East Kent Housing explained...

Since April 2011, East Kent Housing has been managing your council housing services on behalf of the local councils in Canterbury, Dover, Shepway and Thanet.

East Kent Housing is a company controlled by Canterbury City Council, Dover District Council, Shepway District Council and Thanet District Council within the meaning of part V of the Housing Act 1989. We are an 'arms length management organisation' (ALMO) that manage the four council's housing services. To explain a bit more about what East Kent Housing is and is not – we’ve put together a few facts for you:

What East Kent Housing is:

  • An organisation set up and owned by the four local councils to run its council housing services.
  • Run by an independent management board, which includes tenants, independent members and councillors, but remains accountable through a contract with the four councils.
  • According to the government’s watchdog the Audit Commission, this is the best approach to managing housing services.

What East Kent Housing isn't:

  • A private company, as it is still owned by the four councils. This is not a way of privatising council housing. Your homes are safe and still owned by your council.
  • Your landlord. The council remains your landlord and you remain a tenant of the council with all the same legal rights.
  • A profit making organisation, neither does it have shareholders. All savings must, by law, be used to improve services.
  • A housing association, and it does not mean that your home has been sold to a housing association.

About ALMOs in general

The ALMO programme started in 2001 and six bidding rounds have taken place for local authorities seeking to join the programme. There are around 50 ALMOs in the UK, which manage thousands of council homes across the country.

An arm’s length management organisation (ALMO) is a not for profit company set up by a local authority to manage its housing stock.

When an ALMO is established, the housing stock remains in the ownership of the local authority but the ALMO takes responsibility for its day-to-day housing services management.

Did you know?
ALMOs have demonstrated that they offer a better service to tenants than any other form of council housing management – ALMOs achieved higher inspection ratings than local authority managed housing or housing associations.

Want to know more about ALMOs?
Visit the National Federation of ALMOs website.

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