call Credit), on how can a simple addition to your current system help to tackle Identity Fraud.
* Circular Economy - Vincent Gruis, from TU Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, on Circular Economy.
* House Exchange - Find out how House Exchange’s latest developments are delivering successful outcomes for both landlords and their tenants.
* Homefinder UK - with properties all over Scotland, this national mobility scheme is a dedicated case management service designed to reduce homelessness in your borough.
Join Home Connections at Europe’s largest housing conference
June is here, so is Europe's largest housing conference. Organised by the Chartered Institute of Housing, Housing 2018 will happen between 26th and 28th June in Manchester Central, and it is set to be the biggest yet. Home Connections, as the most innovative software house and social enterprise, wouldn’t miss it!
Win an Amazon Echo at stand G25
We have an Amazon echo, an Amazon Echo dot and high street vouchers to give away over the 3 days of the Housing 2018 conference. See us at stand G25 and get a unique 'Combination Code'. Will you have one of the winning Codes to open the safe?
Home Connections specialises in delivering housing needs software including choice based lettings, housing options wizards, housing registrations, homelessness case management and much more. We offer full integration to all third-party systems. We are an innovative boutique housing solutions provider behind Homefinder UK - the only national housing mobility scheme in the UK which advertises immediately available social housing and offers 'Case Management' services to help house applicants nationwide.
If you haven't registered yet to participate in the Housing 2018 conference, you can still reserve your spot!
The Ultimate Housing Roadshow
With housing being on the forefront of most conversations, it is important now more than ever to look into all options available to innovate, simplify and support the ever-increasing workload of all housing staff.
With that in mind, Home Connections, House Exchange and Homefinder UK have gotten together to produce The Ultimate Housing Roadshow. Starting in East Midlands, then following in Scotland, this event will focus on mobility across social housing sector, house swapping and various housing software including HOPE, the Homelessness Reduction Act software.
Glasgow – 8th of May 2018 - book here
Leicester – 17th of May 2018 - book here
London – 26th of September 2018 - book here
The Ultimate Housing Product Bundles you will get to see and examine at our upcoming roadshow:
1, Comprehensive Social Housing Relocation Options: Homefinder UK and House Exchange.
2, Are you HRA-Ready? HOPE software & Homefinder UK (with built-in Mutual Exchange)
3, Local Authority setup: Choice Based Lettings/Housing Register
4, Digital by Default: Smartphone Apps/Online E-Forms/Websites/Integration across all platforms
5, Go the extra mile: Housing First & Fraud Detection
Sign up to receive updates.
Book your free tickets today. Complimentary lunch included!
Scotland’s Housing Festival
Edinburgh will host, between 27th and 28th of February 2018, one of the largest housing conferences in Scotland, and Home Connections wouldn't miss it! Join us on stand 44 to find out more about our pioneering housing solutions.
- Homefinder UK
- Choice Based Lettings (CBL)
- Housing Register
- Fraud Detection
- Accessible Housing Registers
- Housing Options
- Mutual Exchange
- Data Integration
- Web design & hosting
- Smartphone Apps
- Housing First
If you’re not attending CIH this year, please get in touch to find out more: office@home-connections.co.uk
Software offers HOPE to the homeless
A borough council is good to go with a new case management system pitched as easing administration of the Homelessness Reduction Act.
A borough council in Leicestershire will be the first English local authority to go live with HOPE, the Homeless Reduction Act (HRAct) software from Home Connections. The new case management software adopted by Oadby & Wigston Borough Council – and being readied to launch next month – is pitched as the future for easing administration, communications and reporting for local authorities in England and Wales.
The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 is the biggest change in homelessness legislation since the 1977 Act was introduced. It proposes new duties such as the duty to provide advice and assistance, extended homelessness prevention to 56 days, new reporting requirements and much more. Local authorities will need to change their current working practices and deploy additional resources.
With that in mind, Home Connections has developed a fully configurable case management system with built in assessment and recording tools to help provide advice as well as accommodation options. Home Connections is a boutique software house developed as a not for profit service provider for the social housing sector owned and controlled by local authorities and housing associations with a brief to provide ‘best of breed’ technology and consultancy.
HOPE is aimed to ease the everyday tasks of housing officers from initial review, through assessment, personal housing planning and securing accommodation or closing cases. Applicants can apply and manage their application online.
Home Connections’ national mobility scheme, Homefinder UK can also be supplied as part of the system to offer actual housing options for applicants wanting to move across borough boundaries.
Steve Nash, housing services manager at Oadby & Wigston Borough Council and CIH Member said: “We are really excited to be working with Home Connections to deliver HOPE. “It is important to us to be prepared in advance of April 2018 for the increased pressure that this new legislation will place on our workload. “The act will change the way we prevent and relieve homelessness and so, we need to change the way we work and that will not happen overnight. “HOPE will be ready to go live in September, allowing us plenty of time to prepare for successful implementation of the act in April 2018.”
http://www.24housing.co.uk/news/software-offers-hope-to-the-homeless/
Fraud Detection – Why prevention is better than cure
Home Connections has partnered with Call Credit Information Group to offer anti-fraud identification checks and tenancy fraud searches. Using an applicant’s name, date of birth and current address, the carefully tailored package will return a set of data that will flag up any suspicious activity at the very point of application.
