Town hall considers taking over social housing

At present Sheffield Council’s 42,000 houses and flats are run by the arms length management organisation (ALMO) Sheffield Homes, which was set up in 2004.

But the contract signed with the ALMO is up for renewal in 2014, and members of Sheffield Council’s ruling cabinet will discuss its future at a meeting next week.

The council said its preferred option was to take management of homes back “in-house” but added it planned to consult its 50,000 tenants and leaseholders before making a final decision.

Housing spokesman Coun Harry Harpham said: “This is a significant and important matter for Sheffield Council, Sheffield Homes and our tenants, leaseholders and staff.

“It is one of the most important decisions for the city in recent years and that is why the cabinet is being asked to back plans to to ask our tenants how they want their homes to be managed in the future.

“It is vital that we make clear no decision has yet been made and that both options to either stay with an ALMO model or become a council-managed service will be consulted on.”

If the consultation process is approved, a ballot of tenants and leaseholders will be carried out in February next year, with a final decision expected in March.

The proposals were attacked by the opposition Liberal Democrat group, which drew up its own consultation plan before losing control of the council last May.

Coun Alison Brelsford, Liberal Democrat homes spokesman, said: “The Lib Dem plan involved tenants deciding what options should be consulted upon and how the consultation should be conducted.

“However, under Labour the power is very much back in the town hall. We are extremely concerned with the news that tenants will not be allowed to have a binding vote on the issue.

“Labour are going back to their ‘we know best’ attitude, telling tenants what option they should choose before any consultation takes place.

“We believe it should be tenants rather than politicians who decide the future of how their homes are managed.”