In the United Kingdom, an arms-length management organisation (ALMO) is a not-for-profit company that provides housing services on behalf of a local authority.
An ALMO is managed by an (often unpaid) board of directors which includes tenants, local authority nominees, and independent members.
The Communities and Local Government (CLG) offered additional resources towards the cost of achieving the Decent Homes Standard to councils via ALMOs that were assessed as 2* (good) or 3* (excellent) on inspection.
[citation needed] However, the only inevitable additional cost of an ALMO is for its governance arrangements, which are typically less than 1% of management costs.[relevant?]
They also report significant efficiency savings and an enhanced timetable for reaching the Decent Homes Standard for much of the country's housing stock.
Councils that had promoted ALMOs in order to access the extra funding, and the tenants who had got involved, felt betrayed at the decision.