16 June 2006
Council-owned housing companies have been guaranteed a long-term future – but will have to wait at least two years before gaining extra borrowing powers.
A government review of arm's-length management organisations concludes that they can play a vital role in sustainable communities once they achieve the decent homes target.
A total of 52 Almos manage more than 800,000 homes, and a further 13 councils are likely to apply to set up Almos during the next year. Only three out of the ten Almos with three inspection stars will definitely be invited to leave the housing subsidy system as part of trials that will also involve councils without Almos.
In the short term, this is likely to lead to relatively small borrowing freedoms. But Mike Owen, executive director of Cornwall-based Carrick Homes, said it was keen to go ahead if chosen by the Department for Communities and Local Government.
'We have got plenty of money at the moment but housing subsidy swings back and forth quite dramatically,' said Owen, a member of the review group set up in 2004. 'We are looking for long-term stability.'
The review, published by the DCLG on June 8, stresses that tenants must be consulted before any further management changes and rules out Almos inheriting ownership of homes from local authorities on a wide-scale basis. 'If tenants and the authority want a different owner from the authority, there is the option to transfer to a housing association,' it says.
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