UK Housing: glossary of acronyms and names

Source of Acronyms on the internet
Acronym Finder
The Free Dictionary
 4
4ps Public Private Partnership Programme (Govt quango giving “Procurement support to Local Authorities”

A
ACG Annual Capital Guidelines
ACC Association of County Councils
ADC Association of District Councils
ADH Assistant Director of Housing
ADP Approved Development Programme
AGM Annual General Meeting
AHO Area Housing Office
AHP Area Housing Panel
ALA Association of London Authorities
ALG Association of London Government (now London Councils)
ALS Approved Landlord Scheme
AMA Association of Metropolitan Authorities
ALMO Arms Length Management Organisation
ASA Advertising Standards Authority
ASBO Anti-Social Behaviour Order

B
BAFO Best and Final Offer
BCA Basic Credit Approval (the amount of money the Government allows a council to borrow each year)
BME Black and Minority Ethnic
BRE Building Research Establishment
BV Best Value
BVPI Best Value Performance Indicator
BVPP Best Value Performance Plan
B’Wide Boroughwide

C CAB Citizens Advice Bureau
Capacity Building Enabling and empowering process that adds value to community development by strengthening the ability of these organisations to reach and deliver to target groups. The communities whose capacity is to be enhanced may be “communities of place” or “communities of interest”.
Capital Expenditure The money that Landlords spend on buying land or building and improving housing.
Capital Programme A plan, usually over at least a year for building and improving housing
Capital Receipts Money received by councils when they sell homes or land either voluntarily or under the Right to Buy CBL Choice-based lettings - system that allows tenants to bid for properties according to how many housing register points they have
CCT Compulsory Competitive Tendering
CCTV Closed Circuit Television
CDM Construction Design and Maintenance Regulations
CDO Community Development Officer
CE Chief Executive
CIH Chartered Institute of Housing
CIS Cash Incentive Scheme — a scheme which enables council tenants to purchase property in the private sector
CLG Communities & Local Government
Cllrs Councillors
C&NRS Community and Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy
Concierge Housing Staff member who looks after a block of flats – part caretaker, part security and part receptionist. Also the office that they occupy.
Confidence Limits Statistical term to describe a range with a specified probability that a given parameter lies within the range
CORE Continuous Recording of New lettings
CPO Compulsory Purchase Order CREP Cyclical Remedial and Enhancement Programme
CR1 Capital Receipts Initiative
CSAHO Central Street Area Housing Office
CSAHP Central Street Area Housing Panel
CSSB Contracted Services Sub-Board

D
DCH Defend Council Housing
DCLG Acronym for "Department of Communities and Local Government" (properly Communities and Local Government(CLG))
DDA Disability Discrimination Act
Debt Pool Reduction The overall reduction in debt since the start of the financial year
Decant The removal of a tenant to another address usually in order to facilitate building work.
Departmental Collectors Members of staff that are responsible for providing the performance monitoring team with performance statistics for their department
DETR Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (became first the DTLR and then the ODPM and DT, now communities and Local Governmenr and Department of Transport (DT))
Development Voids Empty properties that require major repairs work, are awaiting funding or are awaiting disposal
DFG Disabled Facilities Grant
DHS Decent Homes Standard
DIYSO Do-it-yourself Shared Ownership
DLO Direct Labour Organisation
DTI Department of Trade and Industry
DTLR Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (formerly DETR and now split between the ODPM and the Department for Transport
DWP Department of Work and Pensions

E
ECU European Currency Unit - known as Euro
EHA Empty Homes Agency
ERCF Estates Renewal Challenge Fund
ESF European Social Fund
ESO Estate Services Officer
ESOL English as a Second Language

F
FAC Finance and Audit Committee
FBHO Federation of Black Housing Organisations
FEFC Further Education Funding Council
FITA Federation of Islington Tenant & Resident Associations
FOI Freedom of Information

G
GATS General Agreement on Trade in Services
GF General Fund
GGFD General Government Financial Deficit (balance between general government expenditure and revenue)
GLA Greater London Authority
GNI General Needs Index
GOL Government Office for London

H
HA Housing Association (When Registered with the Housing Corportation these are known as RSLs)
HA Housing Act HAC Housing Aid Centre
HAG Housing Association Grant - Now SHG - Social Housing Grant
HAWP Housing Associations Working Party
HAZ Health Action Zone
HB Housing Benefit
HG Housing Corporation
HCP Housing Consultative Panel
HCOM Housing Committee
HECA Home Energy Conservation Act
HEES Housing Energy Efficiency Scheme
HFI Homes for Islington
HIP Housing Investment Programme
HMO Housing in Multiple Occupation
HNI Housing Needs Index
HHI Form completed when an instance of harassment is first reported
HH2 Investigation and recommendation form - contains further detail of harassment case and an action taken
HH3 Case conference decision from for harassment
HMCCT Housing Management Compulsory Competitive Tendering
HMIS Housing Management Information S stem, now re laced b iWorld
HFIHMT Homes for Islington Housing Management Team
HLA Haringey Leaseholders Association
HO Housing Officers
Hot 50 Monthly report to members of key indicator performance (also known as MPG, Management Performance Group)
HouseMark A forum through which housing organisations benchmark performance information
HRA Housing Revenue Account
HRC Human Resources Committee
HSE Health and Safety Executive

