Stevenage Takes ALMO Back In House

The decision taken by Stevenage Council to bring its housing stock back in house took effect on 1 December. Councillors voted to bring the ALMO back in house in September, following a review of the council’s housing services. The council said the move would save between £635,000 and £860,000 a year. The ALMO has run the council’s 8,300 homes since 2006. Stevenage Homes staff have now transferred to Stevenage Council employment and the Stevenage Homes name and logo will continue to be used. Read more on the Stevenage Borough website.

Council Votes To Ditch ALMO

Stevenage Council has voted to scrap its arm’s-length management organisation, bringing housing services back in house. Councillors voted to disband the ALMO following a period of consultation. Staff will transfer to council employment. Stevenage Homes was set up in 2006 to access the government’s decent homes funding. Its closure will save the council between £635,000 and £860,000 each year. Read more on Inside Housing.

Council Tenants Fight to Keep ALMO

Council tenants in Stevenage are to begin a campaign in a bid to keep their ALMO from returning in-house to the council. Tenants claim the local authority is planning to bring ALMO Stevenage Homes, set up in 2006, back in house, but say they haven't been "properly consulted" and haven't been given access to independent advice. The council says it has informed all its tenants about the 'Housing Options Appraisal Project' - to assess whether to keep or take in the ALMO - through the tenants magazine. However, the Federation of Stevenage Tenants and Associations (FOSTA) claims the council was planning to issue tenants with "a very inaccurate and misleading draft letter and draft Housing Options Appraisal Survey", through the magazine. It said the editorial panel was given less than 24 hours to respond to the "inaccuracies" which it has. Read more on 24dash.

ALMO Rapped Over Loan Sharks Warning

An ALMO has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority for a leaflet warning about the activities of loan sharks. The regulator ruled the Stevenage Homes leaflet was ‘misleading’ as it suggested a company called the Money Shop was a doorstep lender and loan shark. It actually offers month-long pay day loans, which the ASA said did not come under either category. Stevenage Homes argued that it understood the type of loans offered by the Money Shop, and its leaflet made a clear distinction between loan sharks, door step lenders, and pay day loan companies. However the ASA ruled that readers could have considered the Money Shop was a door step lender or ‘unlicensed money lender who might use aggressive or threatening tactics in the conduct of its business’. Read more on Inside Housing.