What is BITMO?

Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation (BITMO) is a locally based organisation, run by tenants of Belle Isle estate.

BITMO is responsible for managing Leeds City Council’s housing and estate management services in the Belle Isle neighbourhood of Leeds. We work closely with Leeds City Council. BITMO is the largest estate based TMO in the country.

Belle Isle has, for nearly a quarter of a century, been at the forefront of resident led service delivery In Leeds. This began in the late 1980s with Belle Isle North Estate Management Board.

Nearly 15 years later, in 2004, BITMO was founded following the conclusion of the ‘Right to Manage’ process which included an extension of the management area, to encompass the Belle Isle South estate. A successful ballot of all tenants in the management area supported this change.

This estate ballot was repeated in September 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024. On each occasion there was a resounding confirmation that BITMO continued to meet with tenant satisfaction and should continue. In 2024 some 93 percent of those who voted said they wanted BITMO to continue.

In line with BITMO’s management agreement with Leeds City Council this ballot will be repeated every 5 years.

How BITMO is regulated.

BITMO is regulated by The Regulator of Social Housing. Parliament has established four key consumer standards that social housing providers like BITMO must comply with.

1. The Safety and Quality Standard

We must have accurate up to date information about the condition of the homes that we manage, and we must provide safe and well-maintained homes. We must take all reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of tenants in their homes. We must provide an effective efficient and timely repairs service. We must help people who need adaptations to access appropriate services.

2. The Transparency Influence and Accountability Standard

We must treat tenants with fairness and respect and we must take action to deliver fair and equitable outcomes. We must take tenants views into account in our decision making about the services we provide, and we must communicate with you how tenants views have been considered. We must provide information about service standards so that you can know what you can expect from us and hold us to account if we don’t match up to those service standards. We must collect performance information that describes how well we are delivering services and support tenants to scrutinise what we do. We must make sure that complaints are addressed fairly effectively and promptly.

3. The Neighbourhood and Community Standard

We must cooperate with tenants, the council and other social landlords and relevant organisations to take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of shared spaces. We must cooperate with local partners to promote social environmental and economic well being in Belle Isle. We must work in partnership  with the council, the police and other agencies to deter and tackle anti social behaviour. We must work with agencies tackling domestic abuse and enable tenants to access support and advice

4. The Tenancy Standard

We must allocate homes in a fair and transparent way, and support people to maintain their tenancies. We must support mobility through mutual exchanges and investigate tenancy fraud.