Housing Monthly Diary Archive

Stock Transfers

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January 1998
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Tenants on Basildon DC's Vange Estate voted in favour (84%) of transferring their 700 homes to Vange Community Housing, which was destined to become part of the Anglia Housing Group.

• Bexley LBC took the final decision to transfer its homes to London and Quadrant HT and Orbit HA. The two associations had managed the stock for the previous three-and-a-half years and the transfer committed them to a rent freeze in real terms for the next 5 years. The transfer was due to receive final approval from the Government.

• Cambridge CC announced plans to transfer all of its 8,500 homes to a housing company in the latter quarter of 1999. The outcome of a feasibility study, carried out for the Council by consultants HACAS, had been considered by members. The transfer to a housing company could generate £21 million in private funding, which would provide a valuable boost to the stock improvement programmes. A tenant ballot was programmed for Spring 1999.

• Darlington DC’s trickle-transfer programme progressed, with the completion of a refurbishment programme to 30 town properties transferred to North British HA.

• Lewisham LBC announced its intention to consult with tenants on the possibility of transferring 6,100 homes to a multi-purpose housing company, Lewisham Community Homes, to be set up if tenants voted Yes. The plans for the Company went further than housing management, with the wider opportunities offered by a full regeneration programmes being considered. A major motivating factor for the transfer was the Council's estimated £200 million shortfall on the total needed to introduce adequate stock improvement programmes.

• Southwark LBC put 65 terraced Victorian homes on the market, to raise an expected £2 million finance for improvement programmes on other dwellings. The properties needed extensive repair work and residents were offered alternative housing association homes in the area.

February 1998
ERCF Imminent Transfers

A number of further transfers of dwellings from local authorities were imminent, as a result of successful ballots under Rounds 1 and 2 of the Government's Estates Renewal Challenge Fund (ERCF):

• Southwark LBC tenants on the Dawson's Heights Estate in East Dulwich would transfer their tenancies in March 1998 to the Samuel Lewis Housing Trust. The tenants voted in September 1997 to transfer to the Trust, generating £3.35 million in ERCF funding. The Trust would raise a further £3.3 million from the private sector, to allow essential repairs for all properties on the estate and solve ground stabilisation problems.

• Newham LBC tenants on its Stanford-le-Hope Estate in Thurrock were also due to transfer in March (to the Samuel Lewis Housing Trust), allowing £4.7 million to be invested in the estate to provide such improvements as central heating, double glazing and new bathrooms and kitchens. This investment included £1.17 million ERCF funding.

• Tenants of Harlow DC's Berecroft Estate would benefit from £1.5 million ERCF funding and a further £6 million from the private sector on their transfer to a new local housing company, Berecroft Community Housing Limited. The transfer was supported by tenants in a ballot in October 1997.

February 1998
Transfer News in Brief

England

• The Government gave the go-ahead for the transfer of 8,200 homes from Bexley LBC to two housing associations - in the north of the Borough, Orbit Bexley HA, and in the south, London & Quadrant Bexley HA. As part of the transfer arrangements, tenants were guaranteed that rents would not increase by more than the rate of inflation each year for the next 5 years. The transfer would also allow an accelerated programme of modernisation and repair work to take place, as well as give tenants a greater say in the management of their homes. The transfer was supported by 54% of the 71% of eligible tenants who voted. The receiving associations agreed to pay the Council just under £84.5 million to acquire its stock.

• Dane Housing (Congleton) was the first local housing company to come into operation and it was due to take over in March 4,000 homes from Congleton BC, following support by tenants in October 1997 for the large scale voluntary transfer of their homes (71% in favour on a turn-out of 83% of tenants). Dane Housing agreed to pay the council £32.2 million to acquire the stock.

• The announcement of the Congleton transfer brought the number of approved LSVTs of local authority stock to 63, involving more than 252,000 dwellings. These transfers generated over £4 billion in private finance.

• Hyndburn DC was advised by the Government to continue planning for the large scale voluntary transfer of its entire 4,000 homes, despite a negative valuation of the stock. Hyndburn was one of a number of councils, mainly in the North and inner-city areas, in the negative equity trap, which restricted them to only partial transfers through the Government's Estates Renewal Challenge Fund. Possible options for change included negative equity transfers being supported by Government dowry provision, or a continued revenue subsidy to meet the shortfall.

• Notting Hill HT bought 48 former MoD homes in Barnet from Annington Homes, which were adjacent to the site of 84 homes previously bought by the Association direct from the MoD before it sold off its main portfolio of married quarters.

• Salisbury DC was refused permission to trickle transfer its void dwellings to a housing association. Current Government guidelines favour trickle transfers in selected areas and not on a stock-wide basis. The Council's 1989 bid for a large scale voluntary transfer was not supported by tenants.

• The £44 million transfer took place of 673 new homes from Waltham Forest HAT to the tenant-controlled association - Waltham Forest CBHA. Over a three year period, a total of 1,500 homes are to be transferred from the HAT to the Association.

March 1998
1998/99 Transfer Programme

The Government announced the local authorities that would be allowed to ballot tenants on proposals for large-scale voluntary transfers in the coming year. Twenty-three councils were involved in proposals (subject to tenant ballots) to carry out 28 transfers to registered social landlords, involving over 85,000 dwellings.

Those included in the programme (with maximum numbers of properties transferring given in brackets) were:

Alderdale BC (3,899 and 1,002); Bath & North East Somerset Council (10,200); Birmingham CC (2,643); Bradford CC (598); East Lindsey DC (5,179); Greenwich LBC (1,246); Hackney LBC (1,157, 661 and 1,000); Hammersmith & Fulham LBC (703); Lambeth LBC (681); Liverpool CC (800); Manchester CC (1,272 and 6,900); Rother DC (3,180); St Helens BC (789); South Hams DC (3,212); South Somerset DC (9,133); Tameside MBC (904); Tewkesbury BC (3,105); Tower Hamlets LBC (2,887 and 2,322); West Devon BC (1,439); Wirral MBC (1,108); Wokingham BC (3,101); Worthing BC (2,579); Wrekin DC (13,495).

Seventeen of the transfers would be supported by Estates Renewal Challenge Funding totalling £208 million.

April 1998
ERCF Transfers Update

A number of stock transfers were completed with help from the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund (ERCF) programme. The transfers are shown below with the ERCF amounts given in brackets.

• Basildon DC: Vange Estate - 720 homes transferred to Vange Community Housing Ltd (£3.27 million).

• Camden LBC: Strawberry Vale Estate - 267 homes transferred to Peabody Trust (£1.4 million).

• Hackney LBC: Kingsmead Estate - the homes transferred to Kingsmead Homes (£9 million).

• Harlow DC: Berecroft Estate - 179 homes transferred to Berecroft Community Housing (£1.5 million).

• Oldham DBC: Limehurst Village Estate - 647 homes transferred to Limehurst Village Trust (£5.74 million).

• Stoke-on-Trent DC: Bentilee Estate - 935 homes transferred to Bentilee Community Housing Ltd (£3.48 million).

• Tower Hamlets LBC: 1,800 homes transferred to Poplar Housing and Regeneration Community Association as part of a three phase programme (£35 million).

Note: Some of the above transfers were completed towards the end of March but were not reported in the last edition of the Housing Monthly Diary.

April 1998
LSVTs Completing

The following Large Scale Voluntary Transfers (LSVT) were completed recently (without Estates Renewal Challenge Fund support):

• Congleton BC: 4,200 homes transferred to a new free-standing local housing company - Dale Housing.

• Kerrier DC: 3,760 homes transferred to a new local housing company (LHC) - Kerrier Homes.

• West Somerset DC: 1,860 homes transferred to a new local housing company - Magna West Somerset Housing Association. This followed a tenant ballot, which saw 62% of tenants in favour (turnout 79%).

Note: Some of the above transfers were completed in March but were not reported in the last edition of the Housing Monthly Diary.

April 1998
Other Transfer News in Brief

England

• Tenants of Lambeth LBC's 20-storey Edrich House voted in favour of transferring to Hyde HA (73% in favour on a turnout of 79%).

• Some 600 tenants living in 12 Redbridge LBC sheltered housing schemes voted in favour of transferring their homes to a new landlord (82% in favour on a 91% turn out). The schemes transfer to either London and Quadrant HT, Anchor HT or Housing 21, which ensures an investment of over £20 million for repairs, improvements and updating of equipment necessary to provide support for older and frail residents.

• Tenants on Tameside Council's Richmond Park, West Park and Victoria Street Estates in Ashton-under-Lyne voted in favour of transferring to Ashton Pioneer Homes - a new local housing company, which was set up to take over the 900 homes. Only three-quarters of the tenants voted but of those that did, 64% were in favour of moving to the new landlord.

• West Devon DC tenants voted in favour of transferring their homes to a new housing company, West Devon Homes. The proposed transfer gains the support of more than 1,500 tenants.

