THE future management of 10,000 council homes across Bournemouth and Poole is being discussed – although Christchurch residents will only have a minor role in the consultation.

In Bournemouth council housing is managed in-house while in Poole it is run by an arms-length organisation, Poole Housing Partnership.

These structures are being considered for change with the suggestion of creating a new, combined hybrid service within the BCP council structure with its own advisory board to monitor and guide housing management across the whole area.

The Christchurch area has its social housing managed by a housing association and because of this tenants will not be directly asked to take part in the consultation, due to start in the late summer – although there is nothing to stop them, or anyone else, expressing a view.

Cabinet member for housing Cllr Bob Lawton, described the likely changes as an ‘exciting prospect’ for tenants with the chance to talk about the future management structure, rents and maintenance as well as other issues.

He said setting up a new housing body for the area was seen as a better option than alternatives which might be viewed as one of the current bodies taking over the other.

A council report says that whichever option is chosen should result in savings – although not necessarily in jobs.

There has been criticism of the proposals. Cllr Mark Howell told the council’s overview and scrutiny board that the documents appeared skewed in the direction of travel the council wanted, with the advantages of some options listed, but not the disadvantages.

Christchurch councillor Mike Cox said he would like to see more involvement from Christchurch residents who, although not directly involved in the short term because their homes were managed by a housing association, might in the future want to be tenants of the new body. He also said he hoped the new organisation would consider building new homes in the Christchurch area.

Cllr Vikki Slade said she was also concerned about the lack of voice being given to Christchurch and questioned whether the tone of the consultation documents, seen so far, showed the council had already made up its mind about what it wanted and was steering residents in that direction.

In total there are 9,592 ‘council houses’ in the area – 5,080 in Bournemouth and 4,512 in Poole. Just over thirty are in shared ownership with the vast majority rented. A further 1,139 leasehold properties were listed by the council in April 2021. Council-run housing accounts for around six per cent of all households across the BCP area, just over 1 in 20 homes.