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London council moves to shut down ALMO
Haringey Council in north London has begun the process of shutting down its ALMO and bringing some 15,000 homes back in house.
The council said that the decision to close Homes for Haringey was an “essential” move to strengthen resident voice, improve accountability and ensure services are joined up.
It 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.
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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.”
Mr Ejiofor confirmed that any change would require a formal decision by the cabinet and consultation with residents and staff, so nothing will happen immediately.
“We will shortly be writing to tenants, leaseholders and others about the timeline and what will happen next.”
The ALMO, set up in April 2006, currently employs roughly 750 staff. Haringey’s annual statement of accounts for 2019/20 showed that the council’s Housing Revenue Account usable reserves had fallen from £32.8m at March 2019 to £15.6m at March 2020.
Paul Burnham, secretary at Haringey Defend Council Housing, welcomed the news and said: “All the remaining ALMOs should now be closed down, and all council housing management brought back in house.”
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