Northampton Council plans to set up ALMO

In the wake of a 15-month review, the council has recommended that the management of its housing stock is transferred to an ALMO in order to upgrade to decent homes standards in a ‘financially sustainable’ manner.

The review was been carried out by two panels, one of tenants and one of housing staff, which considered six options for the future management of the council’s housing.

These included transferring the stock to a completely independent body, or continuing the current council in-house management.

It said that new stock transfer rules meant that it was unable to transfer homes to a completely separate body.

The options were then scored on their viability and the quality of service that they would provide for tenants in Northampton, before both panels made a recommendation.

Both tenants and staff agreed that an ALMO was the best option.

This recommendation now forms the basis of a report that will be discussed by the council cabinet on 4 December, and then full council on 9 December.

David Mackintosh, leader of Northampton Council, said: ‘Tenants quite rightly have high aspirations and they have decided that based on the facts, an ALMO is the best way to make sure that their voices are heard so that they can play a part in making those aspirations a reality.

‘New rules on housing stock transfer mean that financially, transferring our homes to a completely separate body is no longer an option but we need change to help raise the standard of council homes. I agree with the tenants’ view that a new, local management organisation would have the strong focus and clear accountability to tenants that would lead to improvements in the service in Northampton.’

Mary Markham, cabinet member for housing, said:  ‘Doing nothing is not an option. I meet tenants frequently and while many are generally happy with the service they receive from us as a landlord, there has been quite a lot of dissatisfaction too.

‘I think the recommendation they have made is sensible and will provide the best outlook for social housing in Northampton.’

If cabinet and full council agree to set up an ALMO, implementation work would begin in January 2014 and take around 12 months to complete.