I
IDC Investment and Delivery Committee
IGP Innovation and Good Practice
IiP Investors in People
ILA Islington Leaseholders Association
ILD Index of Local Deprivation
ILF Islington Leaseholders Forum
ITN Invitation to Negotiate
iWorld Housing Management IT system

K
KPI Key Performance Indicators
KXP Kings Cross Partnership

L
LA Local Authority
L&TA Landlord and Tenant Act
LBBF London Borough Benchmarking Forum (for example HouseMark)
LBH London Borough of Hackney
LBH London Borough of Haringey
LBI London Borough of Islington
LBTH London Borough of Tower Hamlets
LCP London Capital Programme
LDA London Development Agency
LHC Local Housing Company
LGA Local Government Association
LI Local Indicator
LKPI Local Key Performance Indicator
LLIC Local Labour in Construction
LLN London Leaseholders Network
London Councils Umbrella organisation of London Borough Authorities
LSVT Large Scale Voluntary Transfer
LVSC London Voluntary Sector Council
LVSRC London Voluntary Sector Resource Centre

M
Management Voids Empty Properties that require minor repairs work
Margin of error Statistical term denoting the probability that the figure does or does not lie within the confidence interval (+/-)
MRA Major Repairs Allowance
MP Member of Parliament
MEP Member of European Parliament
MPG Management of Performance Group
MPSB Managed Properties Sub-Board

N
NHCM Neighbourhood Housing Contract Manager
NHER National Home Energy Rating
NHF National Housing Federation
NHS National Health Service
NLCB National Lotteries Charity Board
NLGN New Local Government Network
Non-decent Homes that fail to meet the Decent Homes Standard
Non-urgent repairs Repairs that do not have to be completed within HO-H3 timescales
NRF Neighbourhood Renewal Fund
NW Neighbourhood Warden
NWU Neighbourhood Warden Unit

O
ODPM Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
OHMS Open Housing Management System
OJEC Official Journal of the European Communities
OJEU Official Journal of the European Union

P
P.E.P. Priority Estates Project
Performance Basket Set of performance indicators used to measure and compare performance
PFI Private Finance Initiative
PFII Partners for Improvement in Islington — company contracted to manage PFI I scheme for roughly a third of street properties in Islinton
PHO Principal Housing Officer
P1 Performance Indicator
PSA Public Services Agency
PSA Public Service Agreement
PSBR Public Sector Borrowing Requirement

Q
QUANGO Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisation

R
Reception Centres Units of temporary accommodation, managed by the Operations division of Homes for Islington Re-let When a new tenancy is created at a previously empty property
Rent roll The total amount of rental income due
Repair Priorities Target timescales for completing repairs: HO = 2 hours (weekends); H1 =3 calendar days; H2= 2 hours (week days); H3=3 working days; H4= 9 working days; H5 = 10 working days; H6 = 25 working days Responsive repairs A term used for day-to-day repairs requested by residents
RH Racial Harassment
RHP Regional Housing Pot
RSG Revenue Support Grant
ROLECS Replacement of Life Expired Components
RPI Retail Price Index
RSL Registered Social Landlords (same as Housing Associations)
RTB Right to Buy

S
SAP Standard Assessment Procedure for energy efficiency
S&C Strategy and Commissioning
SCA Supplementary Credit Approval
SCG Specified Capital Grants
SCP Single Capital Plot
SSVT Small Scale Voluntary Transfer (Small Stock Transfer)
Seasonal trend Variations in performance due to seasonal factors
SEU Social Exclusion Unit
SER Social and Economic Regeneration
SERPS State Earnings Related Pension Scheme
Sheltered Sheltered accommodation for the elderly and infirm
SHG Social Housing Grant
SLN Social Leaseholders' Network UK Nationwide Leasehold umbrella organisation
SNMA Special Needs Management Allowance
SPO Suspended Possession Order
SPV Special Purpose Vehicle
SRB Single Regeneration Budget (a special government fund to improve estates. Started in 1994 April, the SRB brings together over 20 previously existing funding programmes [e.g. Estate Action, City Challenge, HATs etc.] under one umbrella)
SSA Standard Spending Assessment

T
TC Tenants Compact
TCNC Tenants Compact Negotiating Committee
T & RA’s Tenants and Residents Association
TEC Training and Enterprise Council
THATCH Tower Hamlets Against Transfer of Council Housing (Tower Hamlets DCH Group)
TLO Tenant Liaison Officer
TMC Tenant Management Co-operative (TMOs that were set up before the Right to Manage in 1994)
TMO Tenant Management Organisation
Tenant participation compacts Locally negotiated agreements
Top quartile performance Top quartile performance scores (that is within the top 25%) attained during the previous year (used as a benchmark), either on a national or London level
TOR Terms of Reference
TPAS Tenant Participation Advisory Service
TUPE Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment
Turnround time The number of days or weeks between a property becoming vacant and being relet to a new tenant

U
UDC Urban Development Corporation
UDP Unitary Development Plan
URA Urban Regeneration Agency
Urgent repairs Repairs to be completed within the H0-H3 priority bandings

V
VFM Value for Money
Voids Properties that are vacant

W
WTO World Trade Organisation

Y
Year End The final performance at the end of the financial year (end of March)
YOT Youth Offending Team