Scotland

• Tenant-led Bridgewater HA takes over nearly 950 homes from Scottish Homes in Erskine. The £8.5 million transfer won the support of more than 90% of residents.

• Eildon HA acquires 52 homes from Borders General Hospital NHS Trust for £2 million. Under the agreed arrangements, the Trust have nomination rights to 39 of the homes for the next 30 years.

• A proposed transfer of 74 houses in Shetland from Scottish Homes to Hjaltland HA fell through, after failure to agree on a valuation for the stock.

Wales

• The Welsh Office supported proposals for the transfer of Denbighshire Council's homes to a new landlord. The possibility of some or all of the Council's 4,300 homes transferring was to be the subject of a tenant consultation exercise. It was estimated that the homes needed improvements costing some £34 million.

May 1998
News in Brief

England

• Following the success of the Liberal Democrats in taking power at Liverpool, the City Council's plan for a total stock transfer might be reviewed. However, it was thought that the principle of transfer would still be supported by the new political ruling party.

Scotland

• Scottish Homes tenants were to be balloted on transfer proposals in a number of areas in the near future:

The Agency's remaining 400 tenants in East Dunbartonshire were to vote on proposals to transfer to the tenant-led East Dunbartonshire Federation Housing Co-operative, subject to proposals to be submitted later in the year.

 

Over 200 of the Agency's tenants in the Garnock Valley area were to vote on a transfer to Cunninghame Housing Association.

 

1,100 tenants in the Arden area of Glasgow were to decide on whether or not to switch to Glen Oaks Housing Association.

June 1998
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Liverpool CC announced its plans to transfer its entire housing stock in small parcels to new and existing alternative landlords. The first 15,000 homes, spread over 8 likely transfer packages, had already been identified for tenant ballots. The first ballot, in the Speke and Garston areas, would take place in November, with others planned for 1999. Nearly 43,000 homes were owned by the Council and the accumulated disrepair bill of £710 million was the major factor motivating the proposed stock transfers.

• South Hams DC balloted its 3,200 tenants on the proposed transfer of their homes to a new local housing company, South Hams Housing.

Scotland

• Following a ballot which showed over 76% of tenants voting in favour, Sanctuary Scotland HA was set to take over 280 Scottish Homes dwellings in the Priesthill, Pollock and Rosshall areas of Glasgow. The Association is a subsidiary of Sanctuary HA, which is one of the largest in England. The increasing interest shown by English-based associations in Scottish stock transfers raised some concerns North of the border.

July 1998
News in Brief

England

• The Government approved, subject to a tenants' ballot, the transfer of 1,314 homes on Enfield LBC's Barbot and Edmonton Green Estates to Metropolitan HT and London & Quadrant HT.

• Hammersmith and Fulham LBC's tenants on its Old Oak Estate in Acton voted in favour (83% in favour on a turnout of over 80%) of transferring their homes to Family HA, which would allow for £23 million of modernisation works.

• South London Family HA took over the ownership of 681 former Lambeth LBC homes on the Council's Lansdowne Green Estate. The transfer, part of the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund programme (second round), saw £8.5 million of government funding and a further £13.8 million of private sector investment made available for an extensive repair and modernisation programme.

• Liverpool CC received more than 6,000 replies from its questionnaires sent to 35,000 tenants, in which 59% expressed an interest in getting further information about stock transfer.

• Over 91% of the tenants on Manchester CC's East Wythenshawe Estate voted in favour of transferring to Willow Park HT, which would facilitate funding of a major programme of improvements. The transfer was expected to be completed in the first quarter of 1999.

• South Hams Council's tenants voted in favour of plans to transfer their 3,200 homes to a new housing company, South Hams Housing (81% in favour/82% turnout). The proposals included programmes of improvements and rent rises pegged at no more than inflation plus 1% for the next five years.

• Tenants on six Tower Hamlets LBC estates voted in favour of proposals to transfer their 2,800 homes to a local housing company, Poplar HARCA. However, the ballot caused controversy as the majority in favour was less than 1% (853 in favour, 838 against). Opponents to the proposals argued that the inclusion of leaseholders' votes would have given a clear majority against the proposals. Whilst leaseholders were balloted with tenants, their votes did not affect the outcome. The transfer decision meant that the estates would benefit from £77 million of improvement programmes.

Scotland

• Bute HA, which already owned 700 rented houses in Argyll and Bute, offered £1.27 million to take over 200 Scottish Homes' dwellings in Campbeltown. A tenant ballot was due to be held during August.

• Tenants of Scottish Homes in the Garnock Valley area of Ayrshire voted overwhelmingly in favour of transferring to Cunninghame HA. The Association, which already owned 850 homes in North Ayrshire, offered £1,86 million for the 200 home.

August 1998
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Hyndburn DC abandoned its plans to transfer nearly 4,000 homes to New Progress HA. Main factors influencing the change of direction were the relaxation of rent capping and the release of capital receipts, which generated additional funding to meet essential repairing needs. The decision not to transfer was unanimously supported by members, perhaps reflecting the concerns that the stock valuation was only slightly in excess of the outstanding debt and that tenants' right to buy would be affected. Suggestions that the Hyndburn might be the first of a number of councils to reconsider options available following the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review received mixed responses.

• In the second stage of Newham LBC's out-of-Borough Estates' Renewal Challenge Fund programme, tenants on its Rookery Farm Estate in Dagenham recorded a 78% vote in support of transferring their 172 homes to Samuel Lewis HT. The transfer arrangements ensured that rents on the Estate were pegged at RPI plus 1% for the next ten years.

• Tenants of South Somerset DC narrowly voted in favour of transferring their 9,000 homes to South Somerset Homes (50.2% in favour on a turnout of 77%). The transfer attracted some £70 million for badly needed repairs to the stock.

• Tenants of Wirral MDC's Leasowe Estate voted in favour of transferring their 1,100 homes to a local housing company, Leasowe Community Homes, a subsidiary of Liver HA (90% in favour on a turnout of 80%). The transfer released investment of £20 million, with extensive improvements planned for the estate.

Scotland

• Scotland's two largest councils were reported to be investigating options for large-scale stock transfer:

Edinburgh Council was suggesting transferring all of its 32,000 homes as an option, but only if the Government intervened to solve the problem of the Council's accumulated housing debt - estimated to be £250 million.

 

Glasgow DC was believed to have commissioned a feasibility study into the financial arrangements for the transfer of some 80,000 homes to a housing trust over a 6-year period, with a linked ongoing improvement programme.

 

Increased interest in stock transfer reflected the positive approach of the Government in Scotland, with suggestions that the role of councils should change. In particular, the Government had suggested that those councils that transfer their stock and concentrate on an enabling ethos could take over responsibilities from Scottish Homes for disbursing resources to housing associations and co-operatives.

Wales

• A grant of £5,000 from the Welsh Office meets part of the costs of a feasibility study by Denbighshire Council into future management options, including stock transfer. Other Welsh councils believed to be considering some level of stock transfer include Newport, Torfaen and Vale of Glamorgan.

September 1998
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Boston BC set up a new local housing company - Boston Mayflower - to take over its housing stock, subject to support from its 5,200 tenants.

• Brent LBC announced plans to transfer 400 sheltered homes to a company formed in partnership with Network HA. The new company would have a development programme and manage homes on behalf of the Council and the Association.

• East Lindsey DC tenants supported the £40 million transfer of their homes to East Lindsey Partnership Housing (59.6% in favour on a turnout of 85%).

• East Northamptonshire DC tenants on its Crow Hill Estate voted to transfer their 150 homes to Chiltern Hundreds HA (83.6 in favour on a turnout of 89%).

• Hackney LBC residents on four estates in Clapton voted in favour of transferring their 1,044 homes to Clapton Community Housing Trust.

• Hyde HA took ownership of Edrich House, a 19-storey tower block in Stockwell. The Association has planned a £4 million refurbishment programme.

• As North Hull HAT’s 7-year term of operation came to a close, 953 tenants decided to return to Hull Council, 95 go to Housemartin HA and 103 to North British HA with services run by a tenant management organisation.

• Samuel Lewis HT took over 174 homes from Newham LBC, as part of its Estates' Renewal Challenge Fund programme on the Rookery Farm Estate in Dagenham.

Scotland

• Some 94% of tenants voting (turnout of over 75%) supported the transfer of their 668 Scottish Homes dwellings in the Cadder area of Glasgow to Cadder HA.

• Glasgow Council members agreed plans to transfer its entire stock to a massive new local housing company. However, government funding to pay accumulated debt charges was an essential element to the proposals.

October 1998
Transfer Opt-Out Position Clarified

Following a ballot that resulted in a clear majority of tenants supporting the proposed transfer of East Lindsey DC homes to East Lindsey Partnership Housing, a local campaigning group representing 2,000 tenants opposed to the transfer canvassed the Government on the right to opt out.

