West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) cabinet will discuss bringing 11,500 social homes back under its control, as 60 percent of survey respondents support the move.

The council’s cabinet will meet on Tuesday November 11 to discuss options for the future management of WNC’s social housing stock, which is currently managed by Northamptonshire Partnership Homes (NPH).

According to WNC, a consultation with tenants and leaseholders run between July and September this year, showed that 60 percent of respondents (1,619) supported bringing services back under direct council management, compared to just 9.6 percent (259) who were opposed. The survey received responses from 22 percent of tenants.

Tenants also highlighted key priorities around repairs, communication and customer service, with many expressing hopes that a transfer would deliver improved efficiency and cost savings. The council hopes the move will “strengthen accountability, transparency, compliance”.

WNC is considering taking back control of the management of social housing in Northampton. (File picture).

placeholder image — WNC is considering taking back control of the management of social housing in Northampton. (File picture).

If recommendations are approved by cabinet, the council would move forward with a phased transition of services, with some back-office functions moving into WNC in April 2026, followed by the remainder no later than April 2027.

Councillor Charlie Hastie, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, said: “We’re committed to providing tenants with high-quality, safe and well-managed homes, and ensuring that residents’ voices continue to shape how services are delivered. “The consultation has given us valuable insight into tenant priorities, and this proposed approach would enable us to strengthen oversight, improve compliance, and build a more integrated housing service across West Northamptonshire.

“If agreed, the council would work closely with NPH, tenants and staff to ensure a smooth and well-supported transition, protecting service continuity and maintaining strong tenant engagement throughout.”

The three options which will be considered by cabinet are to retain the existing model and continue to work alongside NPH to improve services, cease operation of the existing model and ‘lift and shift’ services currently managed by NPH into the council by April 2026 or cease operation of the existing model and bring services currently managed by NPH over to the council in a phased approach, by April 2027.

The cabinet meeting will take place at The Forum, Towcester.

The move to take back control of social housing came after the Regulator of Social Housing graded NPH as C3 in November 2024, which is the second worst rating available and suggests “serious failings”.