The Government says that all Council homes should meet the Decent Home Standard by 2010. This basic standard says a home must be “wind and weather tight, warm and have modern facilities”.Government funding to meet the ‘decent homes’ standard ended in March this year. Although all homes meet the Decent Home Standard in Oldham there is not enough money to pay for longer-term investment and management costs Therefore the Council has needed to look at different ways of financing the future housing service
To identify the best ways of bringing in additional investment for the future and to find out priorities of tenants the Options Appraisal Team carried out a six months study including a stock condition survey of over 3000 properties, face to face consultation, a questionnaire, and a full review of housing finance. Tenants were asked to give their views on their homes, their neighbourhoods and the services they received.
To see a copy of the latest tenants newsletter (issue two) please click here
Tenants were invited to a conference on 6 October 2008 where they were able to find out further information on the Options Appraisal Process and have their say on how they felt their aspirations could be met in the future.
To see a copy of the feedback report from the tenants conference please click here
Following these events the Housing Options Panel which was made up of which is made up of five councillors, five staff representatives from First Choice Homes Oldham and six tenant representatives made its recommendation to the Council on 9 October.2008 It recommended that the Council should transfer its homes to a new locally based registered social landlord (RSL) and that First Choice Homes Oldham should be transformed to become that RSL.
A report outlining this recommendation was sent to Cabinet on 24 November 2008 and the Council will make its final decision in December.
To see more information about the Cabinet meeting and a copy of the report click here
Further information will be available in the new year.
You can contact the Options Appraisals Team directly on the details below.
Phone: Freephone 0800 074 0680
Fax: 0161 770 4855
Email: stock.transfer@oldham.gov.uk
Postal: Options Appraisal Team, Oldham Council, Level 11, Civic Centre, West Street, Oldham OL1 1UW
Opening hours - 9.00am – 5.00pm
Please note for for repairs, caretaking and so on tenants should contact First Choice Homes Oldham on 0161 770 6699.
Frequently asked questions about Housing Options Appraisal
Updated: JH 12/2008