A letter from the Organisation of Tenants Opposed to Transfer, written to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, argued that the nearly 2,000 voters who recorded no on their ballot slips should be allowed to stay as Council tenants. The letter cited the 1985, 1988 and 1989 Housing Acts, which contain provisions for tenants to remain with the council if they vote against proposals to transfer, irrespective of the outcome of the ballot.

In response, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions clarified the position, in that the Housing Act 1996 superseded older legislation and that the opting-out provisions included in legislation under the previous government were removed in transfer guidelines published earlier this year.

The Housing Act 1988 provided a framework which allowed tenants voting no to transfer proposals to remain with their current council as landlords, but this right had now been removed.

October 1998
Stock Transfer News in Brief

England

• More than 93% of Allerdale DC tenants supported a split transfer of their 4,478 homes. Impact HA is to take over 728 homes on the Council's Salterbeck Estate, with the remaining 3,750 dwellings transferring to Derwent and Solway HA, a new subsidiary of Harvest Housing Group.

• Derwent HA claimed a first, with the sale of 92 homes to the institutional investment company, Chaco Investments. The sale of the market-rented homes secured £4 million for the Association to invest in expanding its management portfolio, with a long-term leaseback arrangement allowing the Association to continue to manage and maintain the sold homes.

• Tenants on four of Hackney LBC's estates started voting on the proposed transfer of their 1,157 homes to Sanctuary HA. The balloting period was due to end on 9 November.

• Manchester MDC tenants on its Darnhill Estate voted in favour of transferring their 1,272 homes to Guinness Trust (92% in favour on a turnout of 86%). The estate is an overspill estate in the Heywood part of Rochdale Metropolitan District.

• North Hertfordshire NHS Trust transferred 408 homes for staff and student nurses at Lister Hospital in Stevenage to St Pancras HA.

• Councillors at Tameside Council supported the proposals to pursue a bid to transfer its 17,000 homes to the provisionally-titled Tame Valley Housing Trust.

• Over 78% of Telford and Wrekin tenants voted in favour of transferring their 13,500 homes to Wrekin Housing Trust next spring. The DETR gave approval for the transfer earlier this year, even though it exceeded the Government guidelines that limit transfers to 12,000 dwellings.

• Tower Hamlets LBC abandoned plans to transfer 10 estates to Cityside HARCA, following 61% of tenants voting against the proposals. It was understood that the Council would now concentrate on preparing for another round of ballots to transfer other estates to both Poplar HARCA and Cityside HARCA.

Scotland

• Scottish Homes tenants in the Arden area of Glasgow voted in favour of transferring their 1,100 homes to Glen Oaks HA for an estimated £7 million (84% in favour on a 64% turnout).

• Tenants on North Lanarkshire Council's Old Monklands Estate in Coatbridge voted by 95% in favour to transfer their homes to Clyde Valley HA. The Association has a redevelopment programme to replace the homes with 300 flats and houses and 131 dwellings for sale in partnership with two local developers.

November 1998
Transfer News in Brief

England

• A £110 million regeneration programme is to go ahead, following support from 80% of tenants on Enfield LBC's Edmonton Green and Barbot Estates to transfer their homes to a new body being set up by Metropolitan and London & Quadrant Housing Trusts. Following the stock transfer, the regeneration programme is to see the 734 homes on the Barbot Estate demolished and replaced by low-rise housing and the 578 homes on Edmonton Green refurbished. Tenants have been guaranteed that rent increases are to be limited to inflation plus 1% for ten years.

• Tenants in Greenwich LBC’s Charlton Triangle area voted on a package of improvements including transfer of their homes to a company which was yet to be formed, Charlton Triangle Homes. The scheme, which has the backing of £18 million from the Estates' Renewal Challenge Fund, promised rents pegged to RPI for ten years with a single indicative rent rise of £5 per week on completion of the improvement works.

• Residents of four of Hackney LBC's estates voted in favour of transferring their homes to Sanctuary HA. The estates are Morningside, Old Gascoyne, Old Kingshold and Shore, where 63% of residents voting supported the move.

• Following support of nearly 72% of tenants voting in a ballot, 2,500 Lambeth LBC homes were due to transfer to Hyde South Bank Homes, a subsidiary of Hyde HA, in May 1999.

• Tenants on Preston MDC's Avonham, Frenchwood and Queen Street estates voted in favour of transferring their homes to Collingwood HA. The decision, supported by more than 90% of those who voted, meant that 800 homes are to be improved and a further 300 demolished to make way for a 100-home development programme over the next five years.

Scotland

• The remaining 800 Scottish Homes' tenants in Clydebank started voting on proposals that involve the transfer of their homes to Clydebank HA, which would open the door to £3.9 million being spent on improvements over the next 5 years.

• Nearly 75% of tenants who voted support a transfer from Dumfries and Galloway Council to Irvine HA. The Association is now to take over the 400 homes in the Stakeford area of Dumfries.

• Edinburgh Council called on the Government to change the rules on how new housing partnership cash is granted. The Council has resisted Government pressure to transfer its 32,000 homes and proposed instead to set up a local housing company to build new homes with representation on the Board drawn from tenants, officers and business representatives.

• Orkney Islands Council was reported to be considering the stock transfer of its 1,000 homes, subject to a council vote and tenant ballot.

• The Government announced funding of £1.3 million to allow five Scottish councils to launch feasibility studies that could lead to more than 200,000 council homes transferring to new landlords. The councils receiving cash for studies into potential transfers were:

Aberdeenshire Council: £65,000.

 

Dundee Council: £145,000.

 

East Dunbartonshire Council: £18,500.

 

Glasgow Council: £1 million.

 

Western Isles Council: £56,000.

 

By far the biggest potential transfer was Glasgow Council, which has about 100,000 homes in management. Dundee Council has the second largest stock, with 21,000 homes.

December 1998
Debt Relief for Transferring Councils

In a significant change in policy, the Scottish Office pledged new housing partnership cash to service the debts of councils successful in future stock transfer bids, where sales did not completely clear any deficit involved. Central Government cash would also be made available to meet breakage costs incurred for early repayment of loans. Funding conditions imposed were that receipts from transfers must be maximised and used to repay part of any outstanding debt.

This long-awaited solution to Scotland's crippling housing debt problem was welcomed by professionals. It cleared the way for a number of authorities to progress transfer plans. Glasgow Council, whose housing debt was estimated at £1.3 billion and its repair backlog at £1.7 billion, entered a provisional bid to transfer its 100,000 homes, which might now be possible following this new policy directive from central Government.

Housing debt across Scotland is estimated at £4.2 billion. However, the estimated proceeds from the sale of all council stock in Scotland is set at less than 50% of the housing debt.

December 1998
Stock Transfer News in Brief

England

• Nearly 60% of Hackney LBC's 644 tenants of Kingsland, Whitmore and Haggerston voted in favour of transferring to Canalside Housing Partnership.

• Liverpool MDC's tenants in its Speke and Garston areas voted overwhelmingly in favour of transferring their 4,500 homes to South Liverpool Housing (85% in favour on a 78% turnout).

• In another ballot, tenants of the Council's Pinehurst Estate voted in favour of transferring their 650 homes to CDS Housing (67.1% in favour on a turnout of 91%). The transfer releases £6 million funding for improvements to the homes.

• The decision was taken for Richmond-upon-Thames LBC to apply to transfer its entire stock of 7,200 homes, with a planned tenants' vote in September 1999.

• Tameside Council successfully submitted plans to the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions for inclusion of transfer proposals for its 17,000 homes via an LSVT group structure, as part of the 1999 transfer programme. If successful, it would represent the largest transfer of housing stock to date and could possibly open the door for other similar proposals to be put forward.

• The official transfer took place of 250 Trafford MDC homes to Irwell Valley HA, sealing a £9 million partnership between the two organisations.

Scotland

• In Foxbar, 509 properties are to transfer to Paisley South HA.

• Tenants in Townhead, Coatbridge near Glasgow voted in favour of transferring their 220 homes to Lochside HA (81% in favour on a turnout of 73%).

• Tenants of 510 homes spread across seven towns voted in favour of a £5.2 million bid to transfer their homes to South Ayrshire Homes, with over 91% of those voting being in favour.

January 1999
Transfer News in Brief

• Denbighshire CC was considering the transfer of its 4,300 homes to a local housing company, as an option for resolving the repairs and improvements backlog - estimated at about £8,000 per dwelling. If supported, the Council could become the first in Wales to complete a whole stock transfer.

• Liverpool CC's recently published three-years housing strategy statement includes plans to transfer its entire housing stock of 20,000 homes.

• Manchester MDC was reported to be going ahead with plans to transfer three estates in a single transfer operation, despite apparent opposition from tenants. The Sale West Tenants' and Residents' Association, which represents 1,300 households, announced that it was withdrawing from the steering group and tabled a demand for a separate transfer. This was echoed by the other two smaller areas that make up the Heatherway Estate. The transfer plans have been frustrated by past disagreements between the three associations and the Council.

