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Housing Organisation Applauds Decent Homes Success Story But
Calls For Government to Maintain Funding
The National Federation of ALMOs (NFA) is calling for the
government to honour its promises to bring all council homes up to
a Decent standard following a report by the National Audit Office
(NAO) which revealed significant shortfalls in funding and delays
to the programme.
The NFA, whose members manage more than half of the country’s
council homes, is calling for the government to ensure that
sufficient funding is allocated to the Decent Homes programme to
ensure that all of the essential home improvements can be
completed.
According to the NAO report, the Decent Homes programme is now
expected to finish in 2019 – nine years after the 2010
deadline and at a cost of £37bn compared to the £19bn
originally budgeted.
As a result of the Programme, 86 per cent of properties now meet
the Decent Homes standard nationally. However the NFA has echoed
concerns raised in the report, over the government’s
commitment to continued investment in Decent Homes beyond the
original 2010 deadline.
The report found that the achievements of Decent Homes will be at
risk “if a reliable funding mechanism is not put in place to
deliver the remainder of the Programme and to maintain homes to
Decent Standard.”
Alison Inman NFA Chair said:
“The NFA welcomes the findings of the NAO report which
highlights the considerable investment and achievements of the
Decent Homes programme over the past eight years. Across ALMOs in
particular, over 220,000 homes have been brought up to the
standard. However the government must see the project through to
the end and then provide the necessary funds for a rolling
programme of maintenance in the future.
“The government’s decision to defer £150 million
of the Decent Homes budget has left thousands of council tenants
with an uncertain future and it is essential that we continue to
maintain and improve existing stock as new build alone will never
satisfy the need.”
ALMOs have a remarkable record of improving services and involving
tenants in key decision making with 37 ALMOs having achieved the
Audit Commission’s two-star rating while a further 21 have
been awarded the maximum three-star rating; a track record
unsurpassed by the housing association or traditional local
authority sectors.
Following the government’s decision to defer £150m of
Decent Homes funding, ALMO tenants from across the country have
backed an NFA led petition on the 10 Downing Street website calling
for ministers to honour their financial pledges.
To sign the petition, visit
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/DecentHomes/
