United Residents Housing (URH)

United Residents Housing (URH) is an arms length management organisation (ALMO), set up to help bring council-owned homes on estates in Lambeth up to the government's Decent Homes standard. It's a unique and exciting new organisation that could make a real difference to the quality of life of residents in URH.

Unlike any other ALMO, URH has been formed by a group of resident-managed estates from across the borough. These estates are managed by resident-led organisations with their own staff and own management boards.

• It is a not-for-profit company in which the council is the sole shareholder
• It can cover all or part of the council’s housing stock, in URH’s case it will consist of only the properties managed by the TMOs in the bid as listed below
• The ownership of the properties under URH remains with the council
• Residents remain as council tenants, leaseholders and freeholders
• Tenants remain secure tenants of the council and there is no change in their rights such as right to buy, right to repair and right to manage

The bid submitted by Lambeth to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now the Department for Communities and Local Government) was approved in July 2005.

The URH board is comprised of one representative from each TMO, four council representatives and four independents.

URH went live on 27 November 2006.

The TMOs that comprise United Residents Housing are:

• Blenheim Gardens Resident Management Organisation
• Loughborough Estate Management Board
• Roupell Park Resident Management Co-operative
• Waltham Resident Management Organisation

Here is a map of URH and the associated TMOs.

The URH Board will oversee the multi-million pound budget earmarked to the participating TMOs to bring the properties up to Decent Homes standard by 2012/13.

The agreed funding is a key element of Lambeth’s strategy for meeting the Decent Homes target for all its stock by 2012/13. However, in order to draw down the funding, the services delivered by URH will have to achieve at least a two-star rating following assessment by the Audit Commission. The first inspection is expected to take place in June 2008.

If you would like to contact United Residents Housing directly, ring Clara Odamo on 020 7582 9516.