Background

Ashfield Homes Ltd was set up by Ashfield District Council as an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) on 1 April 2002 to manage, maintain, and improve its housing stock. The Company is one of the top performers nationally and has a reputation for delivering excellent housing services. The Company is one of a very few housing organisations to have been awarded an ’excellent’ 3 star rating twice by the Audit Commission’s Housing Inspectorate. In September 2005, Ashfield Homes was also the first ALMO to complete its programme of modernisation and repair works to the Council housing stock to meet the Government’s Decent Homes Standard.

Ashfield Homes manages Ashfield District Council’s rented housing stock of 7,303 properties. The first Council houses were built in Ashfield in 1919 and are situated on Cross Lane at Huthwaite, and were provided for a local Policeman and Midwife. The last Council properties to be built in 1984 were bungalows for older people on Watnall Road, Hucknall. The Council’s housing stock reached an all time high of 13,242 in 1981, after which it decreased significantly due to the effects of the Right to Buy introduced in 1980.

The current stock can be categorised into four main geographical areas based on the major towns and rural villages: Sutton in Ashfield, 3,180 properties, Kirkby in Ashfield, 1,779 properties, Hucknall, 1,807 properties, and the rural area to the west of the district, including the villages of Selston, Underwood, and Jacksdale, 537 properties.  

Arms Length Management Organisations are companies set up by a local authority to manage, maintain and improve its housing stock. The local authority remains as the landlord and Council tenants remain secure tenants of the authority. An Arms Length Management Organisation does not trade for profit, and is managed by a Board of

Non-Executive Directors comprising Council representatives, elected tenants and independent people with special skills drawn from the local community.

In July 2000, the Government announced  that it would make resources available to local authorities with high performing housing services wishing to pursue the arms length option. With this funding, local authorities and their Arms Length Management Organisations would be expected to achieve the Decent Homes Standard for their housing stock by 2010.  

To meet the requirements of the Government’s initiative, Ashfield Homes Ltd was created on 1 April 2002 by Ashfield District Council to undertake Landlord functions of its Housing Service. The initial agreement with Ashfield Homes is for 25 years with 5 year break clauses. The Council has recently agreed to extend its contract with Ashfield Homes beyond the first break clause to March 2012.

Under Section 27 of the Housing Act 1985, and with the approval of the Secretary of State, the following functions were delegated to Ashfield Homes:-

• Arrears Management and Debt Counselling
• Tenant Participation, Information and Consultation
• Enforcement of Tenancy Conditions
• Similar functions for Leaseholders
• Stock Investment and Repairs
• Ordering Managing Lettings, Voids and Under occupation Estate Management, Caretaking and Support Services under Supporting People
• Anti-Social Behaviour Policy 
• Environmental Protection and Improvement

In November 2001, Ashfield District Council was one of only eight Councils in England, and the only District Council to be included in the first round of the Government’s Arms Length Housing Management initiative to improve the quality and management of Council housing. As a result, Ashfield District Council was allocated extra cash totalling £46 million to spend on its housing stock. In October 2004, the Council received a further allocation of £9.2 million to further support the Decent Homes Programme and offset rising costs in the building industry.  

In November 2002, Ashfield Homes was assessed by the Audit Commission’s Housing Inspectorate as providing "an excellent 3 star service with promising prospects for improvement". This decision released the money provisionally allocated to Ashfield District Council in 2001 under the Government’s Arms Length Management Organisation initiative for the repair and modernisation of its housing stock. The Company was re-inspected in September 2005 and assessed by the Housing Inspectorate as providing "an excellent 3 star service with excellent prospects for improvement".

In September 2005, Ashfield Homes became the first ALMO to complete the Decent Homes Programme on behalf of its parent local authority. The Decent Homes Standard, as defined by the Government, states that all local authority housing should be wind and weather tight, warm, and have modern facilities. The target for meeting this Standard for all local authorities with housing stock is 2010. Ashfield Homes had originally aimed to complete its Decent Homes Programme by March 2006 but completed its task six months early. Work was carried out in over 6,000 properties at a cost of around £70 million.

The money spent locally in Ashfield through Ashfield Homes’ Construction Partnership helped boost the local economy, which in recent years has suffered from the decline of the traditional industries of deep coal mining and textile manufacture.  

What is Ashfield Homes?  

Ashfield Homes is a wholly owned, not for profit, Housing Company. The Company has full freedom and independence to make operational decisions on the management of the Council’s housing stock. The Company employs around 200 people.  

The Company is managed by a Board of Non-Executive Directors, which is made up of four tenant representatives, four Council nominees, and four appointed independent representatives from the business community. The day to day running of the Company is delegated to a Senior Management Team headed by a Chief Executive. Membership of the Senior Management Team includes the Chief Executive, the Director of Operations, the Company Accountant, the Assistant Director of Housing Services, the Assistant Director of Technical Services, the Human Resources and Development Manager, and the Company Secretary and Solicitor. 

Ashfield District Council continues to own the housing stock. Tenants retain their secure tenancy, and pay their rent to the Council. The Council, in consultation with Ashfield Homes, sets the rents for its properties and determines the allocations policy.