Council votes to directly manage social housing

Alliston Gardens, Northampton, is one of the properties managed by NPH

A council has approved a phased plan to bring the management of its 11,500 social homes back in-house.

It comes after a report last year found "serious failings" in how Northamptonshire Partnership Homes (NPH) adhered to home safety and quality standards.

The Reform UK-controlled cabinet on West Northamptonshire Council voted unanimously to close down NPH at a meeting on Tuesday.

The plans, which require approval from the secretary of state, would mean the council taking direct control by April 2027.

NPH is currently responsible for managing the properties in Northampton, including carrying out repairs, maintenance, and supporting vulnerable tenants.

Key statistics were not being reported accurately - and a fifth of its properties did not meet the decent homes standard.

NPH employs about 350 staff and has an annual budget of £67m, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

All of those staff would need to be transferred to the council under the scheme.

Council leader Mark Arnull said: "The staff at NPH are an absolute asset, but there are some issues about how things are being run and they're going to need to be addressed very very soon."

He added: "It's clearly going to be one of the biggest and most significant papers of the first few years of the administration."

Opposition councillors raised concerns about the scale of the plans at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday

The council said 60% of tenants and leaseholders who responded to a consultation were in favour of switching landlord services to the council.

Councillors were presented with options, including working alongside NPH to improve standards, or closing it down and bringing the service in-house by either April 2026 or April 2027.

The transfer is estimated to cost £1.6m, but the council said it could reduce costs and create efficiencies from 2027, with potential annual savings of £85,000.

'Financial risk'

Opposition councillors expressed concerns about the financial and social impacts of the scheme.

Rosie Herring, former cabinet member for housing under the previous Conservative administration, asked: "Can the service really be improved without costing more money?

"All this on top of the £1.6m cost of transfer, which is the only concrete figure presented."

She added: "There is a huge reputational risk to this council, as well as financial risk."

Labour's West Northants group leader, Sally Keeble, also criticised the options for being "a binary choice of in or out based on very little information".

She added: "Already, there's a housing crisis in Northampton, but it's nothing compared with what will happen if you get this decision wrong and also if the implementation is wrong."

The council said: "The move aims to improve safety, transparency, and long-term service quality for tenants across the area, while strengthening accountability and compliance with new national housing regulations."