Better Service Promised With East Kent Housing

Tenants and leaseholders in Dover District can look forward to a better service in the future, with the creation of an innovative new organisation to manage council housing.

East Kent Housing takes over the management and maintenance of the 18,000 homes belonging to Canterbury, Dover, Shepway and Thanet councils on 1 April 2011. It's the country's first super "arms length management organisation" (ALMO), which will be managed and owned by the four councils.

Tenants and leaseholders' rights and responsibilities will not change and Dover District Council will remain the owner and legal landlord of the council housing stock in Dover. The council will still make decisions on the level of rent to charge and what improvements and major repairs will be carried out.

Brendan Ryan is the Interim Managing Director of East Kent Housing. "This is all about giving tenants and leaseholders a better service in the future and involving them more in how services for them are run. By doing this, we can ensure that we're improving the things that matter most to them. Joining the four councils together also means we can make savings that we can then reinvest back into council housing in each area."

East Kent Housing will have to meet standards set by each council and will be responsible for looking after council estates, including managing grass cutting, gardening contracts, cleaning and maintenance of communal areas; managing improvements to tenants' homes; collecting rent and helping tenants who are having difficulty in paying; making sure that tenants stick to their tenancy agreements; involving and communicating with tenants, including producing newsletters, leaflets and supporting community groups and activities; working with the police, the council and other agencies to reduce anti-social behaviour; re-letting empty properties, approving mutual exchanges and changes to tenancies, and running sheltered housing schemes and organising adaptations to homes of tenants with disabilities.

Tenants and leaseholders are being updated about the new organisation through a dedicated local magazine and a new website www.eastkenthousing.org.uk.

Around 220 staff will transfer from the four councils into East Kent Housing. The new organisation will be run by a Board of people, made up of four tenants or leaseholders, four councillors who represent the four council areas and four local independent people.

East Kent Housing is part of an ongoing project to share services in East Kent to give the best value for money to the taxpayer and make the best use of the councils' resources and staff expertise.