Sheffield Tenants Travel to Parliament to Tell Council Housing Success Story

Over 40 MPs including Yvette Cooper MP, the Housing and Planning Minister met with Sheffield Homes tenants in parliament to recognise the successes and importance of affordable community housing programmes that put tenant empowerment at the heart of their operations. The event was sponsored by Sheffield’s Attercliffe MP Clive Betts.

 

The event was organised by the National Federation of ALMOs, the body which represents Arms Length Management Organisations which manage council properties around the country. Over 40 tenants from 12 of the country’s 59 ALMOs met MPs at the Houses of Parliament to promote the importance of genuine tenant involvement in both council housing programmes and wider community regeneration.

 

Sheffield Homes was represented by members of its Board of Directors and local Boards, including Chair of the Board Professor Tony Crook and Vice Chair Councillor Ray Satur and tenants Jose Derrick, Jack Foster, Pat Molloy and Joao Santos. They talked to MPs and Ministers about the success of Sheffield Homes, which manages 48,000 homes on behalf of Sheffield City Council, and is delivering a programme of Decent Homes investment worth £669 million. After the event they were invited to join Clive Betts MP and Hillsborough’s MP Angela Smith, for tea on the famous parliament terrace.

 

Yvette Cooper MP, Housing and Planning Minister gave the key note speech at the event, in which she commended the action ALMOs have taken to improve some of the country’s poorest neighbourhoods and including wider community regeneration initiatives. She made special mention of Sheffield’s Construction JOBMatch, a partnership between Sheffield City Council, Transform South Yorkshire, Sheffield Homes and its Decent Homes which has created on-the-job training opportunities for local unemployed people. Caroline Spelman MP, Shadow Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government and Dan Rogerson MP, Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson also spoke at the event, giving positive endorsements on ALMO’s work to deliver the highest quality of housing management for their tenants.

 

ALMOs, the council housing management option that empowers tenants, currently manage 895,000 council properties. This figure is set to grow to 1 million by the end of this year, which will then include half of all council dwellings in England. In the four years since they were established, ALMOs have brought over 100,000 homes up to the Government’s Decent Homes Standard. The first ALMOs have achieved this across their entire housing portfolio five years ahead of the 2010 target date.

 

Whilst ALMOs are accountable to their local council, day to day management of council housing stock is handed over to boards made up of tenants, who constitute at least a third and more in some cases, councillors and independent members. This ensures that services directly meet the needs and aspirations of residents and the individual needs of the communities they serve.

 

Peter Morton, Chief Executive of Sheffield Homes said: "We had a fantastic level of support from MPs at the event and the comments made by Yvette Cooper, Caroline Spelman and Dan Rogerson both celebrated the achievements ALMOs have made since their inception just four years ago and underlined the potential to further widen this remit to include wider community improvement programmes.

"ALMOs have been responsible for improving the lives of over a million tenants, whilst at the same time contributing two thirds of all local authority housing efficiency savings and we now hope to work closely with the Government to secure ALMOs a greater role in the long term sustainability of their local communities."

 

Yvette Cooper MP, Housing and Planning Minister said: "ALMOs now manage every one in three council homes and through their improvement programmes and success in meeting the Decent Homes targets have demonstrated the importance of involving tenants in critical decision making.

"A number of ALMOs have already introduced innovative programmes to address the needs of their wider communities including tackling anti-social behavior and enhancing employment skills and opportunities. Looking forward, we are now working with them to identify how they can have a broader role in improving neighbourhoods and help address the current housing shortage through new build."

 

To ensure that ALMOs and their residents continue to have a voice in the housing debate at Westminster, an All Party Parliamentary Group for ALMOs is set to be launched. Its aim will be to promote the benefits and further development of ALMOs.

 

The Group will provide a forum for discussion about issues relevant to the development of ALMOs, including securing adequate funding to further enhance housing standards after 2010, increasing the amount of social housing available after new build and improving communities and local environments through safer, cleaner, greener neighbourhoods.

 

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