About us

Management Team

Service Area Responsibilities

Operations

This section describes the responsibilities of the various sections of the Operations division of Homes for Islington and lists their senior managers.

Director of Operations: Doug Goldring

P.A.: Caroline Molloy 020 7527 4954
caroline.molloy@homesforislington.org.uk

Head of Service: Jon Farrant 020 7527 5370
jon.farrant@homesforislington.org.uk

Jon is responsible for the following sections:

• Old Street Area Housing Office
• Highbury House East Team
• Home Ownership Team
• Estate Parking Team
• Estate Maintenance Team

Head of Service: Garry Bates 020 7527 6532
garry.bates@homesforislington.org.uk

Garry is responsible for the following sections:

• Holland Walk Area Housing Office
• Highbury House West Team
• Voids Quality Team
• Income Recovery Team
• Income Control & Former Tenants Team

Head of Service: Jo Knight 020 7527 5390
jo.knight@homesforislington.org.uk

Jo is responsible for the following sections:

• Reception Centres
• Housing Investigations Team
• Transfers Team
• HFI Direct Team
• Out of Hours Anti-social Behaviour Team
• Housing Support Team
• Facilities Team
• Customer Services Team
• Special Projects Team

Area Housing Offices
Housing management services in Islington are mainly delivered by housing teams based in the following area housing offices. These offices provide the following services:

• tenancy and leasehold management
• letting of empty properties
• management of estate services
• management of residential caretaking and estate cleaning services
• housing support, to assist tenants in maintaining their tenancy e.g. income maximisation and claiming welfare rights
• tenant and resident participation through Area Housing Panels and Tenants' Associations
• repair empty properties
• manage anti-social behaviour on our estates

These services are delivered by teams of housing and estates management, customer services and cleaning and caretaking staff.

There are three area offices:

Highbury House East (formerly Upper Street AHO)
David Salenius, Principal Housing Manager 020 7527 6213
Highbury House, 5 Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RN

Highbury House West (formerly Lyon Street AHO)
Andrew March, Principal Housing Manager 020 7527 6249
Highbury House, 5 Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RN

Holland Walk
Seval Halil, Area Manager 020 7527 6815
85-88 Holland Walk, London, N19 3XS

Old Street
Pritpal Chhoker, Area Manager 020 7527 5356
41-47 Old Street, London, EC1V 9AY

Customer Services
Customer Services Manager: Eva Findlay 020 7527 5306
eva.findlay@homesforislington.org.uk
The team is responsible for managing customer services and Highbury House reception, including:

• Manage the frontline services provided at the reception – dealing with all housing enquiries including leaseholders and also sign posting to Islington Council services.
• Ensure range of up to date information leaflets are displayed.
• Ensure reception is kept clean and tidy at all times and adheres to Health & Safety Policy.
• Booking appointments for customers to see either the duty or their responsible officers.
• Main telephonists advisors for the East/West teams & Income Recovery teams at Highbury House.
• Deal with ad hoc requests from residents & contractors for temporary permits.
• Administration for fob key requests.
• Providing customers with rent balances and or statement.
• Day to day administration support to the East/West teams & Income Recovery teams now based at Highbury House.
• Logging and scanning internal/external correspondence including members enquiry & complaints including via the mailbox.
• Ensure all correspondence are responded on time to meet target.
  Processing invoices.
• Processing decoration vouchers on behalf of tenancy teams.
• Administration of parking facilities of the estates including allocation/termination/and dealing with major works affecting parking.
• Administrating petty cash.

Estate Maintenance
Estate Maintenance Team Manager: Jason Grieve 020 7527 7660
jason.grieve@homesforislington.org.uk
Estate Maintenance covers communal repairs in the areas of paving, brickwork, carpentry, glazing, metal work, wall and floor tiles together with specialist chute clearance. In addition we also provide the resources for the assisted decoration programme providing decoration works to the elderly and vulnerable residents.

The team consists of a small dedicated team of operatives directly employed by HFI to provide these services and the management of the term contractor Kier for larger scale works unable to be completed directly by the operatives.

These works are identified by the Quality Assurance Officers within each area office and are reported to our own admin team for loading onto HFI's computer based systems. The works are then allocated to the operatives via a PDA allowing continuous reporting on the repairs progress together with photos of the completed works. In addition all the vehicles used by the EMT are on a tracker system allowing quick and rapid response where required.

Estate Parking
Estate Parking Manager: David Hutchison 020 7527 8666
david.hutchison@homesforislington.org.uk
The Estate Parking section deals with parking enforcement on estates and the provision of advice on estate parking matters. The team also manages the contractors who patrol estates, wheel clamping and removing unauthorised and illegally parked vehicles. The team currently operates over 187 Estate Parking Control Schemes. Enquiries should be directed to the Senior Parking Coordinator at PO Box 14055, N5 1WD.

Facilities
Facilities Manager: Beverly Densham 020 7527 5380
beverly.densham@homesforislington.org.uk
The team is responsible for the facilities management support services at HFI’s headquarters at Highbury House, including:

• building management at headquarters
• management of accommodation requirements for the company
• management of reception area and public areas at headquarters, including opening and closing times for headquarters
• management of stationery requirements
• management of internal and external post services at headquarters
• management of car parking at headquarters

Former Tenant Arrears
Former Tenant Arrears Manager: Sandra Graydon 020 7527 4165
sandra.graydon@homesforislington.org.uk
This team is based at Highbury House and deals with the management and administration of arrears and credits that are outstanding from former tenants of Islington and HFI.

