Setting up an arm’s-length management organisation is the favoured option to meet the decent homes standard among the 100 councils with the largest number of homes, Housing Today’s census found.

In the top 100, 32 councils have already set up an ALMO to meet the 2010 deadline while a further five plan to do so. Five more will use ALMOs in combination with partial stock transfers or private finance initiative deals.

The second largest group of councils, numbering 26, is that which has yet to make a decision on the future of its stock. Two others were set to make decisions in the next few days.

Fourteen councils will keep their homes in council ownership in order to meet decent homes.

Stock transfer was the least popular option among the top 100, with nine authorities already having transferred their homes to housing associations while four more planned to transfer their homes.

Sarah Webb, director of policy at the Chartered Institute of Housing, said that most local authorities would meet the deadline – despite the number that are currently undecided.

Source

Housing Today