LMH sets up its own maintenance arm

LIVERPOOL Mutual Homes has brought its repairs and maintenance work in-house in a move which the social housing landlord has said will “protect front line services, safeguard jobs and offer better value-for-money”.

It said that a new subsidiary will be created named Housing Maintenance Solutions (HMS) to carry out maintenance and repairs to its 15,000 properties from July 1. Some 206 staff who currently work on the properties for Surrey-based contractor Kinetics Group will transfer to the new company under TUPE regulations.

LMH chief executive, Steve Coffey, said: “Due to the extra financial pressures facing the country in general, and social landlords in particular, we have decided to be proactive in order to protect frontline services and seek further improvements in service delivery.”

He said that the move would allow it to save money on VAT payments as well as generating more income which will ultimately boost the “social dividend” the company generates.

“Traditional approaches are a thing of the past,” said Coffey. “We need to be innovative and operate more like the private sector in order to be competitive and provide the best possible services for our customers whilst still pursuing our social purpose.”

The organisation’s former head of maintenance, Paul Worthington, has been appointed as managing director of the new business.