Dealing with real people an nd real situations; As the recession continues to place demand on the region's social housing stock, Christopher Knox catches up with Keith Loraine, a man who sums up the mantra that charity begins at home.

BASED in the swish confines of Gosforth Business Park in Newcastle, Isos Housing Group has become one of the fastest-growing social housing providers in the UK.

Formed in 2005, it has almost 12,000 North East homes under its ownership and a turnover of pounds 42m, up from pounds 33m in its previous financial year.

It's not surprising that the not-for-profit group's sales are on the up as it has never been busier.

While fewer private homes are being built, social housing firms are continuing with their construction programmes and last year built more than 1,200 in the North East.

Such a flurry of activity is warranted when you consider that social housing stocks in the North East have plummeted over the last 30 years, with no new properties having been built in some areas for two decades.

The widening chasm between supply and demand has led in some cases to 400 families competing for the same property, with others being told they could have to wait up to eight years for a placement.

It is a situation Sunderland-born Keith Loraine has become all too familiar with since taking up the helm at Isos in 2005.

He said: "Demand for more social houses has increased considerably over recent months, and with the recession showing few signs of abating, that de-manwill only continue.

"Around 60% of our tenants are on welfare benefits and some of them are having a pretty difficult time of things at the moment.

"However, it is important that we press ahead with planned schemes, as the provision of affordable housing will prove one of the key elements that sees this country drag itself out of the recession."

This desire to make a difference to those facing difficult circumstances is key to Loraine and is something that permeates his CV - as well as making him a nice chap to share a cup of tea and a chat with.

Not that being involved with housing associations was at the top of his list when he was considering his career at a young age.

"My dad was a rent collector, and I thought that was all housing associations did when I was younger," he says. "It never stood out as a particularly glamorous line of work, so I was put off quite a bit.

"However, I soon realised that there was far more to housing associations and found myself becoming interested in the social aspects.

"A housing association is a people business first and foremost as you are dealing with real people and real situations.

"I would much rather be dealing with people than be working in a factory somewhere making widgets."

After leaving University of Leeds with a degree in geography, Loraine cut his teeth at Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, in the West Midlands, as a housing manager.

"The late 70s was a difficult period," Loraine says. "It was a time of high unemployment and significant social unrest."

"However, we were helped by the fact that the Housing Act 1974 made it easier for the council to seek funding from the private sector for its housing projects.

"This would eventually lead to the creation of housing associations."

After gaining experience in housing management in Dudley, Loraine moved on to Sedgemoor District Council in Somerset as homelessness and housing advisory officer, which he says was a completely different experience.

"Sedgemoor was a holiday get-away destination, certainly compared to Dudley," he told me. "However, that's not to say it didn't have its own set of problems.

"One of my main roles was to differentiate between which people were really homeless and which were the ones that were trying it on and trying to score some free accommodation in order to have an extended holiday.

"You would be very surprised at how many people had the nerve to try that.

"It was a good time to be involved in social housing as the plight of so many people in working class areas was coming the fore with the help of things like Cathy Come Home, which was repeated on TV at the time.

"Such attention helped with funding and proved how important the need for social housing was, particularly among young and vulnerable people."

Loraine's first taste of housing associations came when he moved to Manchester to take up the role of housing area manager at Anchor, which provides care homes and sheltered ac-commodatiofor the elderly.

He headed a series of schemes during a time of intense urban regeneration in many cities. There was also an acceptance among local councils that the housing that existed then was not suitable for a number of elderly residents.

He said: "By this time I had made my mind up that working within the housing association sector was something I wanted to build a career out of, as, although it is challenging, it is hugely rewarding."

He would continue his involvement with community-driven associations during his nine years as director of housing at the Beth Johnson Housing Group in Staffordshire.

The group, which manages more than 4,200 properties, was founded in the 1970s after the Beth Johnson Family bequeathed pounds 1m to set up a housing association for the elderly after running a successful tile manufacturing business for many years.

He would have to wait until 1992 to return to the North East, when he was asked by Londoner Nick Abbott to join him at North Shields-based Enterprise 5, which was set up in 1976 as one of a new generation of community-based housing associations in England and Wa l e s. Abbot learnt the industry working for the Housing Corporation in London. He was then asked to set up a new association in the North East, naming it Enterprise because of his passion for all things Star Trek, and added the '' 5'' to represent the five metropolitan districts of the Tyne & Wear area.

