July 2025 Steve’s Blog

Dear friends and supporters of TLA,

I really appreciate your interest and support for Turning Lives Around (TLA) as we continue to house and support people in Leeds and Wakefield, preventing homelessness and helping people get back on their feet.

Here is some fantastic feedback from the young people we support at Lowell House, our project for 18-24 year olds:

We have a fantastic and dedicated team of Trustees and as some come to the end of their time here at TLA we will be recruiting new ones including a Chair of the Trustees. As soon as we have links to the information, we will share them with you. Please let us know if you or a colleague might be interested in becoming a trustee or our next Chair.

Good news: Ofsted has written to us to confirm that we did well in our recent inspection. We have some areas to improve upon, so the teams will be continuing to implement the action plan that is in place. The TLA 'Our Way Leeds' (OWL) teams have worked very hard and done a brilliant job to achieve this result.

My highlights this month:

Some of my other activities this month have been:

• Meeting a partner charity about a possible property purchase
• Touching base with Henry, the CEO at St. Petroc's in Cornwall
• The Third Sector Partnership meeting at Leeds City Council
• Having a catch up with Cedric, the CEO of Unity Housing Association
• Planning an event with partners across the city for World Homelessness Day (10th October)
• Chairing the Leeds Homelessness Prevention Forum
• Attending a Homeless Link national policy influencing meeting
• Going to the 'Marmot Place - Fairer, Healthier Leeds' event at the Civic Hall
• Watching a video to refresh my safeguarding knowledge
• Talking about how we might raise capital to buy more properties
• Attending training by Microsoft about using CoPilot AI
• Helping to respond to a request from an elected member at Leeds City Council (LCC) (a Councillor)

In the news:

UK Government Response to the Right to Buy Consultation

Published on 2 July 2025, this official document outlines the government's reforms to the Right to Buy scheme.

Key points include:

•  A 35-year exemption for newly built social and affordable homes.
• A return to pre-2012 discount levels to protect existing stock.
• An increase in the cost floor protection period from 15 to 30 year
•  Councils can now retain 100% of Right to Buy receipts to reinvest in housing 1.

This looks like a step forward after many years of campaigning by our sector. 

📄 Read the full government response

Over the last five months, TLA has conducted a thorough salary review with support from an external consultant.  

I am really pleased that we were able to give all colleagues a 3% increase in April, and that our lowest paid colleagues saw a 6% increase at that time as we lifted their salaries up to the Real Living Wage, not just the National Living Wage. The salary decision this month by the board adds to that and sees TLA draw at least equal to our partner organisations on starting salaries, despite pressures on our finances including the increased Employer's National Insurance Contributions imposed by the government this year. 

 As part of the salary review, the Board of Trustees agreed to change the Human Resources Senior Manager role to the 'Director of Human Resources', reflecting the strategic importance of the function at TLA. Sophie Larner Vincent will join the Director's group, which includes myself, Alan Marriott our Finance Director, Jenn Bravo and Lesley Hill, Directors of Services. 

We are excited to have commissioned our first Impact Report by Dr Sarah Alden; to show the difference we make in Leeds and Wakefield and as soon as its complete I will send you a link to it. Hard copies will also be available; we are planning to publish it in time for our AGM in November.

 Thanks again for your support for TLA. Please pass this message on to any colleagues or contacts that you feel may be interested and drop us a line if you have any questions or want to arrange a meeting.

 Best wishes,

 Steve