The two council housing services in Bournemouth and Poole are merging under the new name of BCP Homes.
Poole Housing Partnership staff will transfer over, merging with BCP Council’s housing team who will also move across into BCP Homes.
Residents previously using either Bournemouth’s housing service or PHP are expected to see little difference in the day-to-day running of services.
All contact arrangements for housing staff will remain the same and there is no requirement from residents to contact the Council to update any details.
Seamus Doran, the new Head of BCP Homes Service, said: “By bringing together our in house team and PHP we can better plan and advance services across all BCP Council-owned housing, delivering better value for money and building on good practice from each side. These changes will be implemented over the next 12-18 months and residents should start to see services gradually evolve over this time.
“Importantly our new service will see the reinvigoration of resident engagement work and we will be providing new ways for tenants and leaseholders to get involved, have their say and help shape how our services should be delivered in the future.’’
Councillor Karen Rampton, Portfolio Holder for People and Homes, said: “BCP Homes sees us put residents right at the heart of housing management and delivery. We have been working very closely with tenants, leaseholders, staff and other stakeholders to develop this new provision and I am delighted to see it launch today.
“This is a vigorous change in the vital behind-the-scenes work this service does. Whilst residents may not notice a day-to-day difference, they can be assured that this innovation means a more efficient and modern provision; aligning with the council’s transformation plans and better meeting resident’s needs.”
The council owns approximately 9,500 properties that make up its social housing stock and services to these are funded and managed through its Housing Revenue Account (HRA). These homes are situated across multiple wards and deliver general need, sheltered and extra care homes, as well as some shared ownership properties. There are also a further 1,139 leasehold homes that fall within the management responsibility of the HRA.
There are no council owned properties in Christchurch as these were transferred to a Housing Association many years ago.