ALMO Goes Back In-House

High Peak Borough Council (HPBC) is to take back direct control of its housing stock from its ALMO, High Peak Community Housing (HPCH).  HPCH has run the council's 4,100 homes, including repairs, lettings and rent collection, since 2004.  Changes to funding mean that extra cash is no longer available and running a separate company involves unnecessary administration costs and duplication, the council has claimed.  Councillors have been recommended to approve bringing the management of the housing stock back within the direct control of the council after officers reported that only nine percent of tenants who responded to a consultation process were in favour of retaining HPCH. Seventy-nine percent of residents voted in favour of the move back to the council.  Read more on the HPBC website.

Council Calls Time on ALMO

Councillors in Charnwood have approved plans to take direct control of the Council’s housing in a move which could save £638,000 per year.  Charnwood Borough Council’s Cabinet voted in favour of the proposal to return the management of the homes to the Council from Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing, the ALMO which has managed them since 2007.  The money saved by bringing the management of people’s houses back under direct Council control will be pumped back into improving their homes. The transition could take between three to nine months to complete, with CNH staff being transferred to the Council.  A financial appraisal of how the Council’s housing services are delivered was carried out by an independent firm, CIH Consulting, which identified the savings which could be made by bringing the service back under Council management.  In addition, a test of opinion was also carried out which resulted in 75% of tenants opting for housing services to be brought back under the direct control of the Council.  Read more on the CBC website.

Newham Mulls In-House Move

Newham Council is considering taking its ALMO back in-house. The council has begun discussions about the future of Newham Homes, which manages its 18,342 homes. The ALMO, which was in round five of bids for decent homes funding, has not finished its £372 million decent homes programme. A spokesperson for Newham Council said: ‘We are considering a range of possibilities: if anything happens, tenants and leaseholders will be consulted.’ The move would make Newham the fourth ALMO to return in-house, following decisions at Ealing, Hillingdon and Slough. Lambeth Living announced this week that it plans to make up to 70 staff redundant as part of a restructure. The 34,000-home ALMO is consulting staff and trade unions on the plans, which it hopes will save Lambeth Council more than £1 million immediately, and £300,000 over the next three years. Read more on Inside Housing.

Ealing Votes to Close Arm's-Length Body

Ealing council’s cabinet has officially approved plans to bring its ALMO back in-house. Councillors took the final decision, which will see ALMO Ealing Homes close and housing services return to council control. Ealing had originally planned to shut the ALMO and put all its management contracts out to tender, but following a change of political control at the council, this plan was dropped. Council leader Julian Bell said: ‘We know that tenants and leaseholders want to see improvements to the way their homes are run, so I’m delighted that they back our decision to bring housing management back under the council’s direct control. Read more on Inside Housing.