From 1 November, Tower Hamlets Council will be responsible for managing and maintaining all council homes currently supported by Tower Hamlets Homes (THH). This includes repairs, maintenance, improvements, caretaking, gardening, and rent and service charge collections.
Tenants and leaseholders should continue to contact housing management services as they do now – using the same phone number, email addresses and online services they currently use.
There will not be any changes to tenants and leaseholders’ rights, and they do not need to take any action.
The Council and THH are working together to ensure a seamless transfer and aim to improve residents’ experience by bringing the services that they rely on closer together.
The decision to return THH to the Council was taken after a consultation last year, in which council tenants and leaseholders overwhelmingly supported the proposal.
Lutfur Rahman, Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, said:
“Residents are at the heart of the new service. I fully appreciate the invaluable insight and experience they bring, so we will be working more closely with our tenants and leaseholders to improve standards and give them a greater say in decisions about their homes and neighbourhoods.
“The aim of bringing THH into the Council has always been to achieve a stronger resident voice, more accountability, and joined-up services that support residents.
“Another reason for the decision was to become more financially resilient so we’ll be better equipped to improve customer services, invest in our existing homes and continue to build much-needed new council homes.”
THH was set up in 2008 to allow Tower Hamlets to qualify for the government’s Decent Homes fund, which ended in 2017.
Aims of bringing services back in-house include: to help join-up housing and other council services to make it easier for residents to get what they need; to give residents a strong voice into the council to help improve standards; to ensure the council is closer to critical issues such as fire and building safety; and to provide services for the best value.
Over 86% of council tenants and leaseholders, who took part in the consultation, agreed that housing management services should be brought back in house under the direct control of the council.
Posted on Thursday 26th October 2023