ALMO Set For Return To Council

CityWest Homes – the arms-length housing organisation serving Westminster City Council – is set for a return to council control and restoration of its “public service ethos”. A formal decision on the ALMOs future will be taken by the council’s Cabinet next month – subject to consultation – after a report confirmed a need for ‘culture change’. Set up as an ALMO in 2002, CityWest Homes provides housing services for over 12,000 social housing tenants and 9,000 leaseholders for the council. Following concerns about the ALMOs performance highlighted by residents and ward councillors, the council commissioned an independent review into the issues. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/almo-set-for-return-to-council-control-and-culture-change/

Kit Malthouse Appointed Minister Of State For Housing

Kit Malthouse MP has been appointed Minister of State for Housing, following the promotion of Dominic Raab MP to Secretary of State for Exiting the EU. Mr Malthouse was previously Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance at the DWP. He is a chartered accountant and, before entering Parliament, was a member of the London Assembly, serving as Deputy Mayor for Policing and Deputy Mayor for Business and Enterprise. Prior to this, he was a councillor on Westminster Council and was also on the board of the authority’s arm’s-length management organisation (ALMO), Citywest Homes. Read more on the NLA website.

https://landlords.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/kit-malthouse-appointed-minister-state-housing

Westminster Investigating ALMO For Ex-Council Buy-Back Practices

Westminster Council’s trading standards team is investigating its own ALMO for the second time in six months. The authority previously fined City West Homes £15,000 and listed it on the Greater London Authority’s database of rogue landlords and agents after another investigation last year. City West Residential, a letting and estate agent set up by the ALMO in 2009, was found to have breached consumer rights laws by failing to display its new tenancy fees accurately on its website. Westminster City Council would not confirm the nature of the second investigation, but Inside Housing understands it relates to the way City West Homes uses its estate agent to buy back ex-authority homes sold through Right to Buy. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mAauyakvVuMJ:https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/westminster-investigating-almo-for-ex-council-buy-back-practices-55759+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&safe=vss

ALMO’s Letting Agency Being Investigated By Its Own Council

A lettings and estate agency owned by a London ALMO is being investigated by its own council’s trading standards department. CityWest Residential is a subsidiary of CityWest Homes, which manages 21,000 units on behalf of Westminster City Council. The authority confirmed it was taking action against the company for breaches of the Consumer Rights Act, but said it could not comment further. CityWest Homes was the first ALMO to launch a lettings agency in 2009. CityWest Residential now handles lettings and sales for private landlords across the borough, including those previously owned by the council. A proportion of the agency’s profits are channelled back into Westminster City Council to help pay for more affordable housing. Read more on Inside Housing.

ALMO to Chop Fuel Bills By 30%

A London ALMO is aiming to chop its tenants' fuel bills by 30%. CityWest Homes, which manages thousands of homes on behalf of Westminster Council, has teamed up with The Chopping Company to install a heating control device that could save residents money while cutting carbon emissions. The Chop-Cloc device is attached to a central heating system which it then programmes to cut out for a set number of minutes each hour. This reduces the amount of energy used without the homeowner feeling any difference to the temperature - bringing savings which could rise as high as 30%. Read more on the CityWest website.

ASB Project Helps Young People Change Their Choices

A housing association is aiming to reduce the impact of ASB caused by young people with the launch of a project that encourages them to consider the consequences of their actions and make positive decisions about their future. City West’s Change Your Choices initiative sees the landlord working with 10 to 16 year olds who are in danger of becoming involved in criminal and nuisance behaviour by providing a week-long course of hard-hitting and inspirational events designed to show the impact of ASB on their communities.  The scheme has already proved successful, with a pilot project last year followed by two more courses this summer. Since its launch the number of ASB incidents committed by young people in City West communities has fallen by around 10%.  Read more on 24dash.

Course Aims To Encourage Youngsters to Change Their Choices on ASB

City West Housing Trust is aiming to reduce the impact of anti-social behaviour caused by young people through a project which encourages them to consider the consequences of their actions and make positive decisions about their future. The week-long course is designed to show the impact of anti-social behaviour on their communities and sessions included a visit to a prison to discuss the realities of life behind bars with inmates, a trip to a homeless hostel, a day with staff at a Fire Station to understand the dangers of hoax calls and a session with a City West customer who described her own experience of anti-social behaviour.  Read more on the Housing Excellence website.  

ALMO Reclaims Second Home Using Anti-Squatting Powers

A London ALMO has used anti-squatting legislation to recover two homes. Citywest Homes, which manages 22,000 properties on behalf of Westminster Council, has become one of the first organisations to use new rules which came into effect last month. On 4 October Citywest Homes became aware that a property had been occupied by a squatter a day after the home became vacant. Police later arrested the squatter under the new laws.  Although they did not charge the individual, the arrest meant Citywest could recover the property. Citywest also revealed it has used the new legislation to recover another property on the same estate.  Read more on the CityWest website.

New Tenancy Being Looked At For Direct Payments Switch

A new type of agreement allowing tenants to pay the housing benefit element of their rent directly to their landlord should Universal Credit proposals materialise, is being considered by a Salford housing association. From 2013, the Government wants to pay the new Universal Credit – which will include housing benefit – directly to tenants in a single monthly payment.
Currently social housing tenants get to choose whether they want their housing benefit paid directly to their landlord. City West Housing Trust – which owns and manages over 14,500 homes – said it is working with payment specialist allpay to investigate introducing a ‘synchronised account’ that would give tenants the option of paying their benefit through a third-party banking system. Tenants would be given the option of signing the new tenancy agreement which would see an instant, automatic benefit payment being made directly to the company when the Universal Credit payment lands in their account each month. Read more on the allpay website.

Council to Renew ALMO's Contract

nWestminster City Council has agreed, in principle, to renew its contract with its arms-length management organisation (ALMO) CityWest Homes, housing bosses have announced. Since it was set up 10 years ago, CityWest Homes, which manages almost 22,000 homes on behalf of the local authority, has "significantly improved the quality of housing in the city", the council said. The council’s decision is now subject to consultation with residents and negotiations with CityWest Homes. The council says the ALMO model has operated well in Westminster, with the Decent Homes programme - a scheme to improve the standards of social housing - successfully completed ahead of schedule by CityWest. Tenant satisfaction with how estates are managed has increased by around 20% in the same period, with CityWest recently achieving its highest ever satisfaction rating of 79%, the council said. Read more on 24dash.

ALMO Shifts Management of Homes to Private Firm

Westminster City Council's ALMO has announced plans to shift management duties of nearly half of the council's homes to a private company. CityWest Homes - which manages 22,000 properties on behalf of the council - says it will still retain "overall responsibility" for all homes, but Pinnacle PSG, a private housing management company, will manage 10,000 of them, as part of moves to cut costs. Housing management services across Westminster have been structured into four areas: north, south, west and central. Pinnacle PSG, who has worked with the council and CityWest Homes for 16 years, will now provide the housing management, cleaning and grounds maintenance services for the north and west, while CityWest Homes will provide housing management services to the south and central areas. Read more on the CityWest website.