The Trust was formed in 2000 after more than 85% of the prefab tenants and better than 65% of prefab owners voted late in 1999 for the 'comprehensive redevelopment' of the prefab estates in Newport.
The redevelopment requires the demolition and clearance of more than 600 prefabs which are nearly 60 years old and in most cases well beyond economic repair. The scheme concerns the construction of more than 500, state of the art, two bedroom bungalows suitable for elderly people.
Standards are among the highest in the country for mobility, access and security. The project is the largest of its kind in the UK and is the biggest housing based regeneration project in Wales for many decades. To date the project has won national awards for construction quality and consideration to residents in the construction process.
The investment in Newport is over £40 million. Compensation to prefab residents is over £3 million, much of which is reinvested in Newport through the local purchase of goods and services. Each resident receives substantial cash in hand payments of several thousand pounds to recognise the loss of their old home.
The disruption of moving home is very real and the older you are the harder it is. The Trust set out from the beginning to try all reasonable means to minimise the inevitable disruption of redevelopment.
We employ three full time Liaison workers to help arrange all the tasks surrounding moving home; from the packing up and unpacking of possessions if required, the move itself, Telephone services, redirection of post, Gas, electricity and water notifications, change of address cards and all the numerous other minor and major matters associated with changing your address. The comprehensive compensation package is intended to ensure that no resident need be out of pocket in the process.
In addition the Trust has put in place a Tenant Support scheme. Tenants can benefit from general counselling and real support to help them maintain their tenancies and deal with everyday life complications and pressures. Over a third of our tenants benefit from this 'floating support' in their own homes, for between 2 to 6 hours per week. This help and advice is financed from Supporting People Grant provided by the City Council.
Having influence and choice in the selection of a new home is taken for granted by most of the population. The intention of the Trust was to replicate as far as possible that simple freedom for the residents within the prefab redevelopment process. To that end the residents actively participated in the detailed design of the new bungalows and influenced the design team regarding the final look of the estates.
The result, of over a year of intensive work was seven different types of bungalow with some 22,000 choice elements from front door pattern and colour, individual room colour schemes to kitchen and bathroom patterns and tiles.
Carpets and curtains are provided with a choice of some 12 different style and patterns in each case. The outcomes are customised homes unique to the individual resident.
In addition some 28 parameters are considered when allocating planned bungalows to take account of residents expressed preferences; such as the neighbours they want to live near and those that, after 50 years, they would rather not. General issues, such as being near main roads or in quieter closes as well as preferences for larger or smaller gardens are also taken into account. However, it is not possible to give total freedom of plot location.
The Trust is tasked with managing and delivering these choices within the process of the redevelopment. The residents have vigorously stated their wish for the project to proceed as quickly as possible, but with such high levels of choice to balance, time has to be taken if individual preferences and rights are to be properly accounted for.
It is this need to balance the rights of the individual with the rights of the majority that is at the heart of most Trust practices. Conflicts can arise when the Trust is not able to totally satisfy individual resident's requests.
Residents' expectations of what is possible are increased as a consequence of the successful delivery of greater choice. The Trust is able to satisfy nearly all reasonable requests within the constraints of funding and regulation. When we have to say no it is consequently harder for some residents to accept this. There comes a point when the desire of the individual to satisfy their every expectation conflicts with the needs of the majority and the progress of the project. The Trust then has to take a position which is intended to be fair and reasonable but with the best interests of everyone in mind.
Mr Verrinder has made specific comments regarding his personal circumstances which I do not have his permission to discuss in a public forum. However, I can say that The Trust is a Registered Social Landlord bound by strict housing laws and regulated by the Welsh Assembly Government.
The Board of Directors of the Trust, who set policy and manage the affairs of the Trust, is made up of 5 elected Newport City Council members, 5 places are for independent members with special skills drawn from the community and most importantly, 5 tenants members elected by the tenants themselves, they are required to look after the best interests of the residents and ensure the long term viability of the Trust for the benefit of current and future residents.
