Tenants say yes to ALMO option

Tenants in five areas of Sheffield have voted overwhelmingly in favour of an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) to manage council homes in their communities.

Local Neighbourhood Commissions recommended the ALMO option to bring in the investment needed to improve properties in line with the Government’s Decent Homes Standard.

Three areas - Area A North Sheffield, Area I Gleadless, and Area J South Sheffield - have chosen an ALMO for the whole area. Two areas, Area F Manor, Castle, and Woodthorpe, and Area K Darnall, Tinsley, and Burngreave, have chosen a mixture of ALMO and stock transfer.

All tenants in Areas A, I, and J, and tenants in parts of Areas F and K were balloted to see if they agreed with the recommendation to use an ALMO to bring in extra money. 46,000 council owned properties now come under arms length management by Sheffield Homes.

Councillor Chris Weldon, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, was pleased with the result and the turnout. He said:

“I am delighted with the strength of support for the proposals which are all in excess of 90 percent across the city. I wanted to ensure that tenants were given every opportunity through the Neighbourhood Commissions and ballots to have a real say in how the extra investment was brought into their homes. We will now submit a bid of around £200m to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to fund improvements in these areas.”

The full ballot results are:

• Area A 92% voted yes, the turnout was 43%
• Area F 93% voted yes, the turnout was 27%
• Area I 91% voted yes, the turnout was 37%
• Area J 93% voted yes, the turnout was 38%
• Area K 92% voted yes, the turnout was 36%

The Council will now recruit people to Sheffield Homes local boards in these areas to form part of the ALMO. Anyone who is interested in becoming a board member can call 0800 169 7580 for more information about what is involved.

The Council has already carried out extensive consultation with tenants in parts of Areas F and K that propose stock transfer to improve their properties and neighbourhoods. The surveys suggest that there is a strong likelihood of tenants voting in favour of stock transfer at a formal ballot. Further consultation will be carried out with tenants about the type of housing association they favour, and their priorities for services.

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Contact: Claire Turner, Corporate Media Team, on 0114 273 6934