Ayrshire Housing is a charitable company with Registered Social Landlord status based in Ayr.  The organisation has a stock of almost 1,500 houses.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, well organised and friendly individual to join our team.   As part of the Corporate Services Team you will undertake a range of computerised and manual administrative tasks for Ayrshire Housing.  The ability to deal sympathetically with our tenants and the general public is essential.

You will:

• Have an HNC or relevant qualification.
• Have a minimum of 3 years experience in a customer-focussed environment.
• Be proficient in the use of computers and have knowledge of Microsoft Office packages.
• Have excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Be willing to work flexibly as part of a small team.
• Have a willingness to learn.

We offer a friendly and informal working environment, excellent conditions and a final salary pension scheme. The post will be based in Ayrshire Housing’s office. For an informal discussion about the post contact Caroline Donald on (01292) 880120. An application pack is available by clicking the links below or by contacting us at 119 Main Street, Ayr, KA8 8BX, tel: 01292 880120 or by email: c.donald@ayrshirehousing.org.uk. 

Closing date: Friday, 10 February 2012.  Ayrshire Housing is committed to equal opportunities.

Download Forms:
Application Form (word)

Equal Opportunities (word)

Job Spec and Description (word)

Job Application Pack (pdf) 

Housing Aid’s Co-Coordinator John Mulholland said “A major part of our work is to provide advice, information, advocacy, representation and support for people who are homeless or are threatened with homelessness. We are facing an increasing case load so Ayrshire Housing’s continued support is even more appreciated.” The centre’s independent advice service is accredited to the highest levels.

Ayrshire Housing’s David McGivern said “we really value people on our waiting list having access to the quality of service that John and his team offer.”

Recently John Mulholland briefed a joint session of Board and Committee members from Ayrshire based housing associations on the challenges of so called welfare reform.

The photo shows John Mullholland (left) receiving the cheque from Housing Manager David McGivern at the housing aid centre.

It is very important that our tenants provide us with an up to date mobile telephone number as every repair works order issued by our staff will be subject to an automated text message being sent to the mobile number registered to the tenant(s) of the property.

This message will include details of the contractor who has been passed the works order, brief details of the work to be completed, along with a contact telephone number for enquiries.

If you have received a text message in this scheme, we would be very grateful if you could complete our short survey, by clicking here.

Thaw the pipe and stop cock using a hairdryer or hot water bottle – PLEASE DO NOT USE A BLOW LAMP OR HEAT GUN.

Half open the stop cock and the cold tap and heat for 5 minutes.

Turn both the tap and the stop cock on full and heat for a further 30 minutes.

If this does not fix the problem please call us at 01292 880120 during working hours.

At other times, please contact J D Thomson (Property Care Ltd) at 01655 882234.

A special resolution to make changes to our Articles (our “rule book”) will be voted on.

We are proposing a change in our articles to accommodate a request from South Ayrshire Council to reduce Board representation from 5 to 3. The proposed new articles, which show the changes from the currently endorsed articles in blue are available below. The only  substantive changes are articles no 42 and 43 which deal with the reduction referred to. In addition, our solicitor has taken the opportunity to bring the document up to date in terms of Companies Act and OSCR requirements, in particular objectives clauses have been introduced (i.e. new no’s 84 and 85) which restate word for word those presently in the memorandum.

SAC intend to maintain the current membership of the Board of three Councillors. Up to now, the other two places have been occupied by Council senior officials. Changes in the Council’s senior management no longer make this practical from their point of view (basically there are now fewer heads of service etc). The Council is also proposing to enhance the liaison arrangments with Ayrshire Housing both to assist further our day to day joint work and give support to the three Council Board members.

The AH Board is happy to recommend the change to the membership.

Existing and amended articles- Jan 12 EGM

Every tenant is a member of Ayrshire Housing. In addition, we welcome membership from individuals in the wider community who support our work. You can find details here.

They have designed  images for each of the twelve individual cards. Their striking images were produced at a master class led by graphic designer and Glasgow Art School teacher Neil McGuire.

Neil integrated each of the images into an overall concept which means that the association’s tenants  will receive one of the twelve cards at random.  Head teacher Jackie Blair says “I’m delighted to see the pupils’ enthusiasm transformed into print!” Each of the children received a pack of their printed design.

Here all the finished Christmas card designs!

