Tenants had a right to say No to Almo 10/11/2005. Dear Sir, Your correspondents (We said No to the Almo for a good reason, October 27) produce many good reasons why Camden tenants, when offered a free kitchen and bathrooom to say Yes, actually said No. But the best reason comes courtesy of the best example of a virtual Almo, a housing association. Paddington Churches HA, the Genesis Housing Group, have just decided to increase their borrowing limit from £350m to £750m. At the moment, every tenant pays £500 per year in interest, and this seems set to double. What this is for is a complete mystery, since so much of their stock was acquired decades ago, the Annual General Meeting is held in secret, the boards minutes are secret and even their agenda papers are witheld. PCHA have not had a full independent tenants satisfaction survey in living memory. They are not funding their principal tenants' association, now renamed 'The Independent Federation of Genesis Residents', and while they refuse simple repairs like the unblocking of a chimney, they book profits of £28m per year, as can be seen in the Genesis annual accounts. Camden tenants are right to steer clear of the Almo model of control and management. If the government have enough in their piggy bank to propose spending £20B on a replacement for Trident, then they can find approximately one percent of this sum for the repairs needed, which if spent by Camden, will go further than it would if spent by a HA/Almo. Alternatively, they can wait and take a beating at the May elections Yours sincerely, Peter Rutherford Press relations, IFGR.   Genesis declined to respond to this letter.   Back to the web site