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Why we scrapped our ALMO

This month Westminster City Council scrapped the management company which had been looking after its council homes for 17 years. Councillor Andrew Smith explains why

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Why we scrapped our ALMO, by Westminster Council #ukhousing

Westminster Council explains its decision to bring housing services back in house and axe its longstanding ALMO CityWest Homes #ukhousing

Managing a housing service is a challenge that will be very familiar to local authorities across the UK.

Of course we all want to do the best we can, recognising it’s not about bricks and mortar but people’s homes and well-being. It’s one of the most important services a council can provide.

The prevailing wisdom in the early 2000s was that local government should create arm’s-length management organisations (ALMOs) to manage housing stock.

These ‘ALMOs’ were designed to improve services for residents, and carried with them financial incentives from the Tony Blair government.

The logic was sensible and embraced by many different local authorities all around the country. By setting up bodies focused on housing management at arm’s length to local authorities, the service could drive up standards and increase efficiency.

Westminster City Council, embracing the change sweeping across local government and seeking to lead the way, set up CityWest Homes in 2002.


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It started well. Resident satisfaction was high, CityWest regularly scored as a high-performing ALMO compared with other housing providers, achieving four-star excellent status.

The ALMO achieved 100% Decent Homes compliance, using the additional resources provided by the government. It made significant improvements to the council’s stock that included major programmes of kitchen and bathroom replacement across its stock.

The challenges of an ageing housing stock, of course, still exist, with 70% being pre-1965 in Westminster.

There is a mixture of properties ranging from Victorian social housing, post-war estates and converted street properties, and 40% of the stock is leasehold.

“Overflowing councillor inboxes told stories of poor customer service, complaints not being dealt with and repairs not being fixed”

However, despite these challenges there has been substantial investment in programmes aimed at improved insulation of properties, tackling cold and damp together with major window and roof replacements.

Fast forward to last year though and the ALMO was struggling. It was clear from residents’ feedback that the service was no longer where it should be and that the ALMO had lost touch with the council’s residents.

Overflowing councillor inboxes told stories of poor customer service, complaints not being dealt with and repairs not being fixed.

The key thing I could see from talking to staff was that they weren’t being supported to put residents first.

Our response was rapid and in October last year the council made the huge decision to put an end to CityWest Homes and bring the service back in house on 1 April.

This brings the service closer to democracy, increasing accountability and ensuring that Westminster Council’s strong customer-focused ethos is driving improvements. We have a culture of challenging ourselves to be the best and to provide excellent services for our residents.

During recent years there has been significant changes in the financial freedoms affecting local authorities.

In particular the ability to build houses once again and the lifting of the borrowing cap has refocused Westminster’s housing objectives to regenerate its estates and deliver new affordable housing opportunities.

There are over 2,000 new affordable homes due to be delivered by 2023. It makes sense for delivering excellent housing services to also be a part of the council’s overall ambition.

Our location in the heart of London is a huge advantage and we are lucky in Westminster to attract local government’s brightest and best that are keen to work on major issues at the heart of one of the globe’s greatest cities.

Since 2002 the council has made many changes to how we interact with residents, particularly with our ‘Report It’ tool, which makes it easier for residents to tell us about problems online, and our contact centre.

These changes had not been made to the same standard at CityWest Homes, making the day-to-day job more difficult for staff.

One of our first actions has been to provide extra training and resources for our call centre, building on the expertise and learning from other parts of the council.

A specialist complaints team has been created, focused on resolving long-standing issues and providing a higher standard of customer care.

Residents have already had the chance to contribute ideas via a six-month long listening programme, which saw over 1,000 residents sharing their views on the service.

This will continue, with regular events and opportunities for residents to feedback.

Since starting the handover, we’ve already seen progress in turning the service around: complaints are down by 35%.

Resident satisfaction with repairs has increased, from 73% to 85%.

The closer working relationship between the council as a whole and our housing management team has already started to bear fruit.

As one resident told us recently: “We have to look for a better future, all the residents have hopes that the service will improve.”

While it will take time, we’ve taken the first step towards putting residents first. For me, this is what local government is all about.

Andrew Smith, cabinet member for housing services, Westminster City Council

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