Housing Options Appraisal

Somerset Council owns in excess of 10,000 homes, but currently operates via two models of housing management, with circa 6,000 homes managed in-house by Somerset Council and circa 4,000 homes managed by Homes in Somerset. The Options Appraisal is being carried out by an independent consultant to understand how the housing management services can be best aligned, offering consistency and best value for money to customers.

An arms-length management organisation (ALMO) is a not-for-profit body, wholly owned by its parent council, created to manage council-owned housing and deliver housing-related services adhering to a Management Agreement. An ALMO also has its own management team and is governed by a Board. Whereas an in-house housing model means services are directly managed within the council and is overseen by council committees.

Somerset Council owns in excess of 10,000 homes and operates via these two models of housing management after bringing together the services of the former Sedgemoor and Somerset West and Taunton Councils, the only two district councils which owned housing stock in Somerset.

Of the 10,000 homes, Somerset Council currently manages circa 6,000 in-house and Homes in Somerset manages circa 4,000. Homes in Somerset is an ALMO which looks after houses and garages across the county on behalf of Somerset Council. It does not own any properties.

The review has now been completed and we thank everyone who has taken part and shared their views. Savills, the independent consultants have now analysed all the data collated and have put forward their recommendation.

The recommendation by Savills, independent consultants, to Somerset Council will be for Homes in Somerset to be the single housing management service provider. This recommendation is subject to formal decision by Somerset Council in March 2026.

Please note this is a recommendation only and there is still some work to do before a final decision is reached in March 2026.

If you are a Homes in Somerset customer or leaseholder and are concerned about the Options Appraisal, or have any questions, contact our Customer Services Team.

If you are a Somerset Council tenant, you can contact your housing officer or use the Contact my housing team form online. Leaseholders should contact Claire Thackray at claire.thackray@somerset.gov.uk or Stephanie Clark at stephanie.clark@somerset.gov.uk.

No, the Options Appraisal is not being carried out as part of a cost-saving exercise. The decision to align the housing management services has been made to ensure Somerset Council and Homes in Somerset provide the best value for money, with customers receiving the same, consistent services across the county. Any efficiencies made as a result of this process would go directly back into the Housing Revenue Account, to be used to invest back into the housing management services.

No. Somerset Council will remain the legal landlord of your property no matter which management model is selected.   The Options Appraisal is being carried out to understand how the housing management services can be best aligned, offering consistency and best value for money to customers. No houses will be sold as a result of the Options Appraisal.

No. The Options Appraisal is being carried out to understand how the housing management services can be best aligned, offering consistency and best value of money for customers. No houses will be sold as a result of the Options Appraisal.

Your legal rights as a tenant will remain unchanged and you will remain a tenant of Somerset Council. Your home remains secure so long as you comply with the terms and conditions of your tenancy agreement.

The Options Appraisal will not trigger rent or service charge increases. There will be no change to your rent or services charges beyond the normal annual review and increase.

You will continue to pay your rent to Somerset Council, in the same way as you currently do.

During the Options Appraisal process, you can continue to raise a repair or contact your housing service provider in the same way as you currently do.

If your home is managed by Homes in Somerset, continue to use the Customer Portal, call 0800 585 360 or email customer.services@homesinsomerset.org.

If your home is managed by Somerset Council, continue to call 0300 123 2224 or visit Repair problem – report – Self Service.

This could change following the outcome of the Options Appraisal, however, all customers will be contacted directly if there is any change to their housing management services.

Your rights as a leaseholder and the terms of any leasehold agreement we have with you for commercial premises will not be affected.

Somerset Council will continue to be responsible for your building during the Options Appraisal process, and any repairs and maintenance we are currently liable for will continue to be carried out in the same way.

The Options Appraisal will not trigger any changes to your rent or service charge payments, beyond the normal annual review and increase.

At this point, the recommendation is that Homes in Somerset will become the single service delivery provider for tenants and leaseholders. Both Somerset Council and Homes in Somerset are committed to ensuring that the preferred service delivery model will continue to deliver the best practices of both operations. It is crucial that the culture built is one of positivity and acknowledges the experience and differences of the two models whilst moving to a single approach.

If the recommendation is approved, Homes in Somerset will grow in scale to accommodate the additional properties and the employees transferring in. Governance arrangements including Board and Sub-committee membership will also be reviewed.

The engagement process was focused on priorities for a future service and not on geographical area, therefore the results cannot be skewed in this way.

The report from Savills sets out the engagement process and tenant responses. These will be made available in full in the new year. However, if the recommendations are approved, Homes in Somerset will ensure all tenants receive the great service that they expect.

Savills utilised the Tenant Satisfaction Measures and the costs of operating the models as part of their appraisal. The reports will be released publicly along with the committee reports to Members in early 2026. Many of these performance measures are already available through the performance reports provided to the Scrutiny and Executive committees of Somerset Council.

The final decision will be taken at a meeting of the Somerset Council Executive on 4 March 2026.

The decision has not been made yet, but it is unlikely that anything significant will change in the recommendations between now and the Executive meeting in March.

It would be unusual for members not to support the recommendations. In this instance there are clear opportunities for service improvements and financial benefits which further make this unlikely, but not impossible. If Members do not wish to support the recommendations at this time, we would need to understand their concerns and seek to resolve these. If no decision is reached, the two current models would continue to operate.

There is no set formal review process of the arrangements, however the performance of Homes in Somerset is regularly reviewed by Somerset Council and will continue to be monitored and reviewed at every stage.