FAQ's
What is a Housing Association?
Housing Associations in the United Kingdom are independent, not-for-profit bodies that provide low cost housing for people in housing need. They are the United Kingdom’s major providers of new homes for rent. Many also run Homebuy schemes to help people who cannot afford to buy their own homes outright.Housing Associations are registered with, and regulated by, the Housing Corporation. The technical name of social landlords is Registered Social Landlord. Other terms used to describe housing associations include Housing Trusts, Community Gateway Associations, Local Housing Companies, Co-operatives.
What is a ALMO (Arms Length Management Organisation)?
An arms length management organisation (ALMO) is a company set up by a local authority to manage and improve part or all of its housing stock. The company is owned by the Local Authority and operates under the terms of a management agreement between the local authority and the ALMO. High performing ALMOs are entitled to additional funding from Government to bring homes up to a modern, Decent Homes, standard.
What is a TMO (Tenant Management Organisation?
A TMO is a means by which council or housing association tenants and leaseholders can collectively take on responsibility for managing the homes they live in. Those resident members of the TMO create an independent legal body and usually elect a tenant led management committee to run the organisation. The TMO can then enter into a legal management agreement (contract) with the landlord. The TMO is paid annual management and maintenance allowances in order to carry out the management duties that are delegated to them. TMOs can take different forms and sizes. Many are tenant management co-operatives – using co-op rules. Others may take the form of not-for-profit companies. Some TMOs manage just a handful of homes while others manage large estates of two or three thousand properties. The small TMOs may rely mainly on voluntary effort but most employ staff such as housing managers, caretakers and repair workers. The services managed by the TMO vary with local circumstances but may include day-to-day repairs, allocations and lettings, tenancy management, cleaning and caretaking, and rent collection.
What is the Housing Corporation and what does it do?
The Housing Corporation is the national Government agency that funds new affordable housing and regulates housing associations in England. They have about 450 staff based at nine offices throughout England (they do not work in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales). The Housing Corporation also has a dedicated Centre for Research and Market Intelligence (CRMI). CRMI produces quality research, analysis, innovation and good practice. It aims to make the Housing Corporation world renowned for being the centre of expertise for housing policy and information.What is Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB)?
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is an operating name of The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, (and also the name by which it is principally known), a United Kingdom registered charity which is partially funded by public funding. The CAB has a wide-ranging brief, but principally is involved in the provision of information to the public on a range of issues, including debt management, housing, asylum, complaints about consumer issues, etc.
What is Homebuy?
Homebuy is a government scheme to help some social tenants, key workers and other first time buyers buy a share of a home and make a first step into property ownership.
There are three types of HomeBuy. Social Homebuy is for tenants of local authorities and housing associations who do not have the Right to Buy or Right to Acquire schemes open to them. New Build Homebuy allows people to buy a share of a new home. Open Market Homebuy is for people able to buy a home at market value with help from an equity loan. More information can be found at http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1162813or from your landlord.