Housing firm tenants 'will not be cast adrift'

Dexter Smith said he would "make sure the rights of tenants are reserved"

Tenants of a council's troubled private housing firm will not be "cast adrift", the authority's leader has promised.

James Elliman Homes is a private housing company, wholly owned by Slough Borough Council, which has come to house dozens of homeless families.

It has operated at a loss since 2020, and the council said it had not been able to ensure "properties are managed to a decent standard and rent arrears and voids are managed" because it does not have any of its own staff.

The council is now considering the future of the company, but leader Dexter Smith said he would "make sure the rights of tenants are reserved".

"We're not speaking of casting them adrift," he said at a meeting on Thursday.

James Elliman Homes manages a block of flats on Alpha Street North

Slough Borough Council set up James Elliman Homes in 2017.

As well as using council officers instead of employing its own staff, Mr Smith said it also did not have a "fully functioning" management board, which led it to submit its accounts late two years running - putting it at risk of being struck off both times.

Council officers said one of the problems was "insufficient" separation between the council and the company.

They said James Elliman Homes provided a "really valuable service" in housing homeless families but had not met its objective as a private business to "provide a return to its shareholder".

They said it should produce a business plan looking at how it could become profitable, and that the council should give "full consideration" to how any decision would impact tenants.

Gurcharan Manku said the council should try and "made it work" with James Elliman Homes

Councillor Gurcharan Manku said James Elliman Homes could still be "a good asset" for the council.

"Let's make it work for us and our residents," he said.

The cabinet's asset disposals sub-committee is set to be given a further update in October.