Government's £983m Decent Homes pledge cheers NFA

Published by Max Salsbury for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government, Communities, Development, Finance

The National Federation of ALMOs (NFA) has welcomed the Government's pledge to inject £983m into the Decent Homes Programme over the next two years.

The funds will allow the NFA's 55 members, which manage half of England's council housing stock, to continue the Programme until 2015. The cash will actually allow a number of ALMOs to complete work on their entire stocks.

When the Decent Homes programme began in 1997, there were 2.1m council and housing association homes that didn't meet the basic standard of providing a warm, waterproof dwelling with reasonably modern facilities. Over the last ten years, thousands of ALMO managed properties have been brought up to the Decent Standard.

It has been claimed that the results of the Programme have had wider positive effects than just better homes. Research by Nottingham City Homes, Nottingham Business School and Trent University has shown that "the improvements to the physical condition of the property have led to improved outcomes for tenants in terms of their security, health and comfort, as well as wider impacts on the community such as carbon reduction, employment opportunities and neighbourhood improvement".

Although the Decent Homes allocations for the period 2011-2015 were announced after the last spending review, the years 2013-15 were provisional and dependent on the successful delivery of the programme, the continuing availability of capital resources and the policy decisions of government.

Sue Roberts MBE, NFA Chair, said: “The confirmation of Decent Homes allocations is a real positive for ALMOs and their tenants and will see the hugely successful programme of home improvements through to the end. It is important to remember that a significant amount of work is still being done by many ALMOs, and this announcement will not only directly benefit thousands of tenants, but also the wider community by providing much-needed construction jobs and training opportunities.”