Housing association takes on repairs management of 700 homes from council

It provides settled accommodation at intermediate rents within the Local Housing Allowance rate for people facing homelessness and key workers. 

The transfer of repairs responsibility from Newham Council takes place as part of a review partnership agreement that the authority and Local Space entered into in 2016.

According to Local Space, the changes have been made in response to customer feedback. 

Josie Parsons, chief executive at Local Space, said the agreement is a “transformational milestone for Local Space and testament to the success of the original ‘leaseback’ model that we’ve seen this growth into a fully independent housing association”.

She added: “Over time, we’ll ultimately manage 3,000 of our homes in-house. These changes will be delivered slowly to ensure a smooth transition and to meet our high standards of care and service.”

Darren Levy, director of housing at Newham Council, said: “We are delighted to be supporting Local Space in taking this next step and look forward to working with them in the future and enabling them to do more to support us in addressing housing need in Newham.”

The agreement comes shortly after Local Space announced it had signed a new deal with Hackney Council, which saw 24 temporary accommodation properties sold back to the local authority to be used as permanent social housing.