The Trust is not a 'faceless landlord' nor is it 'remote form its clients' but instead part of and responsive to, the community it serves. Serious decisions to seek to take possession of tenants homes are not taken lightly and not without very careful consideration of the balance of rights by the Board. Considerable communication and correspondence exists between the Trust and Mr Verrinder on a wide variety of topics including that which he comments upon.
In general as a landlord, the Trust cannot take responsibility for the actions of third parties on land it neither owns nor controls. Like every other citizen we have to rely on the law to protect all our rights. Where planning applications are made by others, we rely on the responsible Planning Authority to protect our reasonable rights.
As a landlord we also have a right to expect reasonableness and responsibility from our tenants. Where the expectations of our tenants are unreasonable and conflict with the fair rights of the majority, we are required to take appropriate action or be negligent in looking after the rights of that majority. In this we can come into conflict with individuals and in extremes we are entitled to seek the protection of the law.
At every opportunity we seek to negotiate with residents. The entire redevelopment has been undertaken and over half completed so far, without recourse to legal compulsion. Mr Verrinder's statement shows that the Trust had to initiate legal action in his case. Mr Verrinder has also stated, at a meeting in fact convened by the Trust at his earliest convenience, that the matter was settled by negotiation.
We hope that Mr and Mrs Verrinder find their new bungalow easier to live in than their old prefab and that the day to day running costs are considerably less than that of a prefab. We hope they find the greater internal space, added security and facilities helpful in their daily lives.
The Trust has a policy of permitting transfers on reasonable grounds, some of which are medical related. However, until all the residents currently still living in old, draughty and difficult to maintain prefabs have had their opportunity as a right to enjoy the benefits of a new bungalow, the waiting and transfer lists will remain closed. It is anticipated that the list will be open during 2006.
There are already over 1,000 enquiries recorded to date by interested prospective tenants so we expect the demand for the Trust 'independent living' bungalow communities for the elderly to be high, well into the future. A fitting tribute to the prefabs which served that community so well since the War.
Phil sent this update on 23 March 2005:
Newport Housing Trust is four years old this week.
The first contract to replace the old prefabs with modern, purpose designed bungalows was signed March 27 2001; with the first new bungalow being occupied by an elderly tenant in October of that year. This year (2005) we will sign the last two contracts that will complete the overall scheme.
Looking back on the five years since I joined the project it seems to have flown by. Probably the busiest and most satisfying time in my career in housing. At the public meetings I attended in my first weeks in Newport, residents were understandably sceptical of the prospects for a successful outcome. They had lived with the prospect of having their homes demolished since 1998. The vast majority of them (86%) had voted for the Transfer of their homes to a new, unknown landlord in 1999 and nearly a year later nothing much seemed to have happened.
Comments such as 'I'll believe it when I see it' and 'I'll be dead before you build my bungalow' were common. The residents, the Trust Board of Directors and the small number of new staff had to take a joint leap of faith, rolled their sleeves up and got on with the job.
Now, nearly 400 new bungalows later, the £45m investment in Newport, the largest single social housing regeneration project in Wales for decades has delivered to the city a housing resource for older people unrivalled anywhere in the UK.
The new bungalows are accessible to all, cost far less to run than even the most recently built new house and are full of design point to make living in them easier. It has been estimated that nearly 200 jobs were created as a spin off from the scheme.
Every week we have to turn away would-be purchasers who cannot find anything even remotely similar to suit their needs. Our waiting list of prospective new tenants is already double the number of bungalows we have built.
Most importantly of all, the original community is still together. Many residents say that the spirit is now even stronger. There are regular meetings, activites, outings and group holidays, which did not happen before the scheme began. Residents have become skilled in applying for grants and assistance to improve the community benefits. They run events, cater themed lunches and offer computer training, bearing in mind the average age of Trust residents is 71 and 5% are over 90!
The Trust Board and Residents are now looking to the future and there are a number of new ideas being developed to enhance the benefit of the project to more older people of Newport.
Phil Toms - Newport Housing Trust - March 2005
Read about the history of Newport's prefabs or
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