Published on Friday 09 July 2021
Tenants and leaseholders living in council housing across the area could benefit from a new combined service that manages all council housing stock across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
A proposed combined service is being considered by councillors at Cabinet on 28 July 2021 with a recommendation to carry out an extensive public consultation on a preferred single housing management service. The service would be managed within the council and overseen by an advisory board, including tenants, to provide oversight, expertise and advice. The consultation will also importantly seek views on what the council housing service should deliver in the future.
If approved, a 12-week consultation would get underway in August and feedback will inform the final proposed service to be considered at a future Cabinet meeting in early 2022. A new service could be put in place from April 2022.
Councillor Robert Lawton, Portfolio Holder for Homes said: "Now that BCP Council is one council serving the residents of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, we are reviewing how we manage our council homes and we are considering creating one new service.
"The review presents the opportunity to ensure that we are delivering one service that is good quality, consistent and fair for all council tenants and leaseholders across the area. We will be working very closely with tenants, leaseholders, staff and other stakeholders throughout this process to ensure that we develop a model that best meets the needs of our tenants and leaseholders as well as aligning with the council’s transformation plans to improve, modernise and make our services more efficient."
Chair of PHP Board, Rob Webber, said: "PHP has managed the council’s homes across Poole for the past 15 years. With the help of our residents, we have delivered a great service that by external comparison also represents excellent value for money. We are looking forward to working with the council to seize this unique opportunity to create a new and even better value for money service that will meet the needs of all current and future council residents across the area."
Council housing in the Bournemouth area is currently managed within the council by BCP Council, whilst in Poole it is managed by Poole Housing Partnership (PHP) an Arm’s Length Management Organisation (ALMO) although the council owns all of the homes and holds ultimate responsibility for the housing stock. There are no council-owned homes in the Christchurch area as these were sold to a housing association several years ago.
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Notes to editor:
The council’s housing stock within the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) is situated within the Bournemouth and Poole neighbourhoods and comprises 9562 council owned properties (5,080 in Bournemouth and 4,512 in Poole) and 1,139 leasehold properties.