• Wirral MDC transferred its Leasowe Estate to newly-formed Leasowe Community Homes - a subsidiary of Liver HA. The transfer released a £5.19 million Estate Renewal Challenge Fund grant for much needed improvements to the homes.

• Following their December 1998 tenant ballot, which supported the transfer of their 6,000 homes to a newly created housing company, Test Valley DC tenants were told that the transfer might not proceed because of concerns raised by councillors over some of the financial implications. The transfer was frozen for six months, to allow time for further information to be presented to councillors.

• Scottish Homes transferred its 179 homes in Campbeltown to Bute HA, following a ballot in 1998 - which saw support for the transfer from 90% of tenants voting.

February 1999
Stock Transfers in Brief

England

• Tenants on Bradford MDC's Thorpe Edge Estate decided against a transfer from the Council, with 348 votes against the proposals and 216 for them. It was proposed that the estate be transferred to the newly formed Idlethorp Housing Trust, which would have guaranteed £1.9 million from the Estate Renewal Challenge Fund and a further £2 million from Yorkshire Metropolitan HA. The outcome of the ballot, which attracted an 84% turnout, meant that neither of these investments became available.

• Cambridge City Council tenants voted against transfer, with 60.5% of those voting preferring to stay with the Council. Approximately 75% of tenants voted.

• Tenants from Tameside MDC's Richmond Park Estate and West Park Estate in Ashton- under-Lyme voted in favour of transferring to Ashton Pioneer Homes, which released £9.6 million from the Estate Renewal Challenge Fund for improvements.

• West Devon Council's housing stock officially transferred to the local housing company - West Devon Homes. An 81% yes vote in a tenants' ballot last March meant that the transfer could go ahead and a committed £7 million can be invested in repairs and improvements to the stock.

• Worthing Council was set to transfer its 2,600 homes to Worthing Homes, with the £56 million funding needed being provided by loan facilities through the Bradford & Bingley.

• A consortium of five banks is to provide the £200 million required by Wrekin Housing Trust to support the transfer of 13,500 homes from Telford and Wrekin Council.

Scotland

• Glen Oaks HA took over all 1,100 Scottish Homes' dwellings in the Arden district of Glasgow, releasing a £13 million improvement package.

March 1999
Transfer Programme 1999/2000

Housing Minister Hilary Armstrong announced the details of the 1999/2000 stock transfer programme, which gave approval to 25 local authorities to transfer all or part of their housing stock to registered social landlords (RSLs) - subject to support in tenants' ballots. In total, the programme affects more than 140,000 dwellings in 31 proposed large-scale voluntary transfers, generating capital receipts of over £822 million.

Two of the authorities included in the transfer were above the Government's size limit for transfer to one landlord - Coventry CC (20,349 dwellings) and Tameside MBC (16,959 dwellings). In both cases, agreement wes given to transfer the stock to new group structure landlords involving two asset owning RSLs.

Two authorities included in the programme - Coventry CC and Burnley BC - expected to have housing debt remaining on their Housing Revenue Account (HRA) after transfer of the stock. Transfer depended on the successful resolution of this issue. The Government intended to publish a consultation paper on how to tackle overhanging debt in the near future.

The programme includes over £130 million of Estates Renewal Challenge Fund (ERCF) grant, which has been made available to 6 local authorities (Hackney LBC, Islington LBC, Lambeth LBC, Liverpool CC, Preston BC and Tower Hamlets LBC), affecting over 13,000 homes.

Details of the programme are given below. Figures in brackets represent the maximum number of dwellings that could be included in the transfer. The name of the RSL(s) to receive the transferred dwellings is given where known:

• Boston BC (5,114): To Boston Mayflower.

• Burnley BC (5,354): To Burnley and Padiham Community Housing.

• Coventry CC (20,349).

• Elmbridge BC (5,022).

• Fenland DC (4,445).

• Hackney LBC (Pembury Estate) (1,263): To Peabody Trust.

• Hackney LBC (Stamford Hill Estate) (1,131): To Stamford Hill Trust.

• Huntingdonshire DC (7,134).

• Islington LBC (Barnsbury Estate) (646): To Newlon Housing Group.

• Islington LBC (Ten Estates) (739): To Peabody Trust.

• Lambeth LBC (Central Stockwell Estate) (2,576): To Hyde Southbank Homes.

• Lambeth LBC (St Martins Estate) (1,282): To South London Family HA, Metropolitan HT and Presentation HA.

• Lewisham LBC (7,213).

• Liverpool CC (4,685): To South Liverpool Housing.

• Manchester CC (Colshaw Farm Estate (646): To Riverside HA.

• Manchester CC (Whitefield Estate (1,036).

• Newcastle-under-Lyme BC (10,042).

• New Forest DC (5,883).

• North Devon DC (3,462): To North Devon Homes.

• Preston BC (Avenham Estate) (1,123): To Collingwood HA.

• Restormel DC (3,781).

• Richmond LBC (8,780).

• Tameside MBC (16,959).

• Test Valley BC (5,789): To Testway Housing Ltd.

• Tower Hamlets LBC (Homes in Poplar) (1,780): To Poplar HARCA.

• Tynedale Council (3,731): To Tynedale Housing Ltd.

• West Lindsey DC (3,919): To West Links Housing Ltd.

• Weymouth & Portland Council (3,526).

• Wyre Forest DC (6,440): Wyre Forest Community Housing.

March 1999
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Bath & North East Somerset Council's 9,887 homes transferred to Somer Community Housing Trust. A tenant ballot in October 1998 resulted in 58.3% in favour of the transfer (71% turnout). The Trust paid the Council £80.3 million to acquire the homes.

• East Lindsey DC's 5,100 homes transferred to the new local housing company - East Lindsey Partnership Housing (ELPH). This was the first Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) to take place in the Midlands region. Transfer proposals were supported in a tenants' ballot (60% in favour: turnout of 85%) and ELPH have agreed to pay the Council £45 million to acquire the stock. As well as an accelerated repairs and maintenance programme, tenants will benefit from rents pegged at the rate of inflation plus 1% each year for the next five years.

• Enfield LBC transferred its run-down Barbot and Edmonton Green Estates to Metropolitan HT and London & Quadrant HT - part of the Edmonton Partnership Initiative, which is a project designed to regenerate the centre of Edmonton. Edmonton Green Estate tenants are to benefit from substantial improvements to their homes, security measures and better parking facilities. The Barbot Estate is to be demolished, with the tenants being rehoused in new, purpose-built homes. The transfer arrangements included a guarantee to peg rents to maximum annual increases of 1% above inflation for the next 10 years. The transfer was supported in tenant ballots in October and November 1998 (82% in favour: 78% turnout).

• Tenants on nine adjacent Greenwich LBC estates known as the Charlton Triangle are benefiting from a cash injection of over £18 million, as part of the Government's Estates Renewal Challenge Fund scheme. A further £32 million is being raised from the private sector, to fund an extensive repairs and modernisation programme. The homes transferred to a new local housing company - Charlton Triangle Homes Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Family HA.

• Tenants on Hackney LBC's Haggerston, Kingsland and Whitmore Estates transferred to Metropolitan HT and Community HA - working together as Canalside Partnership. The transfer was supported by tenants in a ballot in November 1998, opening the way for £42 million to be invested in repairing and improving the homes - £13 million in Government grant under the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund and a further £29 million in private finance.

• Nearly 1,300 tenants on Lambeth LBC's St Martin Estate in Tulse Hill voted in favour of transferring to a company controlled by three housing associations - Metropolitan HT, Presentation HA and South London Family HA (77.9% in favour). The scheme, which attracts £6 million from the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund and a further £27 million in private finance for improvements and repairs, is part of the 1999/2000 stock transfer programme.

• Over 13,000 homes transferred from Telford and Wrekin Council to the new local housing company - The Wrekin Housing Trust. The £107 million transfer was supported by a tenants' ballot (78.5% in favour: 74% turnout). Benefits to tenants include an extensive programme of repairs and improvements, rents pegged at inflation plus 1% for five years, and tenant participation in the management of the homes - with five tenants sitting on the Board of Management.

• Worthing Homes took over as landlord 2,525 homes transferred from Worthing BC. The application from the Council to transfer its stock came after a ballot in which 69% of tenants voting supported the transfer (76% turnout). Worthing Homes paid the Council £35.88 million for the stock.

Scotland

• The Housing Services Committee of Dumfries and Galloway Council agreed a report from consultants, which recommended transfer of its entire stock to a local housing company. If the Council's Executive Committee also agreed to the recommendation, a ballot of tenants could be arranged within 18 months.

• Glasgow Council formally decided to transfer all of its 100,000 homes to a new community trust. The transfer involves Government write-off of the Council's current £930 million housing debt and a £200 million annual investment for six years. The decision was attacked as premature, as the results of a commissioned feasibility report on stock transfer proposals had not (at the time of the Council's decision) yet been published.

