Haringey Council has begun the process of closing down Homes for Haringey and bringing around 15,000 homes back in house, it has revealed.
The north London council said the decision to bring the ALMO (arms-length management organisation) back in house was “essential” and would lead to a stronger resident voice, improved accountability, and more joined-up services.
Joseph Ejiofor, leader of Haringey Council, said: “We are constantly reviewing how we can best deliver on these responsibilities.
“Now more than ever, it is essential that we look for ways to strengthen resident voice, improve accountability, and ensure that we join up services in a way that supports our residents to thrive.
“To this end councillor Emine Ibrahim and I have asked our staff to begin the process of consulting on bringing Homes for Haringey back in house as part of Haringey Council.”
Ejiofor confirmed that any change would require a formal decision by the cabinet and consultation with residents and staff.
“We will shortly be writing to tenants, leaseholders and others about the timeline and what will happen next.”
The move comes amid a spate of councils across England taking similar decisions to shut down their ALMOs for reasons including breaches of the Regulator of Social Housing’s Home Standard and cost-saving measures.
At the start of January, Manchester City Council decided to bring ALMO Northwards Housing back in house.
The council made the decision to regain control of the ALMO following a consultation with residents, which saw 93% of responses welcoming the proposals to bring the management of their homes back within the purview of the council for the first time since 2005.
Homes for Haringey was established in April 2006 and currently employs around 750 staff.
Haringey’s annual statement of accounts for 2019/20 showed that the council’s Housing Revenue Account usable reserves had fallen by more than 50% from £32.8m at March 2019 to £15.6m in March 2020.
Image: CK Travels/Shutterstock
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