ALMO Derby Homes sets sights on development

Derby Homes is planning to become the first arm’s-length management organisation to build social housing.

The ALMO is in talks with housing association Derwent Living about Derwent becoming its developer. It is also holding discussions with other developers and associations.

In 2003 Derby Homes submitted an unsuccessful bid to the ODPM for £8m to fund construction of new council homes. This time, Derby Homes hopes to fund building work with money from the Housing Corporation’s £200m pilot of the grant-to-developers scheme. It has yet to decide how much it will bid for.

ALMOs feel that being able to build will guarantee their future once they have met the decent homes standard by 2010.

Gwyneth Taylor, policy officer for the National Federation of ALMOs, said being able to develop would be “critical to ALMOs’ ability to plan for the future and meet need”.

“Developers are generally not bothered who owns the housing stock – ALMOs have to get a two-star Audit Commission rating and this inspires confidence,” she added.

Meanwhile, Sheffield Homes, the country’s biggest ALMO, has announced that it is looking to handle tenant arrears for other organisations as part of a raft of changes designed to increase its income stream.

Sheffield Homes, which became the only three-star ALMO in the north of England last month, is also planning to offer its antisocial behaviour and furniture and furnishings services to housing associations and local authorities over the next year. In addition, it hopes to offer its expertise to other authorities building their ALMOs.

Sheffield Homes needs to develop additional income streams because it is likely to lose 13,000 homes when some of the properties it manages for the council are transferred to a housing association.

Peter Morton, chief executive of Sheffield Homes, said: “We are looking to see how we can use our expertise. Transfer will start happening in 2006 and we have to be ready to replace that income stream.”