• More than 500 Scottish Homes tenants in South Ayrshire have a new landlord, following a successful £5.9 million transfer deal. The 505 homes in Ayr, Dailly, Girvan, Mossblown, Troon, Dundonald and Symington were transferred to Scotland's first New Housing Partnership style organisation - South Ayrshire Homes, involving the local council, local tenants and community representatives. The transfer was supported by 90% of tenants voting in a ballot in 1998.

April 1999
Transfer News in Brief

• Allerdale DC transferred:

727 homes to Impact HA, generating £4 million from the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund and a similar amount from the Association; and

 

the remaining 3,700 homes to Derwent and Solway Housing (part of the Harvest Group), which raised £42 million.

• Tenants on 10 Islington LBC estates voted in favour of transferring their 740 homes to Peabody Trust. Voting also took place on the Council’s Barnsbury Estate, resulting in the possible transfer of 645 homes to Newlon HA.

May 1999
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Berwick-upon-Tweed DC has decided to make its third attempt at a voluntary transfer, this time to an existing housing association. Two past attempts involved the Council trying to transfer its 3,000 homes to a newly formed organisation, which was not supported in a tenants' ballot, and a bid to use the Private Finance Initiative - which the DETR rejected.

It was understood that some 15 organisations had expressed an interest in the transfer.

• Burnley Council started formal consultation with tenants on transfer plans amid some uncertainty in the absence of clear advice from the DETR on its projected £15 million debt and £6 million other charges that would be left after a transfer. The Council proposed to transfer the homes to Burnley and Padiham Community Housing.

• Housing Minister, Hilary Armstrong, ruled that Manchester MDC's Sale West transfer should go ahead with two estates transferring to one landlord. Tenants on the Heatherway Estate had campaigned for a separate transfer.

• Tower Hamlets LBC tenants voted against transferring their homes to Poplar Harca. The £48 million transfer, which was to be the third phase of transfers in the area, was rejected by 534 - 431 votes on a turnout of 64%. The transfer of the 1,780 homes on the Coventry Cross, Devons and Lincoln Estates had been the subject of bitter dispute between opposing campaigners.

• Sunderland MDC became the first metropolitan authority in the North-east to openly consider stock transfer. If proposals go ahead, the Council's 40,000-home transfer will become the largest in England. A detailed feasibility study and tenant consultation was taking place, with a stock condition survey to be completed by August.

Scotland

• Scottish Homes update:

• Tenants in the Langlands area of Glasgow voted strongly in favour of transferring ownership of their homes to a new landlord. In the ballot, 75% of tenants backed the move to Linthouse HA, with a turnout of more than 87%. The move paved the way for future investment of almost £13 million in Langlands' 260 homes. Linthouse HA was established in 1974 and owns and manages over 850 houses.

• In the Dalmarnock area of Glasgow, tenants of 373 of the Agency’s dwellings were due to get the chance to transfer ownership of their homes to a new landlord - Molendinar Park HA. A ballot was due to be held in August, to decide whether or not tenants support the Association's £1.3 million offer for their homes.

• Tenants in the East Dunbartonshire area were soon to say whether they want to transfer ownership of their homes. A ballot of tenants was timetabled for June, to decide whether or not a total of 438 properties should be transferred to Antonine Housing Cooperative. The cooperative had made a £5 million offer for the homes.

June 1999
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Three housing estates in Birmingham received more than £49 million from the Government's Estates Renewal Challenge Fund. Tenants of Birmingham MDC living on the Benmore, Lee Bank and Woodview estates voted in favour of transferring to a new registered social landlord - Optima Community Association and the transfer has received consent from the Secretary of State to take place on 28th June. Private finance boosts the total available, for a programme of repairs and improvements to the properties, to £85 million.

• Calderdale MDC has commissioned consultants to produce a report on options for the transfer of its 13,000 homes, including the setting up of a local housing company.

• Tenants of Haringey LBC voted in favour of transferring their 24 flats in Hallam House on the Denmark Road estate to London and Quadrant HT. In the ballot, 63.2% were in favour of the transfer, which enables extensive improvement works to go ahead. The transfer is part of a wider Single Regeneration Budget programme for the area.

• Newcastle-under-Lyme BC tenants voted overwhelmingly in favour of transferring their 10,000 homes to a new organisation, Newcastle-under-Lyme Housing (75% in favour; turnout 74%).

• Preston BC's tenants on its Avenham, Queen Street and Frenchwood estates transferred their tenancies to Collingwood HA, following a residents' vote in favour of the move last November. The transfer released £9.6 million from the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund, which is boosted by a further £3 million from Collingwood's own resources, as well as further funding from the private sector, to carry out necessary repairs and improvements. Collingwood is also building 110 new homes and has appointed Avenquest Homes to manage the estate on its behalf.

• Test Valley DC has decided to go ahead with the £80 million transfer of its 5,500 homes to Testway HA, despite fears that falling interest rates and the way that the Government allows capital receipts to be used would jeopardise the move. The Council was locked into long-term borrowing and there were concerns whether it would be debt-free after a transfer.

Scotland

• Progress has been made towards transferring 360 Scottish Homes houses in Inverclyde to a landlord organisation run by local people. One of Port Glasgow's oldest buildings has lent its name to the steering group guiding tenants through the transfer from Scottish Homes: the Newark Steering Group - inspired by Newark Castle - has been set up following discussions with residents from five estates in Port Glasgow. The Newark Group aims to become the owner and manager of the houses and independent consultants have been appointed to help the Group prepare for becoming a landlord.

July 1999
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Hackney LBC tenants on its East London Clissold Estate were being balloted on the option to transfer their homes to Newlon Housing Trust, which would generate £2.5 million towards essential repairs and improvements.

• The transfer of 2,400 Lambeth LBC homes to Hyde Southbank Homes (an offshoot of Hyde HA) marked the launch of a £50 million regeneration programme for Stockwell in South London. The transfer generated more than £15 million from the Government's Estates Renewal Challenge Fund, which with private finance will allow community and business development, as well as the refurbishment of three large estates involved in the transfer.

• Tenants on Wilfred East Estate in Poplar have transferred to the newly registered Wilfred East Housing Co-operative. The block has been in ownership over the last 40 years by the London County Council, Greater London Council and Tower Hamlets LBC. Ownership passed to Poplar HARCA in 1998.

• Sedgemoor Council’s trickle transfer programme to Sedgemoor HA has reached a conclusion. The programme has seen over 465 empty homes transfer from the Council to the Association.

Scotland

• Developments concerning Scottish Homes’ proposed transfers include:

• Nine social landlords were reported to be interested in becoming the new landlord for almost 1,000 Scottish Homes' properties in Hutchesontown. A steering group of tenants, residents, the local councillor and staff of the Agency were receiving training on various aspects of the transfer and it is interviewing prospective landlords who have progressed through an initial selection process.

• Tenants of the Agency in East Dunbartonshire area voted overwhelmingly in favour of transferring ownership of their homes to a new local housing cooperative - to be known as Antonine Housing Cooperative (over 92% in favour on a 70% turnout). The Antonine Housing Cooperative steering group offered a total of around £5 million to take over the ownership of the 438 properties in East Dunbartonshire and North Lanarkshire. Proposals include a planned expenditure of more than £2 million on the dwellings over the next 5 years and rents fixed at inflation plus 1% for the first 10 years after transfer.

• Tenants in the Toryglen area of Glasgow were being balloted on a proposed transfer of their 1,097 dwellings to Thistle Housing Association. The Association's £8.6 million offer is backed by Scottish Homes. A recent independent opinion survey of Scottish Homes in Toryglen showed strong support for Thistle HA's proposals, with over 50% of tenants interviewed saying that the Association would make an acceptable landlord.

• Scottish Homes' tenants in East Ayrshire appointed the Tenants' Information Service (TIS) to act as their own independent adviser and help guide them through the process of transferring to a new landlord. Together with Scottish Homes, TIS is examining whether a detailed submission from the East Ayrshire Housing Partnership is financially viable and whether it offers a good level of service and would have the support of tenants.

• East Ayrshire Housing Partnership has submitted detailed proposals about how it would manage the 965 Scottish Homes' houses in East Ayrshire. It is a registered social landlord and is sponsored by East Ayrshire Council and is already building a number of new houses for rent and ownership in East Ayrshire. The Partnership's management board has equal representation from tenants and the local community, East Ayrshire Council and the local business community. Ultimately, the Board of Scottish Homes will decide whether the Partnership's submission should be put to tenants in a formal postal ballot.

August 1999
Consultation on Overhanging Housing Debt

Housing Minister, Nick Raynsford, issued a consultation paper on the options for local authorities to tackle the problem of overhanging housing debt, following Large Scale Voluntary Transfers (LSVTs).

