Posted on 4th Feb
Staff at Castle House, Newark, have welcomed new colleagues as the district council’s housing service is brought back into the council’s control.
In April 2019, Newark and Sherwood District Council made an in principle decision to bring the management of housing stock back in-house. Following a tenant consultation period, the council’s Policy and Finance Committee made the final decision on 26th September in favour of this proposal.
The move is expected to save just under £1m per year which, after allowing for inflation, will result in an estimated £40m over the next 30 years. These savings will be reinvested in frontline housing services and new council homes to help improve the lives and homes of tenants.
Tenancies and leases are not affected by this decision and the council remains the landlord. The council looks forward to working with tenants and leaseholders under the new arrangements once they are in place.
District council leader and chairman of the Policy and Finance Committee Councillor David Lloyd said: “We are thrilled to have moved the management of our housing stock back in house and welcome our new colleagues with open arms. Tenants should be reassured there will be no disruption to service and council staff are working hard behind the scenes to ensure this is the case.”
Newark and Sherwood Homes was set up by the council 15 years ago in order to secure national funding to improve council houses.
The council said the company has delivered well over this period and the council recognises that service performance is good with excellent and dedicated staff.However, the need for a separate company is no longer as relevant as it was when it was set up to secure government funding to deliver ‘decent homes’.
