- Andium Homes is a States-owned company that acts independently to look after the Islands housing portfolio.
- Previously the Housing Department had responsibility for the administration of Jerseys social rented accommodation, affordable housing and accommodation for older Islanders, but Andium was given oversight of these area last year.
- The company manages more than 4,500 properties and provides accommodation for more than 10,000 Islanders.
- They have embarked upon a major drive to bring all States-owned housing up to the nationally recognised decent homes standard and are also creating hundreds of new homes at sites across the Island.
The Planning Applications Committee had been due to consider Andium Homes’ plans to demolish and rebuild La Collette low-rise flats today (THURS), but the group has announced it will not be looking at the project.
The news comes just days after Deputy Russell Labey lodged a proposition calling on Treasury Minister Alan Maclean, who acts on behalf of the States as the sole guarantor of Andium, to ask the company to propose new plans that include the retention of the green space where the site meets Green Street.
Deputy Labey, who is a member of the committee, which decides some planning applications under delegated powers from the minister, and also represents the area, had previously successfully petitioned the States to save the green space.
However despite that proposition being narrowly approved, Andium Homes, which is responsible for the States stock of social housing, re-submitted proposals which still included the loss of green space.
Deputy Labey’s latest proposition is not due to be debated until December.
- 75 per cent of States-owned homes meet the Decent Homes standard
- The waiting list on the affordable housing gateway, which monitors those who need accommodation, currently exceeds 1,200
- The company works to help more than 10,000 people
- 1 July 2014 the date that Andium began operating
- 4,500 the number of homes for which Andium provides landlord services
Ian Gallichan, Andium’s chief executive, said: ‘We are disappointed by this further delay.
‘Our regeneration plans and discussions with the Planning Department have been going on since 2009 and throughout we have studiously followed the planning process.
‘Of course our biggest disappointment is for the residents of La Collette, and those other people in need of a home. Regrettably, their wait continues.’
St Mary Constable Juliette Gallichan, the chairman of the Planning Applications Committee, said: ‘We’ve decided to defer as we are taking legal advice.
‘The panel decided it needed some more information before going ahead.
‘We really hope to determine the application at the next sitting.
‘The parties involved need matters drawn to a close.
‘But the panel needs to make sure it has all the information it requires, which is why we have deferred.’
Mrs Gallichan would not say what legal advice the panel was seeking.
This week the Planning Department confirmed that Andium’s application would not be considered today but could come back before the panel at the next sitting on Thursday 10 December.
MORE checks will be carried out on the repairs made by contractors on social-rented houses following the introduction of a £780,000 IT system.
Ian Gallichan, Andium Homes’ chief operating officer, said that the new system would free up staff and that they would spend less time on paperwork and more on visiting estates.
It is envisaged that the system, which will result in the loss of three posts at Andium, will be introduced in the next 18 months.
Mr Gallichan made the statement as he gave evidence to the Public Accounts Committee earlier this month, which is due to report its findings from the hearing to the States later this year.
Last July the States transferred their 4,500 units of social housing to Andium Homes. The company is owned by and accountable to the States but has greater operational and financial freedom than the States’ Housing Department.
Mr Gallichan told the committee that Andium Homes was ‘in the Dark Ages when it comes to IT’ but that the new system would improve efficiency.
Asked whether the system would result in staff having to be retrained in other areas, Mr Gallichan said: ‘Some will be redirected to other things and some will leave and we will not replace them. Andium Homes needs to keep its numbers in check and, where it can, reduce them.’
The company is currently working to bring homes up to the UK government’s ‘decent homes’ standard, which specifies that all social housing should be in a reasonable state of repair, adequately insulated and with modern kitchens, bathrooms and boilers.
Andium Homes spends £2.4 million annually on emergency repairs and £6.3 million a year on planned maintenance.
The panel heard that although Andium inspects the ‘high-value’ repairs, it does not check all the work, relying instead on feedback from the tenants. Mr Hamon said: ‘We don’t inspect enough, to be honest. That’s why we want to change the emphasis so that we are out and about making sure the job is being done and that our clients are happy.’
He added that Andium Homes had dismissed contractors whom it felt were not meeting certain standards, and that it had added ‘an element of competitiveness’ by rewarding contractors who have performed well with extra work.