Overhanging debt arises when the sale price a local authority receives for the transfer of its housing stock is less than the debt attributed to the stock. It is Government policy to support housing transfers where the local authority concerned believes it is the best option and the proposal has the support of tenants affected. However, for many local authorities, housing transfer has not been a realistic option because of the complex problems associated with overhanging debt.

Where a local authority with overhanging debt transfers its housing to a registered social landlord, there would be no rental income to service the debt. However, the authority would be entitled to HRA subsidy on the outstanding debt charges falling on the Housing Revenue Account. The objective of the consultation paper is to put forward proposals for redeeming the debt on transfer, as an alternative to continuing to service the debt.

The key issues discussed in the paper, on which responses are invited, are:

• The options for tackling overhanging debt.

• How a grant to local authorities to offset overhanging debt might work.

• Changes to the levy rate and how the levy is calculated.

• The collection of the levy on future Preserved Right to Buy receipts.

Information Notes

The LSVT levy, referred to above, was introduced by Section 136 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. The aim was to compensate the sum of the public expenditure costs of housing transfers and the levy is paid into the Consolidated Fund. It is payable on receipts arising from disposals of 500 or more council properties to a RSL over a five-year period, where those receipts exceed the outstanding housing debt attributable to the properties.

Copies of the paper are available from the Housing Support Unit, DETR, 2/B3 Eland House, Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5DU.

The consultation paper is also available on the DETR website http://www/detr.gov.uk/.

Source: Housing Transfers in England - Dealing with Overhanging Debt and Altering the LSVT Levy, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR).

August 1999
New Guide on Managing Stock Transfer

The Housing Corporation published a new guide intended to help people who are leading, or who are involved in, the management of a stock transfer process.

The guide is particularly directed at informing:

• Board members of a prospective, or newly transferred, registered social landlord (RSL).

• Senior managers of a prospective, or newly transferred, RSL.

• Members of a tenant group involved in a stock transfer process.

• Members, or senior officers, of a transferring local authority.

The guide focuses on the human and organisational aspects of stock transfer. It identifies the importance of looking beyond the immediate objective - being achieving the transfer itself - to the longer term critical aim of building an organisation which can operate effectively after the transfer. It emphasises that action to achieve longer term objectives need to be planned from the beginning of a transfer process and not left until the transfer actually takes place.

The guide also shows how participants in the transfer process can be affected by the experience. Managers and staff, whether they transfer or remain with the disposing authority, Board members, councillors and residents can feel enthusiastically committed to making the new RSL a success, or they can feel battered and bruised by the process. It emphasises that those managing the transfer process need to ensure that time and resources are made available to support those involved.

Hitting the Ground Running- the Human and Organisational Dimensions of Stock Transfer, available from the Housing Corporation.

August 1999
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Birmingham City Council was understood to be actively looking at options that would make significant inroads into its need to raise £1.3 billion to tackle disrepair to its 93,000 homes. Options ranged from maintaining the status quo to a large-scale transfer of its entire stock.

The size limit on transfers has been 12,000 homes, so a single transfer of 93,000 homes would exceed the total programme of transfers for 1998, which was 65,000.

Developments in Birmingham, along with those in other major cities including Glasgow - which is also considering the option of large-scale voluntary transfer, will represent clear indicators of wider implications for the future of the local authority sector.

• Coventry City Council announced that it was considering large-scale transfer and would ballot tenants on that option for its 26,000 homes before the end of the year.

• Tenants of Elmbridge Council voted in favour of transferring their 4,700 homes to Elmbridge HT (turnout 73%).

• Tenants of Fenland DC voted against transferring their homes to a housing company, despite promises of a modernisation programme and a guarantee of rents being pegged for 5 years at inflation plus 1% (64% against the proposal on a turnout of 72.4%).

• Tenants on Hackney LBC's Clissold Estate voted in favour of transferring their 74 homes to Newlon HT (87% in favour). The transfer sees the start of a £2.5 million improvement programme.

• Tenants of Lewisham LBC voted against plans to transfer their 7,000 homes to Hillgreen Homes, which would have seen £60 million invested in repairs and improvement programmes over the next 5 years (55% against the proposal on a turnout of 61%).

• Sunderland Council was awaiting proposals from consultants on options for transferring its entire stock of 38,500 homes to a local housing company. The Council's initial survey of tenants' views indicated that 70% might support transfer proposals. Overhanging debt is unlikely to be a problem for the Council but union opposition to transfer may be an obstacle.

Scotland

• Scottish Homes announced details of its proposals for the transfer of the homes and assets of Bridgeton and Dalmarnock HA in Glasgow, which involves inviting seven locally-based housing associations to bid for control of the 900 houses. Tenants will be involved in deciding which association offers the best options.

Proposals include the demolition of a number of unpopular tenement properties, where there has been a history of crime and high turnover.

 

The transfer of the Association’s assets follows Scottish Homes' Board's consideration of a report into a statutory inquiry into its affairs.

• Scottish Homes' tenants in Dalmarnock were voting on whether they wanted to transfer ownership of their homes to Molendinar Park HA. If tenants voted in favour of the Association's £1.3 million offer to take over the ownership and running of the 373 properties, then the transfer was scheduled to take place in January 2000, paving the way for new investment in improvements and repairs.

• The Moray Council announced that it is employing consultants to consider the options of retaining its stock, partial transfer and complete transfer. With 7,500 homes, the Council is the main landlord in North-East Scotland. One option for transfer involves The Moray Housing Partnership, which is a housing association that the Council set up under the New Housing Partnerships programme.

September 1999
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Coventry Council commenced a 2-month consultation programme with its 22,000 tenants, to outline proposals for transfer to one of two housing companies - Whitefriars Homes North and Whitefriars Homes South.

• Barnsley Council was seeking to transfer 620 homes in Grimethorpe to a new local housing company, which if successful could be the forerunner to a whole stock transfer of its 25,500 units.

• Tenants of Huntingdonshire Council voted in favour of transferring their 7,000 homes to Huntingdonshire Housing Partnership, which will allow nearly £30 million to be spent on repairs (75% in favour, 63.3% turnout).

• A consultants' report to Dudley Council advised that whole stock transfer to new housing associations could generate in excess of £200 million for improvement, whilst pegging rents at an agreed level.

• The anticipated tenants' ballot on the transfer of 7,000 Richmond-upon-Thames homes to a new local housing company - Richmond Housing Partnership - was in jeopardy. There was general agreement that the transfer arrangements should include fixing rent increases to RPI plus 1% for the next 10 years. However, officials from DETR had argued that guarantees of longer than 5 years could only be offered where homes are being transferred to an existing housing association. It appeared likely that the matter would be referred to Housing Minister, Nick Raynsford.

• Cannock Chase Council appointed consultants Chapman Hendy and Pricewaterhouse Cooper to examine the feasibility of forming a local housing company, with the possibility of a whole stock transfer. A recent house condition survey established that the Council's housing stock needed repairs that would cost nearly £60 million.

• The transfer took place of 11 Islington estates, bringing in £22 million funding from the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund. The Barnbury Estate transferred to Newlon HT, while ten other estates in the King's Cross area transferred to Peabody HT. In addition to the Government cash, a further £33 million was being generated from the private sector in consequence of the transfer.

Scotland

• It was announced that some 2,000 Scottish Homes' tenants in Cumbernauld would have their own independent adviser to provide guidance on a possible transfer to a new landlord. Housing Plus was set to examine proposals from Cumbernauld Housing Partnership Ltd from the tenants' perspective and advise tenants about whether they believed that the partnership was financially viable, offered a good level of service and would have the support of tenants.

Cumbernauld Housing Partnership, a new, non-profit-making housing organisation, was set up to bid for ownership of Scottish Homes' houses throughout Cumbernauld. The partnership involves North Lanarkshire Council, Scottish Homes' tenants and the wider community in Cumbernauld.

Wales

• Following the National Assembly's agreement to the findings of its transfer working party, consultation on stock transfer in Wales got under way. Proposals included regional restrictions on new landlords, with the aim of ensuring that they concentrate on local regeneration and not merely expanding their area of activity. The programme included consultation meetings with the Welsh Local Government Association and with a wide range of tenants' groups.

October 1999
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Hackney LBC tenants on its Stamford Hill, George Downing, Keates, Kennaway, Hillside and Hindle House Estates supported the transfer of their homes to Southern Homes - a division of Southern Housing Group. The transfer will attract £13.1 million from the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund.

• Coventry CC was forced to negotiate an extension on its plans to transfer 20,350 homes because of uncertainty surrounding overhanging debt. The scheme could not complete until the Council has secured a grant from the Government to settle the overhanging debt on the Housing Revenue Account. The time taken to resolve the issue will have a clear impact on the Council's ability to complete by 31st March 2000. It is understood that Burnley Council was experiencing similar difficulties and there are doubts as to whether it could complete its transfer of 5,350 homes before the end of the financial year deadline.

