PLANS to introduce a single tenancy agreement for thousands of council householders have been given the go-ahead.

Durham County Council’s cabinet backed plans to adopt a centralised contract for tenants of East Durham Homes, Dale and Valley Homes and Durham City Homes in a meeting at Durham Town Hall on Wednesday.

The proposed agreement will now go out to consultation with tenants and others, before being presented for final approval.

Prior to April 2009, council homes in Wear Valley and Easington were owned by the areas’ district councils but managed by arm’s length management organisations (Almos) - Dale and Valley Homes and East Durham Homes respectively.

In Durham City, council houses were owned and managed by Durham City Council.

Following the shift to unitary local government, Durham County Council took over the local authorities’ roles in all three areas.

Council chiefs see a move to a single tenancy agreement, setting out its role and that of tenants in maintaining the properties, as vital to ensure fairness and consistency.

Councillor Clive Robson, the council’s cabinet member for housing, said: "We want to adopt best practice from the three existing agreements.

"We have also looked at best practice in other agreements in the region and rolled it together for a single tenancy agreement for council house residents in County Durham."

Coun Neil Foster, cabinet member for regeneration and economic development, said the agreement was simple to read and predicted it would do well in consultation.

Afterwards, Paul Tanney, chief executive of East Durham Homes, said: "The new tenancy agreement means that all council tenants in County Durham will have standardised terms and conditions and will be in line with current legislation.

"There are some minor changes to our existing tenancy agreement. All tenants will receive written notification of these changes and will be given the opportunity to comment on them."

East Durham Homes, which manages 8,500 homes, and Dale and Valley Homes, which manages 4,300, both achieved two-star ratings last year, allowing them to tap into tens of millions of pounds of Government cash for repairs and investment.

However, Durham City Homes, which is responsible for about 6,000 properties, was slammed in an internal report and made subject to a three-year improvement plan.