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Council proposes transferring housing services to repairs company
A Midlands council is set to expand its new repairs and maintenance company to carry out all housing services.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council is proposing transferring its housing management, allocations and growth operations to Unitas, which is due to take over repairs from 4 February. The move would see 260 council staff transferred to the new company, on top of the 500 maintenance workers already set to switch from the council’s existing repairs arrangement.
Unitas was established to take over maintenance responsibilities from Kier Stoke, a joint venture between the council and Kier Group, which has been operating since 2008.
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Stoke retains a stock of around 18,500 homes. The authority’s Conservative-Independent coalition cabinet approved the creation of a wholly owned company to take on its repairs contract in August 2016.
At a meeting next Tuesday, the cabinet will consider recommendations to start consulting with tenants and staff on Unitas’ expansion to include other housing services. The item was initially listed as an urgent item on the agenda for a cabinet meeting tonight, but the vote has been postponed.
If the expansion goes ahead, Unitas will handle housing management, homelessness, allocations and lettings, private sector housing, housing growth, housing development and regeneration, and enabling and projects on behalf of the council, starting in mid-2018.
A report by Carl Brazier, director of housing and customer services at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, and Neil Macleod, project manager (enabling and projects team) at the council, states: “Bringing all housing activity into Unitas would enable the council, through Unitas, to manage the expenditure more effectively and efficiently and enables the organisation to be run on a more structured business footing.
“However, it is important to stress this does not mean Unitas will operate in isolation from the council but instead operate as a preferred partner.”
Workers affected by the change, currently based in various council offices, would be moved to a single building leased by Unitas.
