Strong support for council housing coming back ‘in house’

Thursday, 5 October 2023 17:20

By David Murphy

Tenants of Six Town Housing have overwhelmingly backed plans to bring their housing services back under council control.

An independent ‘test of opinion’ has revealed that nine out of ten tenants who took part support the proposal by the local authority to take back direct management of its 7,700 houses.

Six Town Housing was set up as an Arm’s Length Management Organisation (ALMO) in 2003. With its own board and staff, it has been responsible for the day-to-day running of the council’s housing stock since then, from collecting rents to carrying out repairs.

Councillor Clare Cummins, cabinet member for housing services, said: “We all want to ensure that our tenants receive an excellent service, and that Bury has quality homes in successful communities.

“While Six Town Housing has delivered housing services to tenants on behalf of the council for many years, there are now significant changes in regulation and new legislation and the council is committed to improve and integrate services to our tenants and residents and improve the quality of the housing and estates.”

A report being presented to the council’s cabinet tonight (Thursday 5 Oct) reveals that 90.5% of the 771 tenants who responded to the survey supported the council’s proposal to deliver the housing management and maintenance service directly,

The feedback also identified 300 residents who said they were interested in getting more involved in activity on their estate.

Cllr Cummins added: “I am delighted that tenants are hugely in favour of our proposals, and we will be bringing another report to the cabinet in November setting out the next steps.”