Landlords Plan Repairs Cuts

Three quarters of landlords are planning changes to their maintenance services, with half of these planning to cut planned repairs in the face of government cuts, a survey has found. More than 40 landlords owning a total of 400,000 homes answered a survey by Build Recruitment and Housingnet, revealing they are considering a significant shake-up of repairs in light of changes such as the 1% rent cut. A fifth said they are planning redundancies in their repairs section, while a fifth were also planning to bring repairs in-house. Two-thirds of the respondents to the survey were housing associations, almost a fifth were local authorities and the rest include ALMOs and a housing co-op. Read more on the Build website.

Councils Must Consult Over ALMO Contracts

Councils must consult with residents before awarding long-term maintenance contracts to ALMOs, a tribunal has ruled.  Hackney Council lost a legal battle with leaseholders last week, after seeking dispensation from rules demanding they consult over a three year repairs and maintenance contract with ALMO Hackney Homes.  Judge Andrew Dutton said the tribunal had been asked by the council to ‘re-write’ the law, and ordered them to consult leaseholders.

Noting the number of complaints from tenants about the performance of Hackney Homes, he said the ‘one-size fits all approach’ may not be in tenants’ interests.  Read more on Inside Housing.