City council cites changes in regulation among reasons for bringing ALMO in-house

Newcastle City Council is to close its arm’s-length management organisation (ALMO) for housing and bring the staff and work of Your Homes Newcastle (YHN) in-house after 19 years.

ALMOs were created in the early 2000s as a way for councils to access the former decent homes fund without having to undergo a stock transfer to a housing association.

YHN was created for this purpose in 2004, but the council said the funding no longer existed and taken with regulatory changes there was now no need for a separate housing body.

A cabinet report last July said the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill would set six consumer standards from April 2024 and local authority landlords would become subject to proactive inspection of performance and compliance with these.

At the same time, the Building Safety Act 2022 had introduced a Building Safety Regulator and “significant additional obligations around the safety and condition of tall buildings over 18 metres”, of which Newcastle has 42.

It concluded: “These changes in regulation will require more robust future governance framework that enables elected members and senior officers to gain assurance that all statutory duties and regulatory standards are being complied with.”

Irim Ali, cabinet member at Newcastle, said: “In recent years, we have faced major financial and regulatory changes in the housing sector that mean we need to get more from every pound we spend, so it was vital to consider whether there was a more effective and efficient way to deliver for our residents.

“Bringing all our housing services together, in the council, is an exciting opportunity to reflect on our achievements, identify areas for improvement and create a new housing service that will help us deliver now and in the future.” 

A consultation with tenants and leaseholders found 80% support bringing the ALMO in-house.

Staff will transfer to the council together with YHN’s commercial subsidiary Abri.

Mark Smulian