Management company Mouchel Parkman has been awarded seven-year contracts to manage homes in two of Hackney's five zones. Paddington Churches Housing Association has won a contract to manage another zone.
Paddington Churches and management company Pinnacle have been managing homes in the remaining two zones since 2001.
Councillor Jamie Carswell, Hackney's cabinet member for housing, said: "The main priority throughout the process has been improving service quality for tenants.
"There have been improvements over the past six years, but they have been sketchy. The figures show that Pinnacle and Paddington Churches have been the best performers."
A bid from an in-house team was rejected by the selection panel, which included six residents and six housing officers.
Carswell said: "We were hopeful that the in-house team would come through, but at the end of the day our partners were able to bring outside experience and track records."
Most of the housing management department's 80-strong staff will transfer to the contractors on protected pay and conditions; the rest will stay with the council.
The troubled council hopes to lift its one-star rating to two stars with the contractors' help. This will give it access to funding reserved for higher-scoring councils when it completes its options appraisal next year.
Once it has done this it will decide whether to go for arm's-length management, stock transfer or a private finance initiative to find the £150m it needs to bring its 26,000 homes up to the decent homes standard. The three contracts have a get-out clause, so they can be broken if the council chooses to transfer.
Other councils to have contracted out the management of their homes include Lambeth, Westminster and Islington.
Source
Housing Today
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