NPH will be brought back in house

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has approved a phased plan to bring the management of its social housing stock back in-house, in a bid to improve failing standards.

In 2024, under the previous Conservative council, the Regulator of Social Housing issued a C3 notice, which indicated ‘serious failings’ in how Northamptonshire Partnership Homes (NPH) was complying with home safety and quality standards.

NPH is responsible for managing social housing properties in Northampton and offers services including repairs, maintenance, tenancy management, and supporting vulnerable tenants. It was identified that key statistics were not being reported accurately and that 22 per cent of its 11,500 social houses did not meet the decent homes standard.

WNC says the move will improve safety, transparency, and long-term service quality for tenants across the area while strengthening accountability and compliance with new national housing regulations.

An options appraisal was brought before the cabinet on Tuesday (November 11), with a choice between doing nothing and working alongside NPH to improve standards, or ceasing operation of the organisation completely and either bringing service responsibility back to WNC in a ‘lift and shift’ approach by April 2026, or a phased approach by April 2027.

According to the report, the transfer will cost an estimated £1.6m to manage the move, backfill existing staff, and cover other costs such as legal advice. WNC says the move could reduce costs and create efficiencies, with potential annual savings of 85k from 2027 onwards. 

A consultation with tenants, leaseholders, and stakeholders earlier this year showed strong support for the proposed change, with 60 per cent of the 2,699 respondents in favour compared to under 10 per cent who were not.

However, not all councillors were convinced that the recommended option for a phased NPH closure was the correct route to take, and raised concerns about a lack of outside scrutiny and full understanding of the financial and service impacts.

Cllr Rosie Herring, who was the previous cabinet member for housing under the last Conservative administration, raised a number of questions: “What is the cost of bringing all houses up to the decent homes standard when the stock appraisal is incomplete, what office space will be needed to accommodate the new service and how much will that cost?

“Can the service really be improved without costing more money? All this on top of the £1.6m cost of transfer which is the only concrete figure presented.

“There is a huge reputational risk to this council, as well as financial risk. The contract with NPH ends in 2030 when the improvements could’ve been made and a stronger, leaner NPH could be in a better shape to transfer.”

Fellow Conservative Cllr Cecile Irving-Swift added: “With all the budgetary pressure your administration is facing, you’ll be adding the complication of an acquisition and integration project to your load.

“Well, that is your choice. Let us be clear, the Conservative choice would’ve been for the long term and different.”

Labour’s West Northants group leader, Cllr Sally Keeble, also criticised the options for being “a binary choice of in or out based on very little information”.

She added: “Already, there’s a housing crisis in Northampton, but it’s nothing compared with what will happen if you get this decision wrong and also if the implementation is wrong.

“I would’ve expected to see in this the full options appraisal, with costings, with an expert and detailed analysis of how this was going to lead to a delivery of the standards, and also an improvement for people in Northampton. I don’t see that here.”

NPH employs around 350 staff and has an annual budget of £67m. Bringing services under direct council management would mean all current NPH staff need to be transferred to WNC under TUPE. 

Cllr Charlie Hastie, cabinet member for housing, told members: “This proposal is about more than structure; it’s about accountability, safety and service quality for our tenants.

“With bringing those staff in under a phased approach, and with the management of WNC, I think we can make it better.”

WNC Leader Mark Arnull added: “It’s clearly going to be one of the biggest and most significant papers of the first few years of the administration.

“I think the damning words here that I’ve written down are inadequate scrutiny and that’s before our time as well. We look back to former members and place some responsibility there.

“The staff at NPH are an absolute asset, but there are some issues about how things are being run and they’re going to need to be addressed very very soon.”

Cabinet members voted unanimously to close down NPH and bring the social housing responsibilities back under direct control by April 2027.

Consultations will now be carried out with NPH staff, key stakeholders and an Equality Impact Assessment will be conducted to understand the differences in satisfaction levels among different age groups, ethnicities, and locations. 

WNC must also get formal approval from the Secretary of State for the change.