Islington set to bring council home management in-house

Islington Council is set to move housing repairs and maintenance for more than 4,000 council homes back in-house, after a consultation with residents.

The London borough has two Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts to manage council housing stock with property management company Partners for Improvement in Islington (Partners).

One contract, PFI2, covering more than 4,000 council homes, ends in April 2022.

As such, the council needed to consider how housing maintenance and the repair for the homes would be covered in the future.

A month-long consultation asked residents if they wanted maintenance and repair to be carried out by the council, or another external provider.

Of the 392 people who responded, 91% were in favour of the council delivering services directly.

This would mean that from the end of the contract in April 2022, the council will directly deliver a housing management, maintenance and repairs service to these residents.

‘An overwhelming majority of people in PFI2 homes who responded to our consultation told us that they want their housing and maintenance services brought back in-house,’ said executive member for housing and development, Cllr Diarmard Ward.

‘Bringing these homes back under council management will allow us to put customer satisfaction and quality service provision at the heart of these services, while at the same time delivering value for money for all of our residents.

‘We will continue to work closely with Partners while they continue to manage our council homes,’ added Cllr Ward.

A spokesperson for Partners added: ‘We feel privileged to have delivered the investment which residents needed, fitting new kitchens, bathrooms and full central heating systems and managing these 4000 homes since 2006.

‘We are pleased that residents have supported the council’s preferred option for when our PFI2 project ends and we will continue to work closely with the council to ensure a smooth transition.’

Photo Credit – Stevepb (Pixabay)