THE firm which looks after repairs in Barnet's council housing stock has officially been placed in administration.

Administrators KPMG have confirmed they expect job losses from Connaught's 10,000 strong workforce nationwide.

The company was appointed by the arms length management organisation Barnet Homes in 2007 to the job, but the contract has been terminated by the ALMO as of February next year.

Public sector union UNISON have warned the collapse of the company which maintains housing stock for dozens of local authorities could be a sign of things to come.

General Secretary Dave Prentis said: “The collapse of Connaught should be a huge wake-up call to to the damage that public spending cuts are having on the private sector. “It also means we need to re-think how repairs to social housing are delivered.

“These services should be brought back in-house, to protect jobs and to make sure that families are not be left in sub-standard housing, because of a lack of vital repair and maintenance work..”

A statement from Barnet Homes said it was implementing transition plans to deal with repairs.

Social housing tenants are advised to continue to use the usual contact numbers.