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by Tony Osborne, Aspland & Marcon estates
The ALMO (Arms Length Management Organisation), set up by Hackney Council to manage its housing stock, and now called Hackney Homes, ‘went live’ in April. It is supposed to deliver central government’s Decent Homes programme, and bring all Hackney Council’s housing up to a standard that is fit to live in by 2010.
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by Tony Osborne, Aspland & Marcon estates
Hanover in Hackney recently announced a pilot scheme at one of its sheltered housing complexes to replace its resident housing officer. Hanover is the housing association to which Hackney Council has contracted the running and staffing of 30 of its sheltered housing homes for the elderly. Its plan calls for the resident post to be closed, and replaced with daily visits and an alarm system.
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by Kevin O’Hanrahan, Boxley House
In March 2000, Hackney Council handed ownership of Pembury estate to the Peabody Charitable Trust.
The transfer process was hardly an exercise in democracy. Residents were offered two options: a Yes vote for transfer, with the release of funding for estate improvements, or a No vote with no improvements. No third option of self-management, or fourth option of direct investment in council housing in line with Labour Party conference policy, was on offer.
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Housing campaigners up and down the country are signing a letter to Tony Blair demanding that the government allows councils to improve their housing without having to privatise it.
The letter has been produced by the Defend Council Housing campaign, and you can get a copy from Hackney Socialist Unity.
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Copied below is the BNP's absurd claim to have "won" new housing for the residents of Barking.
The BNP is not claiming credit for actually doing anything - like proposing the housing plan or anything like that - simply for getting elected and "therefore" forcing the government's hand.
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ALMO is no solution
Hackney Council is pressing ahead with its Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO), despite very little support in the community.
When Hackney Solidarity asked residents of Mountford estate, we found that most people had not heard of the ALMO, and those who had knew little of the detail.
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by Janine Booth
Hackney Solidarity knocked on doors on the Pembury. We asked people’s views about life on the estate.
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The latest issue of Hackney Solidarity is now available, and is being distributed in communities and workplaces across central Hackney.
The main articles are on housing, including reports from local estates. Other subjects include class sizes at the local primary school, news from local trade unions, a view from a Hackney teenager, and opinions on the recent General Election.
Click 'read more' to read the text, or email Janine Booth for printed copies.
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by Tony Osborne
Some Councils, like Hackney where I live, are scrabbling to get on the Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) ladder.
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What's New in Social Housing?
Not the poor old Council Housing residents this time, but a group even more vulnerable. Who are they? People in Supported Housing, the elderly and the frail.
