There will be £700m available for a third round of arm's-length management organisations, figures obtained exclusively by Housing Today reveal.
The confirmation of the figure – which is slightly more than the sector had anticipated – is certain to spark fervent activity among councils such as Sheffield and Newcastle that are keen to explore using ALMOs.

The £700m has been calculated by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister based on the assumption that all round-two ALMOs achieve a two-star inspection score and all round one and two bids are met in full.

It was revealed by Housing Today last week that the ODPM had managed to secure the increase in funding for ALMOs to £2bn over the next three years, by switching unused resources from the housing revenue account. These amounted to around £450m.

John Perry, director of policy at the Chartered Institute of Housing masterminded the use of ALMOs, which see homes retained in council ownership, but transferred to a separate body.

He said: "The money is obviously welcome, but the question remains: will this be sufficient? I don't think it will be. If all the councils that don't go down the stock transfer route go down the ALMO route then there won't be enough money.

"There is always the option of arguing for more money in the next comprehensive spending review," he added.

Source

Housing Today