tenants have overwhelmingly backed plans to set up a third-round arm's-length management organisation in Harrow.
But there has been a major blow for Sandwell council's ALMO.

Almost 73% of the 2454 Harrow tenants who voted in a ballot on Sunday supported the transfer of their homes to the ALMO, Spire Community Homes. Turnout was 31.5%.

The ALMO stands to receive almost £12m of government money over the next six years if it receives a two-star rating in Audit Commission inspections later this year.

However, plans for an ALMO at Sandwell Borough Council in the West Midlands took a turn for the worse yesterday when commission inspectors awarded the council's housing management service just one star with uncertain prospects of improvement.

Sandwell Homes – the council's fourth-round ALMO, which will begin managing the council's 35,000 homes later this year – has less than 12 months to meet the two-star rating required for it to get its £349m provisional allocation.

Martin Palmer, lead housing inspector at the Audit Commission, said: "The priority for the ALMO is to achieve at least a two-star rating by January next year and the council still has some way to go, particularly in repairs, dealing with empty properties and being able to demonstrate value for money."

  • First-round ALMOs were still waiting this week to find out whether the government would approve their bids for additional funding.

    Last September the ODPM asked the eight first-round ALMOs to bid for extra funds in recognition of the tight restrictions originally imposed on them.

    They were forced to limit their original bids to roughly £5500 per home – a figure significantly surpassed in later bidding rounds.

    • Source

    Housing Today