Management of Council Housing and Homelessness services returns to the Council
The management of council housing and other housing and homelessness support related services will be delivered by Cheshire West and Chester Council as of today, Wednesday 1 April 2026.
These services had been managed on behalf of the Council by ForHousing since 2017 until 31 March 2026. The Council owns 5,300 homes in the borough, mainly in the areas of Ellesmere Port, Neston and Winsford. Bringing services back in-house provides long-term stability for tenants and gives the Council direct control of service delivery to ensure it meets regulatory standards and provide a more flexible and responsive service for our tenants. This approach will also continue to benefit from the expertise and experience of Liberty (part of the Wates group), for repairs and maintenance.
The Council’s Home Improvement Agency (HIA) will now be called the Safe at Home team. They provide support to people that have been referred for disabled adaptations via Disabled Facilities Grants and assists homeowners on low incomes to make essential repairs to their homes. The Safe at Home team also provides the Council’s Minor Adaptations service, Specialist Equipment Service and Target Hardening service. Service users have been informed by letter of the changes and reassured that their case will continue to be progressed and advised that their Caseworker will be in contact following the transfer to provide their new contact details.
Homelessness Support Services for Temporary Accommodation, Out of Hours homelessness statutory duty services, the Supported accommodation gateway, homelessness prevention services, advice and information and tenancy support will also be delivered by the Council, giving the Council more control over improving outcomes for vulnerable people and better aligning these services with the homeless prevention services already delivered in-house. The Council’s statutory homelessness service delivered by Housing Options remains unchanged.
Homelessness Support Services for young people, rough sleeping and supported accommodation will be delivered by Forum Housing, a specialist local provider with significant experience supporting people affected by homelessness. Forum Housing is well-established in the area and has helped many people locally, including through services in Ellesmere Port and Curzon House in Chester. All existing service users have been informed of these changes and reassured that they will continue to see familiar faces, with no break in their support. Local charities have received information leaflets to distribute to individuals who are rough sleeping, reassuring them that outreach support will continue as usual. Service users with concerns or questions are encouraged to contact their support or outreach worker for assistance.
Tenants and leaseholders told us loud and clear that they would like the Council to deliver housing management services for them. I am pleased that we are now giving them what they asked for and this move brings us closer to our tenants and means we can do everything we can to continue to provide them with a safe and good quality home. We are excited to get started after months of preparatory work to get to this point. I would like to thank ForHousing for their work on behalf of our residents since 2017, and for their assistance in getting things ready for the services coming back in-house. We ask that tenants and service users bear with us while we get to grips with the new service but rest assured that our tenants and service users will always remain our priority, and we are working extremely hard to minimise any disruption as services transition into the Council and to Forum.
More information about Housing and Homelessness services and the transition is available on the Council website:
Information for tenants and leaseholders
Tenants and leaseholders are asked to ensure that from 1 April, they use the Council’s contact details for all housing management matters. These are listed below, online, and have been sent to tenants directly:
- Website:
- Contact telephone number: 0300 123 7724 (for out of hours call the same number but you will be taken automatically to the out of hours service). Please note that phone lines will be closed on Wednesday 1 April for all but emergency repairs due to the transfer of data taking place. Lines open at 8am on Thursday 2 April for all enquiries, including repairs.
- Face-to-Face Meetings will continue as normal at: The Portal, Wellington Road, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 0BA or Wyvern House, The Drumber, Winsford, CW7 1AH. The drop-in sessions will take place on Tuesdays 10am – 5pm and Thursdays 1pm – 5pm.
- App: tenants are advised to re-register for the MyTenancy+ app to enable them to view their rent statement, add people to their tenancy, report repairs, raise neighbourhood issues and access other services:
- Online: The quickest and easiest way to report any issues is via our online form on the Council website which is available from 1 April 2026:
For most people, there will be no changes to how they pay their rent and they don’t need to do anything. However, if tenants usually pay at a Post Office or PayPoint site, they will be sent a new rent payment card and instructions through the post.
Safe at Home team
Service users can contact the Safe at Home team by emailing:
safeathome@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
Homelessness support information
Anyone who is homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days and needs assistance should telephone: 0808 175 3595 (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9am - 4.30pm) and (Wednesday 1pm - 4.30pm). Anyone homeless out of normal office hours and needs accommodation can ring Out of Hours on 0300 123 7035. This number is not for general housing advice but for people who need emergency accommodation.
If you have concerns about someone rough sleeping or about to rough sleep, you can report it to our Outreach team via StreetLink which connects vulnerable people to the help they need.