Birmingham council may integrate housing strategy and management as part of plans to overhaul its housing department.

John Lines, cabinet member for housing, said the council had a “strategy for everything” but very few concrete details on how they would be implemented.

The divide must be addressed, he said: “All the strategy in the world won’t cure our problems and I have concerns about the set-up.”

An attempt to unify strategy and landlord services would fly in the face of government policy. One of the arguments for stock transfer is that it allows councils to concentrate on overall strategy while associations take on day-to-day management.

Lines added that he was not certain exactly how housing might be managed and was in consultation with staff and consultants.

Another major concern, he said, was the poor morale of staff. “For the last four years, we’ve had a different member for housing and interim housing directors. Sickness and absenteeism rates have gone up.

“I’m hoping that by bringing stability, we can build up morale.”

Lines said he would go ahead with Tory councillors’ pre-election pledge to build new council homes in partnership with private developers. Housing elderly and vulnerable tenants would be the priority.

The council’s scrutiny committee is preparing a report on the cost of improving Birmingham’s 80,000 council’s homes.

It will be published in September.

Source

Housing Today