"Nick was a bit of a maverick at the time so it was very interesting to work with him," Loraine said.

"He was one of the first of what we used to call the 'flower pot men' as local Governments were a bit unsure how modern housing associations would work so they would bring in an expert from elsewhere and plant him in an area like a seed.

"Soon enough, Nick was managing 900 houses between North Shields and South Shields, as well as a large number of properties in Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland."

After Nick died, Loraine took over as chief executive and would later go on to head the Isos Housing Group, which was created through a series of mergers.

The group now includes Milecastle Housing, which owns the former council housing of the now defunct Tynedale District Council, Castle Morpeth Housing and NomadE5, and has gone on to develop a long list of large-scale social housing projects.

By far one of the largest of these has been the pounds 90m transformation of Cleadon Park, South Shields, which last year received a Housing Corporation Gold Award after NomadE5 delivered 94 new homes for rent.

It is part of the wider redevelopment plans which will see South Tyneside Council provide 750 properties, for sale and rent, along with new community facilities, including a Primary Care Centre, library, pharmacy and welfare rights and customer service centre.

Loraine said: "The estate had been left virtually unchanged since it had been built in the 1920s and had become blighted by high levels of crime and anti-social behaviour.

"Many residents, proud of their community, were concerned about the future of their neighbourhood.

"The area has already been transformed and has used intelligent design so that there are less places for youths to hang around without being spotted."

Loraine has also ensured that other vulnerable sectors of society are not being left out of the housing loop and currently provides accommodation for 163 people with mental health problems, out of a total estate of almost 6,000 properties.

The company's care and support department, which covers not only mental health but people with learning disabilities and young homeless people, is highly regarded in the industry, with its sheltered accommodation schemes awarded A grades for the first time this year.

"I'm very proud to be able to help so many people find a nice place to live, particularly those affected by mental illness as they often ignored," Loraine said. "This element of my work is very important to me and will keep on being important to me.

"Many people are unsure exactly what a housing association does as its funding is split between public and private finance.

"However, they are more important than ever at the moment, especially as so much council housing stock is being transferred to us."

It wasn't just the Housing Corporation that acknowledged the fantastic achievement at Cleadon Park. The scheme also received a visit from a certain Patrick Stewart, who joined MP David Miliband.

"I got a call from Mr Miliband saying he wanted to pay us a visit, which was enough to take me by surprise," said Loraine. "Then he said 'can I bring a friend along?' "Not for one moment did I think it was going to be Jean-Luc Picard!"

QUESTIONNAIRE

What car do you drive?

Jaguar XF.

What's your favourite restaurant? Panis in Newcastle.

Who or what makes you laugh?

Alan Partridge.

What's your favourite book? The Great Gatsby.

What's your favourite film? Cinema Paradiso.

What was the last album you bought?

Flat Head by Ry Cooder.

What's your ideal job, other than your current one?

Surgeon.

If you had a talking parrot, what's the first thing you'd teach it to say?

Please and thank you.

What's your greatest fear?

Drowning.

What's the best piece of business advice you have ever received? Don't sweat the small stuff.

Worst business advice? Homer Simpson: Don't do today what you can put off until tomorrow. What's your poison? Peroni.

What newspaper do you read, other than The Journal?

Sunday Times.

How much was your first pay packet and what was it for?

Student labourer - pounds 20 a week.

How do you keep fit?

Gym.

What's your most irritating habit?

Finishing other people's sentences.

Which historical or fictional character do you most admire? Jean-Luc Picard.

And which four famous people would you most like to dine with?

Stephen Fry, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Dame Edna Everage.

How would you like to be remembered? Warmly.

1976-1978 Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, West Midlands.- housing manager.

1978-1979 Sedgemoor District Council, Somerset - homelessness and housing advisory officer.

1979-1983 Anchor Housing Association, Manchester - housing area manager.

1983-1992 Beth Johnson Housing Group, Staffordshire - director of housing.

1992-2005 Enterprise 5 Housing Association - chief executive.

2005-present Isos Housing Group - group chief executive.

CAPTION(S):

GOOD WITH FOOD Dame Edna Everage would be invited STAR TURN Keith admires Jean Luc-Picard of Star Trek COMMUNITY CONCERNS Keith Loraine has seen the need for social housing increase considerably in recent months as the recession and rising levels of unemployment show few signs of abating any time soon.