Council housing

Berneslai Homes look after around 18,000 council houses on behalf of us. Berneslai Homes are an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) that are commissioned to manage our council houses. As landlord, we received assurance from Berneslai Homes around how they deliver services. Due to the arrangement in place, some roles around council housing are kept by us, and other roles are given to Berneslai Homes.

Roles and remits of us and Berneslai Homes include and aren't limited to:

Us:

Landlord and owns the homes.
Responsible person for building safety.
Overall responsibility to make sure services are in line with the requirements of the social housing regulator.
In charge of the housing revenue account (overarching housing budget).

Berneslai Homes:

Managing the waiting list and letting vacant homes.
Collecting rent.
Repairs, maintenance, and improvements in homes and on estates.
Supporting tenants to manage their tenancies.
Supporting tenants with money issues, jobs, training, and skills, and much more.
Keeping our estates clean and tidy and dealing with anti-social behaviour (ASB) alongside us.
Engaging with and listening to customers and communities.
Working with us to build and acquire new homes.

How do we make sure Berneslai Homes deliver a good service?

We have a robust governance framework and services agreement to make sure concerns are escalated and that we're given oversight around performance and data. This includes regular meetings between our leads and Berneslai Homes leads, as well as joint meetings with involved tenants.

What is an ALMO and how does it work with us?

An ALMO is an Arms Length Management Organisation which are solely owned and funded by us. Berneslai Homes is an ALMO, working closely with us to deliver management services for all of our homes. This includes collecting rent, dealing with tenancy issues and responding to repairs, maintenance and investments. At their peak there were 70 ALMO’s in the UK but this number has reduced over the years, there are now only 17.

Compliment and complaints

Please note that Berneslai Homes deal with compliments and complaints about the council housing service they provide. This includes but isn't limited to:

lettings and the housing waiting list
repairs
tenancy and neighbourhood issues
rents

They handle complaints by following the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code. They offer assurance to us about how they handle complaints and how they learn from them. They do this by sharing information through our governance arrangements which includes having a member responsible for complaints.

Visit Berneslai Homes website for more details about how they've handled complaints on our behalf or to make a compliment or complaint. If you do make a complaint directly to us and it relates to the council housing service we'll pass this complaint over to Berneslai Homes to manage.

Find a home

Your rent

Your home

Repairs to your home

Buy your council house

The Right to Buy scheme gives most council tenants the right to buy their home at a discount. Check whether you're eligible and find out what the costs of buying your council house will be.

Social housing regulator

As landlord, we have a legal duty from Regulator of Social Housing to ensure our properties are safe, well managed and managed in-line with guidance provided. In April 2024, the Regulator published their consumer standards which Social Housing Providers will be inspected and scored against. These include:

Neighbourhood and community standard.
Safety and quality standard.
Tenancy standard.
Transparency, influence and accountability (including tenant satisfaction measures).
Consumer standards code of practice.

Find out more details about the standards.

Find the latest updates from the regulator of social housing.

Tell us what you think about your council house

Berneslai Homes manage tenant engagement for residents living in our homes. There are different ways you can share your views, whether that’s by joining the tenant voice panel, scrutiny groups, customer panel or sharing one-off feedback.

Find more information about how you can have your say.

New-build council housing

Since 2011 we've built 221 new council homes.

There are no developments on site at present but we're planning to start building again in 2025. All new council schemes will be added to this page once they're approved.

For letting enquiries contact Berneslai Homes.