• Liverpool CC saw the transfer of 4,300 homes in the south of the City to the new local housing company - South Liverpool Housing. The transfer will see £43 million made available towards refurbishment of the estates, with a further £38 million being made available from private funders. In addition, tenants will benefit from annual rent rises guaranteed at no more than the rate of inflation plus 1% for the next five years. The transfer was supported by 85% of tenants voting on a turnout of 78%.

• More than 1,000 properties on Lambeth LBC's St Martin's Estate were to receive £7 million funding through the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund, following their vote in favour of transferring their tenancies to a partnership of three registered social landlords - Metropolitan Housing Trust, Presentation HA and South London Family HA. The three will work together to repair and improve the homes, as well as implementing a strategy for community and economic regeneration on the estate. As well as the Government funding, the new landlords will invest an additional £26.5 million in the estates, supporting a programme of structural repairs and modernisation to the properties. The funding will also support environmental and security programmes and the area's ongoing wider regeneration programme.

• The largest transfer of council housing stock got the go ahead following a tenant vote in favour of transferring 17,000 Tameside Council homes to New Charter Housing Trust Group in March 2000 (63% in favour on a turnout of 69%). The transfer will see £220 million invested in repair and investment programmes.

• West Lindsey DC transferred 3,900 homes to West Links Housing, following a tenants' ballot which saw 79% in favour on a turnout of 77%. West Links Housing has agreed to pay the Council £30.7 million to acquire the stock.

Scotland

• Scottish Homes tenants in Springboig in Glasgow were to be balloted on transferring their homes to a new landlord, Shettleston HA. Scottish Homes will make available Housing Association Grant to Shettleston HA to subsidise the transfer, reflecting the anticipated costs of major remedial works to the 540 steel-clad houses - necessary to keep them available for social renting. If the transfer goes ahead, it will signal new investment in an extensive remedial programme, as well as further improvement and day-to-day repairs.

• Scottish Homes tenants in Dalmarnock, Glasgow, were to vote on whether or not they want to transfer ownership of their homes to Molendinar Park HA in January 2000. If the transfer goes ahead, it will pave the way for new investments in improvements and repairs. Molendinar Park has made a £1.3 million offer to take over the ownership and running of the 373 properties.

Wales

• The first tenant ballot on a transfer to a local housing company in Wales was set to take place. Newport CBC announced that it was to send out postal ballot forms to nearly 650 residents of post-war prefabs on the option of transferring to the newly formed Newport Housing Trust. Under the planned transfer, Newport Housing Trust will manage 550 new detached and semi- detached bungalows which will be developed at a cost of £37 million. The prefab homes being transferred will be demolished as they become vacant, being no longer suitable for modern living and expensive to heat. If the transfer goes ahead, it will be completed by March 2000.

November 1999
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Birmingham Council formally made application to transfer its 92,000 homes to a new municipal housing regeneration trust. Under the proposals submitted to the DETR, the new Trust would own the freehold of the dwellings and lease them to 15 community landlords. The move is seen by the Council as the only viable solution to its repairs backlog, estimated at between £2 billion and £3 billion.

• Cannock Chase Council abandoned plans to transfer its 7,000 homes to a new landlord, just two days before the deadline for transfer applications for the 2000/01 programme. The Council has housing debt of £34 million and an estimated repair backlog of £67 million, which are key factors in its decision to wait for further Government guidance on overhanging debt implications for transfers.

• Elmbridge Council's plans to transfer its 5,000 homes to Elmbridge Housing Trust were delayed by a dispute with the valuers over a stock valuation. A new survey was being commissioned and the programme was likely to be put back by at least six weeks.

• Hackney LBC had its sixth successful estate ballot, which will see the transfer of the homes on its Clissold Estate to Newlon Housing Trust.

• Hillingdon LBC was reported to be working on a scheme, whereby the Council would transfer homes to a housing association free of charge as they become empty. Rental income would then be used to secure private finance and the equity on each property acquired by the association would allow it to procure two further dwellings - with all three being below market rent levels. The Council would retain 100% nomination rights.

• Lambeth LBC looked set to become the second largest transfer behind Birmingham Council, following its decision to transfer its entire stock of 40,000 homes. The move is seen as the only solution to its £645 million housing debt but it is understood that a number of options for transfer are still under consideration.

• The 643 residents on Manchester Council's Colshaw Farm Estate voted in favour of transferring to Riverside HA (97% in favour, 87% turnout). The Association, which is a subsidiary of Portico HA, will invest £12 million in improvements to the homes.

• Tenants and leaseholders of Richmond-upon-Thames LBC voted in favour of transferring 7,400 homes and 1,500 leasehold properties to Richmond Housing Partnership. The move will open the door to repair and improvement programmes totalling £51 million.

• Tenants on Tower Hamlets LBC's Shadwell and Spitalfields Estate voted narrowly (51.5% in favour, 48.5% against) in favour of transferring to Tower Hamlets Community Housing. A separate ballot in the St Peter's area recorded an 88% vote in favour of transferring. Approximately two-thirds of eligible tenants voted in both ballots.

• The YWCA selected Selhal Community Housing Group as the preferred bidder for its dwellings in the North of England. The transfer of the 532 dwellings was decided last March, in a move that sees the end of direct housing provision by the Association spanning more than 140 years.

Scotland

• Developments affecting Scottish Homes tenants included:

• 2,000 tenants in Cumbernauld were set to vote on whether or not they want to transfer their homes to the new local landlord - Cumbernauld Housing Partnership - which has offered a total of £5.8 million to take over the ownership and management of the properties.

• Clydebank HA paid £2.5 million to take over ownership of the remaining 750 of the Agency's homes in West Dunbartonshire. The move has been backed by 93% of tenants who voted in a postal ballot and it signals the end of a landlord role in West Dunbartonshire for Scottish Homes, which once owned 2,500 properties in the area.

• A transfer date was in sight for the Agency's tenants living in the Townhead area of Coatbridge. Tenants voted overwhelmingly to transfer their houses to Lochside HA a year previously but the handover was delayed whilst Scottish Homes carried out further structural surveys on some of the properties. Scottish Homes have now advised tenants that, as a result of the surveys, a new lower price has been set for the houses. This will enable Lochside HA to make repairs to some of the houses, which have concrete or steel frames. It was anticipated that the transfer will go ahead early in 2000.

December 1999
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Following a ballot (60% in favour, 76% turnout) of Boston BC tenants, more than 4,800 homes in Boston are to be transferred to a new local housing company, Boston Mayflower.

• Tenants of Brent LBC's 400 sheltered units voted decisively (75% in favour, 90% turnout) to transfer to the first ever sheltered housing company, Willow Housing, which is being set up by Network HA. Network also plans to transfer its existing sheltered housing and residential care homes to Willow, which will give the new company a total of 900 homes in the Borough.

• Despite a ballot representing fewer than one-third of the 20,000 eligible voters (55% in favour, 58% turnout), Coventry MBC looked set to transfer its 21,000 homes to a new housing group, Whitefriars, in the largest transfer of a council's housing stock to date. The DETR has agreed in principle to fund the Council's overhanging debt of £100 million, to enable the transfer to take place.

• Sixty-three homes in Derby transferred from the Guinness Trust to Hallmark Community HA, a black and minority ethnic housing association which previously managed the properties on the Trust's behalf.

• Hackney LBC's 4-week successful ballot of tenants on its Pembury Estate (83% in favour, 79% turnout) will see the homes transferred in March 2000 to the Peabody Trust, in the Council's seventh and final estate transfer under the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund programme.

• Lewisham LBC was seeking the transfer of 2,000 homes on its Forest Hill Estate, where the transfer of 7,000 properties to Hillgreen Homes was rejected in August.

• Tenants of 1,630 homes on two Manchester CC estates - Heatherway and Racecourse - voted overwhelmingly (93% in favour, 82% turnout) to transfer to Irwell Valley HA, which proposes repairs and improvements totalling £19 million in the first three years as part of its total investment of £ 60 million.

• Tynedale DC became the first authority in the North-East to complete a whole-stock transfer. A newly established RSL, Tynedale Housing Ltd, took over its 3,500 homes with the guarantee that annual rents will rise no more than 1% above RPI for the next five years, and the promise of a five-year repair and improvement programme.

Scotland

• Transfer developments affecting Scottish Homes tenants included:

• Results of the 4-week Cumbernauld ballot demonstrated tenants' overwhelming backing (90% in favour, 62% turnout) for the transfer of 1,962 properties to Cumbernauld Housing Partnership, paving the way for investment of over £ 5 million in the properties over the next five years.

• Tenants of 926 homes in the Kilmarnock and Crosshouse areas of East Ayrshire were voting in a 4-week ballot (starting early in 2000) on the transfer of their homes to East Ayrshire Housing Partnership, which has offered £ 8 million for the ownership and management of the properties. If the transfer is agreed, tenants will benefit from new investment in improvement and repair of their homes, more certainty about future rent levels and greater participation in the management of their homes.

