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News

ALMO To Bring £35.4M To Poole's Housing Stock

It’s thumbs up for ALMO following a massive 78% of Poole’s tenants and leaseholders showing support for the Council’s proposal to set up an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) to manage housing services in Poole.

Poole’s 5,200 tenants and leaseholders were contacted in December 2003 and January 2004 by independent consultants (The Market Research Group) and asked to give their opinion on the scheme.

Poole is one of just thirteen councils in England to be successful in securing government approval to set up an ALMO, which comes with up to £35.4 million government funding. The money will be spent upgrading Poole’s council homes to the ‘Decent Homes Standard’* - a Government initiative to make sure all social housing reaches a certain standard by 2010.

Cllr Bill Wretham, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Housing, said: "We are extremely pleased that our tenants and leaseholders have given their support to the ALMO. Poole’s Housing Services have worked hard to get this far and it has put us in a very fortunate position with a great future ahead. Poole is an exciting place to be with much development taking place and many improvements being made to our town. We truly believe that the ALMO will improve our tenants’ quality of life and I look forward to seeing it happen. Thanks to specially targeted funding this valuable project won’t cost Poole’s Council Taxpayers a penny. I would like to thank the Council’s Management Team for working so hard to make this exciting scheme possible for Poole."

Joe Logan, Head of Housing Management Services, said: "The £35.4 million that the ALMO will bring means that we will be able to improve all of our homes and deliver the ‘Decent Homes’ standard for all our residents. The scheme will ensure that all of our homes are in a good state of repair with modern kitchens, bathrooms and heating. If everything goes to plan, the investment programme kicks off in January 2005 and will be completed by 2010. The staff have worked really hard, and everyone is delighted that we have been able to bring the much needed investment into our town."

An independent board made up of 4 tenants and 1 leaseholder representative, 5 Councillors and 5 independent representatives from business and the local community, will oversee the work of the ALMO; ensuring that it is run independently from the Council and is effective in delivering excellent housing services.

The ALMO, which is to be named Poole Housing Partnership Ltd, is expected to ‘go live’ in April 2004.

Notes:

• Over three quarters of respondents (78%) were in favour of the proposal, under a fifth were undecided or had no preference (16%), with relatively few against the ALMO (6%).
• The Council will continue to own the housing stock, whilst the new ALMO will take over day-to-day management of the properties
• The funding is conditional on the ALMO achieving a minimum 2 star rating from the Housing Inspectorate (in Sep 2004), demonstrating that high quality services are being delivered.
• Poole Council’s Housing Management Services were successful in achieving a 2 star rating in 2002.
• The Borough of Poole has 5,400 Council homes which it owns and manages; both tenants and leaseholders.

Ruth Lawson, PR Officer (Media), Borough of Poole, tel: (01202) 633295