Housing groups told to raise their game

Housing associations must radically improve their performance and
provide more neighbourhood services or they will fail their
communities, the National Housing Federation has warned.

Chief executive Jim Coulter told a conference in London last week
that the sector had individual successes. But he added: “If we
don’t start succeeding as a sector we will be damned as a
sector.”

He said: “We need to rise and meet the aspirations of whole
neighbourhoods – young families, older people, key workers. How we
achieve this is what we’re faced with today.”

The federation will launch a project, In Business for
Neighbourhoods, at its annual conference in September. This will
look at how associations can expand their role from house builders
to providers of other services, such as education.