Council Takes Housing Services Department Back In-House

Trafford Council has shown its commitment to tackling homelessness by taking over the running of its housing services department for the first time in 16 years. From April 1, Housing Options Services Trafford (HOST), which manages the housing waiting list, homelessness services and housing advice services, will be brought back under the direct control of Trafford Council. The service, which was outsourced to Salix Homes in 2015, will be directly run by the council as part of its commitment to providing housing and tackling homelessness in the borough. Read more on the Business Desk website.

https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/news/2073411-council-takes-housing-services-department-back-in-house-to-tackle-homelessness 

Council Jobs Set To Be Moved To New Housing Company

An extra 260 council staff are set to see their jobs transferred to a new housing services company. Stoke-on-Trent City Council has founded Unitas which is due to take over responsibility for housing repairs and maintenance from Kier Stoke on February 4. But now council leaders want to expand Unitas' remit to include other housing services, such as allocations, homelessness, housing management and private-sector housing, from mid-2018. That would see 260 council staff move to Unitas this year - in addition to the 500 Kier Stoke maintenance workers already due to be transferred. Read more on the Stoke Sentinel website.

http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/260-more-council-jobs-set-1051718

Local Government Cuts: Housing Services Have Been Hit Hardest

Two of the government’s highest priority policies related to housing are suffering most from spending cuts: housing welfare support and planning and development. Over the five years of this parliament, spending by local authorities on housing-related services will have fallen in real terms by a third. This doesn’t include council housing, which is now self-financing. But the remaining housing services have seen a far bigger cut than applies to council spending overall. Excluding housing benefit payments, English councils will spend 16% less in real terms in 2014/15 than they did in 2010/11, but housing’s cut is more than twice that, at 34%. Read more on the Guardian website.

Tablet-Equipped Tenants to Be Denied Phone Access to Landlord

A proposed scheme to help tenants access services online would prevent them from requesting services from their landlord by phone.  Halton Housing Trust will at the end of the month distribute 250 devices to tenants as part of a seven-month pilot to get more tenants online and prepare for the introduction of universal credit. Tenants who are issued with the tablets will sign up to the trust’s ‘Digital Deal’ under which they will be trained to use the device and be expected to interact with their landlord through digital means only. Following the pilot it is proposed that tenants will be refused access to their landlord’s non-digital services. The tablets will come installed with an app that enables tenants to pay rent, book repairs and report anti-social behaviour online. The 6,400-home landlord will pay the cost of internet access. Read more on Inside Housing.

Missing the Mark?

Over the last 15 years, resident satisfaction has been one of the key ways for housing providers to measure their operational performance, and to benchmark themselves against others. However, Family Mosaic has found that our current approach of prioritising customer satisfaction as a major driver of the organisation is no longer appropriate.  In the current climate, we can no longer afford to see our tenants just as passive recipients of basic housing services; we expect them to be more demanding of us and more aspirational in their own lives and we need to know we’re getting it right. While tenant satisfaction gives us an impression of how we provide basic services, we now need a more sophisticated index, incorporating a range of measures around health, wealth and wellbeing to determine how successful we really are as a landlord. Read more on the Family Mosaic website.

Council Told To Improve Housing Services

Leeds City Council's executive board is to receive a report recommending improvements to its housing management services - after consulting its 70,000 tenants.  As part of an eight-week process, all of the council's residents were sent consultation packs and given the chance to attend meetings and road shows.  Over 60% of respondents said they wanted the council to provide all of their housing services, while 20.9% said they preferred a single ALMO option. Just under 20% were undecided.   And over 82% said they wanted to be involved in how their housing is run. The report, which will be presented in June, will recommend bringing services in-house.

Read more on 24dash.

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.

ALMO Takes Over Council's Homelessness Services

North London ALMO Barnet Homes has taken on responsibility for additional housing services from Barnet Council.  The transfer is one of only two instances in London where housing needs and resources services are being passed from a council to an ALMO.  The ALMO - which manages 15,000 homes on behalf of the council - will now be responsible for advising customers on housing issues, preventing homelessness wherever possible, and assessing whether those who have (or are about to) become homeless are eligible for housing in the private or social housing sector.  It will also become responsible for maintaining the supply of these properties and for managing temporary accommodation.  Read more on the Barnet Homes website.

ALMO Takes On Extra Council Services

A North London ALMO is set to become the first in the country to take on additional council services following a landmark agreement with Barnet Council, which will also see it take on additional housing services. Barnet Homes will take responsibility for housing needs and resources services from 1 April 2012 and will also set up a new subsidiary to take on adult social care services from the council. Under the agreement, Barnet Homes will become responsible for advising customers on housing issues and assessing whether those who have, or about to, become homeless are eligible for housing in the private or social housing sector. They will also become responsible for maintaining the supply of these properties and for managing temporary accommodation. The switch of responsibility means that people will deal with one organisation only from the point of becoming homeless through to being housed. It will also cut costs by reducing duplication of tasks between Barnet Council and Barnet Homes. Read more on the Barnet Homes website.