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

Council Housing: Security of Tenure – Parliamentary Written Answer

Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods:   To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether it is his policy that his Department's changes to security of tenure for council tenants will apply to (a) the tenancies of existing tenants and (b) existing tenants when they transfer to a new local authority property; and when he plans that those changes will come into effect.

Brandon Lewis: The changes will not apply to existing lifetime tenants who remain in their own home. If tenants are required to move home by their landlord, for example to allow demolition and regeneration work to take place, they will be granted a tenancy with no less security in their new home. Where existing lifetime tenants seek to transfer, local authorities will retain a discretion to offer the tenant a further lifetime tenancy in their new home. We will set out the circumstances in which local authorities may exercise this discretion in regulations. We expect these will include where tenants downsize into a smaller home or move for work. We expect that the provisions will come into force early next year, subject to passage of the Bill and implementation of the regulations.

Northampton Council Plans to Set Up ALMO

The future management of homes owned by Northampton Borough Council is to be considered at a special Cabinet meeting on December 4. Over the past 15 months, an in-depth review has been carried out into how Northampton’s 12,100 council homes are maintained and managed. The review is now complete and has recommended that housing is transferred to an ALMO.  The review has been carried out by two panels, one of tenants and one of housing staff. They have looked in detail - using advice from experts in finance and property - at the work needed to raise the standard of homes and neighbourhoods and how this could be funded. Read more on the Northampton Council website.