The move follows a disastrous stock transfer ballot in April.
The town hall has identified a range of investment options for its 88,000 homes. Ideas include offering options of partial stock transfers, private finance initiative schemes or arm's-length management to individual areas.
Birmingham's housing strategy is set to go before the council's cabinet later this month.
It states: "A one-size-fits-all culture prevails that gives greater value to consistency than responsiveness to local needs and individual circumstances."
Greater tenant involvement is central to the improvement of housing services, it adds.
The council is looking at dividing up its housing management role between its 11 parliamentary constituencies. But it has not ruled out dividing the city's housing into as many as 55 neighbourhoods.
Birmingham housing director David Thompson said there was now a clear consensus within the council on the future management model for its housing.
"In contrast to the stock transfer proposal, we are less precise about where the investment will come from, but we know that management must be focused on neighbourhoods," he explained. "We are now no longer looking at a single overall solution for Birmingham. A range of investment possibilities are emerging and it will be up to neighbourhoods to choose from the menu, as it were."
The strategy document is expected to be consistent with the recommendations of Birmingham's housing commission, set up after 65% of tenants rejected transfer in the city (HT 11 April, page 1).
The commission, which reports in December, is chaired by London School of Economics housing coordinator Anne Power, known to favour community-based solutions.
Source
Housing Today
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