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Birmingham offers fourth option for Council Tenants

There has been considerable debate about how to fund improvements to council housing.

Three options are generally made available by government:

Stock Transfer - where all the housing stock moves to an RSL (Registered Social Landlord - aka Housing Association)

ALMO - Arms Length Management Organisation - where the goverment gives the council about £4,600 per property if they set up a remote structure for managing Housing.

PFI - Which is where a contract for managing properties is created.

The fourth option is whereby the stock continues to be managed by the council potentially involving tenants as part of the management.

What Birmingham is doing which is unique is to offer tenants a positive retention option that can be funded. Housing Finance can be a bit confusing. In essence by recycling money that comes in from the sale of housing land we can fund the 4th option. (Which is required to make up the missing £165 Million.)

Essential things in housing, however include:
  1. Efficiency - if you are not efficient then you need more resources
  2. Dealing with bad behaviour - the same issue regardless of tenure actually
  3. Getting enough stable housing - some primary schools have a 20% turnover each year of children through unstable housing.




Comments

Bob Piper said…
John, are you saying the ODPM is allowing Birmingham to retain all of its capital receips for the sale of housing 'land, as opposed to the sale of housing, to use for housing repairs?
8:42 am
Bob Piper said…
John, is it as simple as that? The ODPM allows the retention of capital receipts on the sale of housing land? It sounds so easy I cannot understand why Councils (of all persuasions) continue on the PFI/Stock Transfer route.
9:45 am
John Hemming said…
Only if the land does not have houses on it.

RtB keeps 25% of the capital receipt.
11:30 am
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