By Neil Merrick
9 September 2009
Council-owned housing companies outside London are demanding they should not be forgotten after a task force was set up to protect decent homes work and other projects in the capital.
Six London authorities with arm’s-length management organisations that were hit when the government cut the 2010/11 decent homes budget by £150m are to receive support from a task force created by the Homes and Communities Agency. They include Lambeth, which has two Almos.
Other task force members include the Greater London Authority and the Department for Communities and Local Government. The group will also look at the impact of cuts in growth fund allocations after the DCLG switched £570m from other budgets to pay for a £1.5bn boost for house building.
Prior to July’s announcement, five Almos outside London were expecting to receive money for decent homes work as soon as they were awarded two stars by Audit Commission inspectors.
Gwyneth Taylor, policy officer at the National Federation of Almos, said four of them are not due to be inspected until next year. Lobbying by the federation and others will increase as soon as MPs return from the summer recess.
‘We will be talking to the HCA about the possibility of further assistance to individual almos in getting up to two stars,’ she added.
The federation, along with the GLA, is also considering the possibility of legal action against the DCLG, a. However, it is likely that any action would have to be initiated by one Almo on behalf of all those affected.
Taylor insisted this was a last resort and said the likelihood of a legal challenge is ‘quite remote’. A meeting is also planned with housing minister John Healey.
9 September 2009
Council-owned housing companies outside London are demanding they should not be forgotten after a task force was set up to protect decent homes work and other projects in the capital.
Six London authorities with arm’s-length management organisations that were hit when the government cut the 2010/11 decent homes budget by £150m are to receive support from a task force created by the Homes and Communities Agency. They include Lambeth, which has two Almos.
Other task force members include the Greater London Authority and the Department for Communities and Local Government. The group will also look at the impact of cuts in growth fund allocations after the DCLG switched £570m from other budgets to pay for a £1.5bn boost for house building.
Prior to July’s announcement, five Almos outside London were expecting to receive money for decent homes work as soon as they were awarded two stars by Audit Commission inspectors.
Gwyneth Taylor, policy officer at the National Federation of Almos, said four of them are not due to be inspected until next year. Lobbying by the federation and others will increase as soon as MPs return from the summer recess.
‘We will be talking to the HCA about the possibility of further assistance to individual almos in getting up to two stars,’ she added.
The federation, along with the GLA, is also considering the possibility of legal action against the DCLG, a. However, it is likely that any action would have to be initiated by one Almo on behalf of all those affected.
Taylor insisted this was a last resort and said the likelihood of a legal challenge is ‘quite remote’. A meeting is also planned with housing minister John Healey.