HFI Direct
HFI Direct Manager: Carol Johnston, 020 7527 5455
carol.johnston@homesforislington.org.uk
HFI Direct is Homes for Islington's contact centre which receives and logs repair requests from tenants via phone, e-mail, mini-com and text. HFI Direct arranges gas servicing appointments, takes rent and services charge payments by debit and credit card and is the first point of contact for re-housing enquiries.  All reports of repairs can be made via the Freephone on 0800 694 3344 by email at repairs@homesforislington.org.uk or online www.homesforislington.org.uk

Home Ownership
Home Ownership Manager: Nigel Freeman 020 7527 7783
nigel.freeman@homesforislington.org.uk
This team is responsible for the collection of leasehold service charges and processing applications made under Right to Buy Scheme. Enquiries on these areas should be directed to the Home Ownership Manager who is based at the above address.

Housing Investigations
Housing Investigations Manager: Valerie Dawes 020 7527 7432
valerie.dawes@homesforislington.org.uk
The Housing Investigation Team investigates all housing fraud. The work of the section involves investigating and taking legal action where necessary into allegations of subletting of council property where the tenant is not using their accommodation as their only and principal home and is living somewhere else, and where housing has been obtained by deception.

We also investigate fraudulent applications for housing, right to buy, mutual exchanges, assignments of tenancies and successions of tenancies. All reports of housing fraud can be made via the telephone hotline on 020 7527 7432 or by email at housing.investigationsreportingline@homesforislington.org.uk
All information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Housing Support Services
Housing Support Manager: Janet Pinnock, Manager 020 7527 4502
janet.pinnock@homesforislington.org.uk
Based at: 305 Hornsey Road, London, N19 4HD.
Housing Support is responsible for providing short-term housing related support for Islington tenants and leaseholders. This service is provided by floating support officers for clients living in reception centres across the borough, and housing support officers who are based in each area housing office.

Housing Transfers
Housing Transfers Manager: Lesley Bugg 020 7527 4155
lesley.bugg@homesforislington.org.uk
The Transfer team is responsible for administering transfer applications from council tenants.

This includes making an initial assessment of the household circumstances to determine priority for a move, maintaining records of any changes and updates to the application, co-ordinating any medical assessments required, and providing details of how to use the Councils bidding system to seek a new home.

We deal with all associated correspondence from applicants and their advocates, and provide written and verbal advice on all housing options available. We also advise Area Office staff on policy and procedural matters.

Income Control
Income Control Manager: Debbie Simpson 020 7527 4288
debbie.simpson@homesforislington.org.uk
Led by the Head of Income Control this team deals with the administration of current rent accounts and former tenant arrears.

Key functions include:

• Administration of rent accounts, creating, amending and terminating accounts
• Ensuring correct tenancy charges are applied correctly to accounts
• Managing the implementation of annual rent increase, including notification to tenants of changes.
• Co-ordination of the implementation of Government rent restructuring changes, to be phased in up to 2012.
• Processing rent refunds
• Issuing of rent payment cards to enable tenants to pay their rent at Post Offices and Paypoint outlets.
• Management of LBI housing stock count records
• Management of payment of allowances to TMO’s and TMC’s
• Collection of rent from TMC’s and Short Life User Groups
• Ensuring housing benefit payments received from LBI are correctly applied to rent accounts
• Carrying out arrears recovery action to recover former tenant debt, including former tenant tracing activities and legal action to recoup the debt.
• Managing of secondary and miscellaneous rent accounts on rent accounting system

Out of hours ASB response team
ASB Manager: Siobhan O'Donnell 020 7527 4422
siobhan.odonnel@homesforislington.org.uk
Based at: Holloway Police Station, 284 Hornsey Road, N7 7QY.
Our officers are a well trained team tasked with patrolling the estates, supporting residents to help prevent crime and deter anti-social behaviour.

Their role is to identify and respond to social and environmental issues. They are working closely with the community and in partnership with HFI services, Police, Islington Council, Young People's Services and other local agencies to help resolve problems and acting as professional witnesses, working towards making HFI estates a safer place for all.

Residents are reporting issues of anti-social behaviour (ASB) through the ASB Hotline number 020 7527 7272.

Reception Centres
Reception Centre Manager: Jim Walker 020 7527 8689
jim.walker@homesforislington.org.uk
Based at: 305 Hornsey Road, London. N19 4HD

Emergency housing in Reception Centres is provided to homeless households who are believed to be eligible for assistance, homeless and in priority need. It is available for households until a decision on their homeless application is reached, and in the case of those households to whom a full duty is owed and for whom permanent accommodation is being sought, until such accommodation is available.

Special Projects
Special Projects Manager: Alex Sarson 020 7527 6873
alex.sarson@homesforislington.org.uk
The Special Projects Team manages from inception to completion a wide ranging portfolio of works.  These include security, landscaping, door entry, and other planned maintenance mechanical and electrical works not being undertaken under our main major works contracts. Also within their remit is the delivery of the Estate Security and Tenants Compact Budgets, both of which are a series of projects that have been prioritised by residents.

Voids
Voids Clienting Manager: Trevor Bates 020 7619 2481
trevor.bates@homesforislington.org.uk
The Void Client Team specifies, supervises and reconciles any necessary repairs to HFI and LBI's residential properties when they become vacant. All properties must meet HFI's void standard which we are constantly reviewing as part of our consultation with residents.

Mandatory safety checks are carried out and we often use the opportunity presented by a vacant property to upgrade & improve kitchens, bathrooms amd other key elements.

HFI's Void Clienting Team is currently co-located with our contractor, Kier at 33 Brewery Road but is split geographically to work closely with each of the three AHO tenancy management teams.

The Team maintains responsibility for all repairs other than gas repairs for the first eight weeks of a new tenancy.