The Housing Associations Key

Datasheets are currently being updated - latest counts and details can be seen at -

http://www.oscar-research.co.uk/housingassociation.html

http://www.oscar-research.co.uk/carehomes.html

7940 senior contacts covering 2271 Housing Associations

and Trusts of all types throughout the UK

Housing Associations - an overview

Housing Associations are now a major provider of housing in the UK . The largest each own several thousand houses but at the other end of the scale are very small organisations such as ancient Almshouse Charities, each owning a cottage or two and overseen by a part time Chairman or a Secretary.

The legal status and ownership of Housing Associations and Trusts is often complex. In some instances, a single management team may manage two or more Housing Associations which are distinct legal entities, for example one Charitable and one non-Charitable.

Housing Associations vary in the scope of their operations. The largest may cater for all types of tenants requiring public housing, whilst many of the smaller ones may cater for specific groups, for example, elderly residents of a certain parish or retired miners. The YMCAs and Foyers provide housing accommodation for single young people whilst the Abbeyfield Societies are voluntary bodies providing sheltered accommodation or nursing homes for the elderly.

Where a single management team manages two or more Housing Associations which are distinct legal entities, the first is identified as the “Parent Organisation” against which the names of the management team are entered. Second and subsequent Associations are identified as “Subsidiary Organisations” - to avoid duplication they only have a main address with no repeat listing of the management team.

Because of the variety of job titles among Associations, we categorise by job function to identify responsibilities. The numbers in this category refer to numbers of individuals whereas the other category groups refer to the number of Associations matching each category.

One person at each Association is identified as a Principal Contact to overcome the variations in organisational structure. This will normally be the Chief Executive or Director of a large Association, or the Secretary or sometimes the Chairman of the smaller Associations, depending on their expressed wish.

Can be anything from a detached house to a flat or a room or bed space in a nursing home or hostel.

Numbers given overleaf are for the whole UK , but addresses are also selectable by Postcode area and Administrative County at no extra cost.

The Care Homes Key

21803 care home managers of registered Care Homes, 3144 of whom are also the registered home owner

All Care Homes in the UK are registered, inspected and listed by the relevant authority, which in England and Wales is currently the Care Quality Commission (CQC) There are two main categories of care home – those which provide only personal care and those which also provide nursing care.

A good proportion of the information is researched by telephone, with the remainder being verified from the lists prepared by the registering organisations.

96% of records carry individual names. Where there is no name, the record is always styled in accordance with information provided on the registration list, to a title such as The Matron (in the case of Nursing Homes) or The Owner, The Manager, The Officer-in-Charge (for local authority and some voluntary homes) or a similar title.

This information is not always available, but where it is possible to identify the names of the owners we have done so. These are 94% at the home itself and 6% at a separate address. We recognise that this list is not comprehensive but we are often dependent on this information being apparent in the lists provided by the registering authority. In some cases the registered home owner may be responsible for more than one home, often but not always in the same vicinity. Where homes are run by the same person and are clearly in close proximity to each other we have aggregated the number of beds and used the address of the larger or largest home. However, where it is not clear which is the main address, the owner will appear on the database at each of the separate home addresses.

Private includes homes run by individuals, partnerships and public and private limited companies. Voluntary homes are run by Charities such as The Leonard Cheshire Foundation or Mencap. Local Authorities still run many Care Homes, as do NHS Trusts .

The average size of home is probably about 20 beds, whilst only 10% have more than 50 beds. There are almost 3,000 homes with five or fewer beds. These usually provide very specific types of care, including provision for Care in the Community and, if privately owned, should not normally be regarded as commercial undertakings.

Numbers given overleaf are for the whole UK, but addresses are also selectable by postcode area or by administrative county at no extra cost. Nearly 99% have telephone numbers and 35% have email addresses.