Cabinet asked to decide on future management of Council Housing and other housing services
The Council owns 5,300 homes in the borough
Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Cabinet is asked to approve bringing the management of Council Housing back into the Council following a consultation with tenants and leaseholders. Cabinet is also asked to approve future arrangements for other housing services currently delivered by ForHousing.
The Council owns 5,300 homes in the borough, mainly in the areas of Ellesmere Port, Neston and Winsford. These homes are currently managed and maintained on behalf of the Council by ForHousing. ForHousing also run the Council’s homelessness support service (branded as forfutures), home improvement agency (branded as HomeKey+), and the leasing of the Council’s affordable homes which sit in a separate Housing Investment Account. Due to ForHousing’s current strategic direction, both organisations mutually agree that these contracts will not be extended beyond the end date of June 2027.
In anticipation of the contract ending in 2027 and in light of significant changes in the housing landscape, last year the Council asked tenants for their views on how they would like their homes to be managed in the future. This consultation saw 75% of respondents saying that they would like the Council’s homes to be owned and managed by the Council, with repairs and maintenance delivered by an external specialist contractor.
Council officers are recommending that Cabinet now approves this as a way forward. This would provide long-term stability for tenants and give the Council direct control of service delivery to ensure it meets regulatory standards and provide a more flexible and responsive service for tenants. This would also benefit from the expertise and experience of external contractors for physical building works.
The Council would also manage improvements and adaptations to homes through the Home Improvement Agency, with physical works completed by external contractors. The Council’s affordable homes that sit in the Housing Investment Account would be leased by the Council to an external registered provider.
Homelessness Support Services for Temporary Accommodation, Out of Hours homelessness statutory duty services, the Supported accommodation gateway, homelessness prevention services, advice and information and tenancy support would also be delivered by the Council, giving the Council more control over improving outcomes for vulnerable people and better aligning these services with the homeless prevention services already delivered in-house. Homelessness Support Services for young people rough sleeping and supported accommodation would be delivered by the expertise of external specialist providers.
Cllr Christine Warner, Cabinet Member for Homes and Planning, said: “Thank you to all tenants and leaseholders who took part in the consultation. We have heard loud and clear that they would like the Council, rather than an external provider, to deliver housing services for them. We’ve listened hard, and the proposals outlined here act upon what they have told us. The Council now has the opportunity to deliver a housing model going forward that brings the Council closer to our residents.
“The delivery of housing services nationally has faced significant pressures, challenges and changes over recent years. The impact of the Covid pandemic saw an increase in repairs being reported by tenants, an increase in demand for adaptations, and an increase in homelessness. There has been extensive new legislation, greater regulation of social housing, and rent controls that we need to make sure are followed. At the same time housing management costs continue to increase both locally and nationally; whilst homelessness has also continued to rise.
“This proposal shows that the Council is embracing the challenge and is keen that this new model will benefit tenants, homeless people and others accessing housing services with a modern, fit-for-purpose service.”