Home Connections is a boutique housing solutions provider that specializes in delivering housing services and software to the public sector. Home Connections has a suite of prevention, assessment and homelessness recording tools and is behind the pioneering housing mobility scheme called Homefinder UK and the largest local authority lettings scheme in the UK – The Mayor of London’s Housing Moves scheme.
Home Connections has been at forefront of innovative housing software for 15 years and so it didn’t come as surprise when they decided to tackle social housing fraud by offering integration of tenancy checks at the point of application. Using their national mobility scheme to develop and test the fraud checking software into application form, they are now able to offer the latest innovation, which can be built into online application forms, CBL and other software, to local authorities and housing associations.
Batch testing of current housing register applicants or existing tenants with a more complex product to trace tenancy fraud is now also available. Marina, Home Connections’s Project Manager says: “One Local Authority with a stock of 13,000 properties used the information from the service and recovered 30 properties in the first year, and 27 the following year.
Discuss and share your opinion on the new Identity Verification product at a free seminar on 19th of April 2017 at 12pm at Islington Council. Hear from Stephanie Toghill, Housing Investigations Manager at Camden Council, who will provide an update on Local Authority initiatives into tackling housing fraud.
Claim your free ticket for this seminar here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fraud-detection-why-prevention-is-better-than-cure-tickets-32654246731
2017 Home Connections HRA Conference Educates Delegates on Navigating Change
Over eighty housing professionals convened at the National Union of Teachers in central London on 2nd November to hear from the Act’s sponsor, Bob Blackman, MP and explore how the Homelessness Reduction Act will impact the nation and local housing services.
The annual conference marking Home Connections’ 15th Anniversary brought together global leaders, key stakeholders and like-minded professionals across the housing sector to give them the momentum they need to strategically navigate the challenges of today’s most significant social housing reform. Primarily focusing on how to best leverage new opportunities to benefit those struggling with the detrimental effects of homelessness.
Bob Blackman MP, sponsor of the Homelessness Reduction Act, delivered the keynote speech, which highlighted the HRA’s significance stating it is the longest, most substantial and well funded Private Member’s Bill in UK history. Mr Blackman said: My legislation is as much about a culture change in councils, away from crisis response, towards prevention strategies and early intervention, as is it is about long term savings. I believe frontline staff want to work to help people who are at risk of homelessness or who are already suffering and I want to empower them to feel able to do everything possible, rather than to find themselves rationing services. It’s also about ensuring that public organisations, like NHS hospitals or prisons, have a duty to refer someone as well when someone is either homeless or being released into a situation where homelessness is likely. This is a great chance for councils to innovate and make a real difference to people’s lives.”
The full-day conference taught attendees how to navigate the complex HRA roadmap to legal compliance by using cutting-edge HOPE software, utilizing H-CLIC , and risk mitigation techniques. The forum featured 5 speeches from key influencers, 4 interactive workshops, panel discussions, and unveiled fascinating new research designed to illuminate the public’s attitude toward homelessness, housing and mobility.
Based on the thought-provoking 2017 UK Attitudes to Housing, Homelessness and Mobility study debated at the conference, 58% of 2,077 UK adults felt there was not a significant amount of sustainable housing being built and a nearly 6 in ten people believed the private rental sector should be utilized for social housing tenants suffering from the housing shortage.
Global homelessness expert and chief executive officer of Y-Foundation, Juha Kaakinen, explained how Finland systematically cured it’s housing crisis using the Housing First Model. Making Finland the only country in the EU not facing a serious homelessness quandary.
Juha explained: ‘Even without any further pilots, experiments or evaluations we know that Housing First is working, but you can get the real benefits of it only if it is implemented as a national policy. Homelessness can be ended, but only permanent housing is a sustainable solution which means that the existing hostel and shelter system for temporary accommodation has to be radically changed. Ending homelessness requires an unforeseen collaboration and partnership of the organizations working in the field. And finally, it goes without saying that affordable social housing is the best solution both for the prevention and ending of homelessness.’
Key housing influencers demonstrated how to best to rise to the challenges posed by the HRA. Ninesh Muthiah, CEO of Home Connections revealed that the cutting-edge HOPE software will play a pivotal role in facilitating local government’s allocation of social housing. Shadow Housing Minister, Melanie Onn MP shared her inspirational personal account of overcoming homelessness and Guardian columnist, Dawn Foster shed light on the severity Britain’s current social housing landscape.
Muthiah said: “This conference was an essential signpost for anyone involved in reducing homelessness. Delegates from the highest levels in the housing sector joined front line teams to learn more how to implement this complex and potentially life-changing piece of legislation. I am proud that we are playing our part to help local authorities to navigate the Act and providing low cost software solutions which will smooth the way for caseload work”.