Nottingham tenants say ‘yes’ to ALMO after £200,000 campaign

The result, announced on Tuesday, is a boost for the round-four ALMO programme, which had been struggling since January when Camden tenants voted “no” (HT 16 January, page 7).

Of the 37,539 Nottingham tenants and leaseholders eligible to vote, 11,287 backed the switch to an ALMO on a turnout of 40%.

The council is waiting for the ODPM to confirm how much extra funding it will receive.

It has asked for £165m and housing minister Keith Hill confirmed last week that the round-four ALMOs would receive at least 80% of their bids (HT 23 July, page 13).

Lynne Pennington, corporate director of Nottingham council, said: “We put a lot of effort into encouraging tenant turnout but we did not know how people would vote.”

She added that Nottingham had been concerned about the impact of anti-transfer campaign group Defend Council Housing, which played a key role in the Camden no vote.

“Change is difficult but we wanted everybody to know the facts, not the rumours,” said Pennington.

The council spent £200,000 on a “yes” campaign that included sending newsletters and videos to all 33,000 council tenants and appearances on local TV and radio.

The campaign was bolstered by an article in Nottingham council’s newsletter from Dame Jane Roberts, leader of Camden council, urging tenants to vote in favour of the switch.

Headlined “A cautionary tale from Camden council”, it spoke of Camden having “bleak houses, not decent homes”.

DCH spokesman Alan Walter, who was recently threatened with prosecution after putting up anti-ALMO posters in Camden, said: “The Nottingham result doesn’t surprise us. The council spent a small fortune on promoting the ALMO.

“Our budget was 1% of theirs. By no one’s standards is that a fair and balanced debate.

“If there’d been an option to vote for the same money to be given directly to the council, no one would have voted for the ALMO.”