12 January 2007
Council-owned housing companies are to receive a further £485m to help them to modernise about 55,000 houses and meet the decent homes target.
But while 19 existing arm's-length management organisations will share the extra money in 2007/08, up to 16 councils intending to set up Almos are no closer to discovering if their plans will be accepted by ministers.
The 19 Almos that were granted more money this week are between three and five years old. The largest allocation is going to Leeds, where three of the city's six Almos will share a total of £100m.
But five Almos that should have qualified for initial funding in May 2004 have still to receive any money after failing to gain at least two stars from housing inspectors.
The 16 councils that indicated last summer that they wished to set up Almos were hoping for a decision from the Department for Communities and Local Government before the end of last year.
The National Federation of Almos is still locked in talks with the department over whether their refurbishment plans should be put off until after the government's original decent homes deadline of December 2010.
Announcing the new funding on January 9, Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly said Almos were playing a major role in wider initiatives, including the creation of mixed communities and safer, greener neighbourhoods.
'Poor housing can make areas unpopular to live in and create a bad reputation,' she said.
To coincide with the announcement, the DCLG also confirmed that more than 200 tenant management organisations are to be given powers to apply for antisocial behaviour orders in the same way as councils and Almos. Regulations to make it easier to set up tenant management organisations are due in October.
Prime Minister Tony Blair, appearing alongside Kelly, backed increased powers for residents' groups. 'No one knows better how to transform a community than those who live there,' he said.
There is no guarantee that the sixth round of Almos will be announced before this summer's Comprehensive Spending Review – making it increasingly difficult for councils to plan ahead with any certainty.
Gwyneth Taylor, policy officer at the NFA, said they were frustrated by the delay. 'The government never keeps to the deadline that it sets itself,' she said.
PFjan2007
