Council Moves To Shut Down ALMO

Haringey Council in north London has begun the process of shutting down its ALMO and bringing some 15,000 homes back in house. The council said that the decision to close Homes for Haringey was an “essential” move to strengthen resident voice, improve accountability and ensure services are joined up. It comes amid a spate of councils across England taking similar decisions to shut down their ALMOs for reasons including breaches of the Regulator of Social Housing’s Home Standard and cost-saving measures. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/london-council-moves-to-shut-down-almo-69375 

Council Leader Appointed To Top Job At HCA

Chairman of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), Sir Edward Lister has announced Nick Walkley as the Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of the agency. The government recently published a wide-ranging review of the HCA to help improve its efficiency and provide greater focus to its housebuilding work. Nick joins the agency with years of experience of providing strong leadership and delivering housing and regeneration schemes. He has been Chief Executive of Haringey council for the past 4 years, having previously been Chief Executive of Barnet council. Read more on the HCA website.

Council Launches Letting Agency For Private Renters

A London council has launched a letting agency for private renters, in a move it said would protect tenants from “the scourge of rip-off fees and charges”. Haringey council in north London said its online agency, Move 51⁰ North, was the first in the UK to offer private tenants an alternative to mainstream letting agents. Haringey council’s agency will charge tenants a fee of £180 to cover administration and £72 for credit checks. There are no renewal fees if they continue their tenancy beyond the original contract period. Landlords will be offered lettings and management services at the market rate, and access to the council’s maintenance services for repairs. None have yet signed up. Read more on the Haringey Council website.

Haringey Hands £15m From The Sale Of Council Homes Back To The Government

As Haringey did not manage to spend the money raised through right-to-buy sales on new affordable housing, they are now being forced to send it back. Under new rules for all right-to-buy sales after April 2012, net receipts must be spent on replacement affordable homes within three years, or handed back to the government with interest. In the last three years, Haringey has accumulated almost £25m from the sale of council houses. In July, Haringey sent back almost £15m to the government, as well as an interest of £980,000. Gloria Saffrey, Director of Caris, a housing charity in Haringey, said “The 15 million money could be invested to provide secure accommodation for families in temporary accommodation because of homelessness.” Read more on the Ham&High website.

New Ten-Year Deal For ALMO

Haringey Council is set to renew its arm’s-length management organisation’s contract for a further 10 years. The Labour-led council is expected to rubber-stamp a proposal to extend the contract of Homes for Haringey for 10 years after the current deal expires on 31 March next year. It also agreed to set up a development vehicle to refurbish stock and build new homes. The decisions follow recommendations from a review by a cross-party panel of councillors and tenants.  The review said Homes for Haringey, which manages more than 20,000 council homes, had shown strong tenant satisfaction ratings, strong tenant involvement and the ability to “move quickly to deliver and can make decisions without the constraints of the lengthy local authority process”. It also said the ALMO has a “significant record of financial savings and efficiencies”. The report said the ALMO had made savings of £3.2m in 2014/15. Read more on the Haringey Council website.