As in previous years, Ayrshire Housing has been able to use part of its Christmas card budget to support worthy charities. For a second year, Ayrshire Housing has donated to the Ayr homelessness initiative Care and Share. Ayrshire Housing’s chair Paul Torrance was delighted to hand over a cheque for £500. He said “It’s good to see the range of excellent support and friendship that Care and Share provides to the people who visit its busy centre”.

Ayrshire Housing’s long-term designer Neil McGuire of After the News Ltd generously supported this year’s initiative by forgoing part of his fee. Neil says “I really enjoyed working with the children at Tarbolton. I think what they have produced is really good!”

Paul Torrance, the association’s Chair says “we’re aware that most of our tenants are facing real pressure in terms of living standards. For people on modest wages, the costs of essentials are probably rising at twice the Government’s inflation figures. So we have looked long and hard at pegging back the suggested rent increase whilst still being able to guarantee a quality service. We are now inviting comments from our tenants on an average increase of £3 a week. At 4.4%, this is 1% less than the Retail Price Index at the moment. RPI is normally what housing providers take as their starting point for rent increases. Locally,  South Ayrshire Council has recently chosen to increase its rents by 5.2%. We will take full account of every tenant’s view before we finalise the new rent level at our Board meeting in February”

We would welcome your comments here or, if you prefer, e-mail Paul.

The award was presented by Alex Neil MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment.

The noted architect Malcolm Fraser who is the guest chair for this year’s awards said “we really liked what Ayr based ARPL architects have done. They’ve taken a non-descript scrappy bit of ground and created a real sense of place. It’s not only a great bit of architecture but it’s clear from speaking to the delighted residents that the design has fostered a wee community”.

The  project resulted from a partnership between Ayrshire Housing and Kingcase Parish Church. Facilitated by Scottish Churches Housing Action, 10 houses for affordable renting have been provided alongside a major extension to the church’s existing hall. The works were procured jointly with an integrated design and contractor team led by Ayrshire Housing.

Sadly the original contractor went out of business before they could finish the work. The houses were completed though to a very high standard by Ashleigh (Scotland) Ltd who are based in Prestwick.

It has been another good year for housing associations at the Saltire awards. The chair’s medal went to Maryhill Housing Association’s splendid Botany scheme.  In addition, Bield Housing Association were commended for an innovative sheltered housing project in Govan.

The awards photo shows left to right : Malcolm Fraser, Ayrshire Housing Board member John Mitchell, ARPL’s Ken Handley and Gordon Fleming, and Alex Neil.

As project managers for South Ayrshire Council’s first Council housing in 30 years, the association extended the programme to the project’s builder CCG.  As a result they recruited two apprentices  - Nathan Brown (to the right  in the picture) and Steven McCallum. They were congratulated by SAC Councillors John Hampton, Nan McFarlane and Douglas Campbell on a recent visit to see progress on the site. Steven  is from Saltcoats and Nathan from Dalmilling in Ayr.

Since in 2004,  Access Construction Ayrshire has helped more than 30 individuals gain employment with linked training in the building industry. Through the programme, unemployed people are encouraged to seek employment with a contractor as an apprentice, trainee labourer or trainee administrator. It targets individuals who are close to job ready but who would not otherwise consider applying for a construction job with a training commitment. Originally focused on its own building contracts,  Ayrshire Housing has extended the model across Ayrshire, leading  a consortium of four housing associations. The development and day to day management of the project is by the Ayr based Social Enterprise Aspire2gether.

In addition to Nathan and Steven, five more trainees have been taken on this year by Prestwick based Ashleigh (Scotland) Ltd and maintenance contractor Mitie in the programme’s latest phase.

Successive phases of Access Construction have been made possible by Scottish Government wider role grants.

These local events underpinned a major community conference in the County Buildings, Ayr. This was attended by 170 delegates from voluntary and not for profit groups as well as from all the key Community Planning agencies – including the Council, NHS Ayrshire and Arran and Strathclyde Police.

Councillor Bill McIntosh, Chair of the Community Planning Board and Leader of South Ayrshire Council opened the conference. The delegates participated in a varied programme of activities which included networking with members of the partnership and taking part in a number of sessions that were facilitated by young people from local secondary schools. These sessions  set the agendas for a series of theme groups which will continue to meet over the next 12 months with the aim of improving the quality of public involvement in the delivery of services.

Ayrshire Housing’s Chair Paul Torrance emphasised to the delegates the need to increase affordable housing supply in South Ayrshire and the importance of housing to all the key community planning themes.