• Shettleston HA was due to take over the ownership and management of the Agency's homes in the Springboig area of Glasgow, following the successful ballot of 242 tenants (86% in favour, 88% turnout). The Association plans to invest £ 10 million in repairing and improving the homes following the transfer, which is expected in Spring 2000.

• A ballot of tenants in the Irvine area of North Ayrshire was announced, to be held early in the new year, which will determine whether or not they wish to transfer ownership of their homes to ANCHOR - Ayrshire North Community Housing Organisation - in June 2000. ANCHOR has offered £ 8 million to take over the ownership and management of the 824 homes.

Wales

• Caerphilly Council's controlling Plaid Cymru group called for an all-party seminar on the future of its 13,400 properties as part of its plans to undertake the first whole-stock transfer in Wales.

• Tenants of Newport Council's prefab properties voted strongly in favour (87% in favour, 94.2% turnout) of transferring their homes to Newport Housing Trust. The 550 prefabs will be replaced with new brick-built bungalows in the first transfer of tenanted homes in Wales.

January 2000
Big Bang Transfer

The Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) announced that 23 local authorities were bidding to transfer some 270,000 council homes during 2000/2001. If the current trend continues over the next decade, councils will be left with only a minute proportion of the 3 million homes that they currently own.

Three of the bids alone - by Birmingham, Sunderland and Walsall - total 161,000 homes - which is more than the total stock transferred in 1999.

Despite Government enthusiasm, opposition to the scale of the transfer programme has come from several quarters. It was reported that the Tenants’ and Residents’ Organisations of England (TAROE) was generally not in favour of the programme and some of its member associations were considering the option of mounting legal challenges to the consultation process. Key to such a challenge would be the inequality between resources available to local authorities supporting transfer options and to those groups which oppose them.

Opposition to the enlarged programme also came from Defend Council Housing, who launched a new national campaign aimed at opposing privatisation in any form. The pressure group argues that the £22 billion needed to clear the backlog of repairs to council property is already available. The councils successful in bidding for inclusion in the 2000/2001 programme are reported in March 2000 below.

January 2000
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Calderdale Council tenants were competing for five places on the shadow Board of a local housing company, which hoped to ballot the 13,400 tenants on transfer in July 2000.

• Following a successful ballot (75% in favour, 74% turnout), Newcastle-under-Lyme BC transferred almost 9,900 homes to a new local housing company, Newcastle-under-Lyme HA. The Association paid £53.7 million for the properties and plans to spend £60 million on improvements and developing 100 new homes over the next 5 years.

• Southwark LBC, London's biggest social landlord, was considering plans to transfer its 53,000 dwellings to 10 new community-led social landlords, each of which would manage some 5,000 properties.

• Sunderland Council hoped to transfer all of its 40,000 homes to one umbrella company, which would break the DETR's 12,000 home transfer limit. The umbrella company, while providing central services and an overall business strategy, would lease the properties to five subsidiary, locally-run housing companies.

Scotland

• Glasgow Council, which had planned to transfer its 95,000 homes to one giant landlord, appeared to have been persuaded by Scottish Communities Minister, Wendy Alexander, to accept the principle of multiple new landlords, even though this may cost up to £500 million more than a single transfer.

• Scottish Homes tenants of its 1,097 Toryglen homes voted on whether or not to transfer ownership of the dwellings to Thistle Housing Association. Results of the month-long postal ballot were expected at the end of February 2000.

February 2000
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Birmingham CC invited the HACAS Group to become its lead consultants to advise on the potential of stock transfer of its 92,000 homes. The Council aims to transfer its properties to a new housing regeneration body, which would in turn lease the stock to a number of community landlords. It is anticipated that a ballot will be held in 2001, following detailed planning.

• Liverpool CC announced its hopes to promote the first of a series of housing regeneration companies, which will each concentrate on specific neighbourhoods. The company would be a subsidiary of a Registered Social Landlord and, as such, be subject to Housing Corporation regulations.

• Six hundred residents of Macclesfield BC on the Colshaw Farm Estate will benefit from a £30 million refurbishment programme, as a result of the transfer of housing management responsibilities to Riverside HA, following an overwhelmingly successful ballot (96.7% in favour, 86.6% turnout).

• Manchester CC announced that it was considering whole stock transfer, to one or more new landlords. Housing Director, Eamonn Boylan, hopes that councillors will decide in principle to transfer all 68,000 dwellings in view of the government's block on council borrowing for stock improvement. No final decision, however, was expected until after the issue of the Green Paper on Housing.

• North Devon DC formally transferred control of over 3,200 homes to North Devon Homes, which has promised to invest a total investment of £12 million in the housing stock. It also guarantees rent increases of no more than 1% above inflation for the next five years.

• Restormel BC transferred its stock of more than 3,500 dwellings to a new local housing company (LHC) - Restormel Housing Trust, following a successful tenant ballot (84% in favour, 79.9% turnout). The LHC paid the Council £25.1 million to acquire its stock.

• Sheffield CC announced that it was considering a full stock transfer and already had underway a £400,000 exercise to ballot tenants and draw up detailed plans in time to bid for the 2001/02 transfer round, if that turns out to be the preferred option.

• Wrexham CBC, which faces an estimated £60 million repair and improvement bill, set up a working party, which includes 8 tenant representatives, to consider the transfer of its 14,000 dwellings. The working party was to report in the Autumn, after completing a stock survey.

Scotland

• Scotland's First Minister, Donald Dewar, approved more than £15 million additional new funding for Glasgow Council's groundbreaking plans for the biggest housing transfer in Britain - 95,000 homes - to a single new landlord.

• Scottish Homes transfer news included:

• The first Scottish Homes' transfer deal of the millennium saw Antonine Housing Co- operative taking over 411 houses in East Dunbartonshire and North Lanarkshire. The Co- operative paid just over £4 million to acquire the stock, in a move backed by 92% of tenants who voted in a ballot.

• A postal ballot of Scottish Homes' tenants in the Toryglen area of Glasgow showed that, of the 75% turnout, 77% were in favour of transferring ownership of their homes to Thistle HA. The Association offered £6 million to acquire the 1,070 properties and it will invest £10 million in a 5-year programme of repairing and upgrading the homes. Rents will be restricted to inflation plus 1% for the next twenty years.

• Of the ten social landlords who originally expressed interest in acquiring the Scottish Homes' 950 properties in the Hutchesontown area of Glasgow, only two submitted initial proposals - New Gorbals HA and Home in Scotland. Home in Scotland then withdrew, as it was unable to meet the timescales agreed for more detailed proposals, leaving the way clear for New Gorbals HA, which is to submit a detailed offer to take over ownership of the properties. If its proposals prove satisfactory, it is anticipated that a tenant ballot will be held early in 2001.

March 2000
Housing Transfer Programme 2000/01

Housing Minister Nick Raynsford announced that 22 local authorities have been given the go-ahead to transfer all or part of their housing stock during 2000/01, which could lead to 160,000 council tenants benefiting from repairs and improvements to their homes.

The programme, which is subject to the approval of tenants involved, makes proposals to carry out twenty-three transfers of all or part of council housing stock to Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) in 2000/01, generating capital receipts of over £940 million. In most cases, transfer will guarantee that rents will not rise by more than 1% above inflation for the first five years.

The authorities who successfully gained a place on the programme (maximum dwellings involved are shown in brackets), together with the intended recipient RSL (where known) are as follows:

• Barnsley MBC to a new subsidiary of Chantry Housing Association. (Partial transfer).

• Blackburn with Darwen BC (10,126) to a registered social landlord.

• Calderdale MBC (13,494) to a registered social landlord.

• Chester CC (7,100) to Chester and District Housing Trust.

• Chichester DC (5,510) to Chichester District Community Housing.

• Coventry CC (22,104) jointly to Whitefriars Homes North and Whitefriars Homes South. (Brought forward from the 1999/2000 programme).

• East Northamptonshire DC (3,540) to a East Northamptonshire Housing.

• East Staffordshire BC (6,015) to Trent and Dove Housing.

• Fylde BC (1,964) to New Fylde Housing.

• Horsham DC (4,807) to Saxon Weald Homes Ltd.

• Manchester CC (468 dwelling-houses on the Knutsford Estate) to Manchester Methodist Housing Association, and (669 dwelling-houses on the Handforth Estate) to a registered social landlord. (Partial transfer).

• Mendip DC (4,799) to a registered social landlord.

• Richmond LBC (8,780) to Richmond Housing Partnership. (Brought forward from the 1999/2000 programme).

• South Bedfordshire DC (6,282) to a registered social landlord.

• Staffordshire Moorlands DC (3,274) to a registered social landlord.

• Torbay Council (3,127) to Riviera Housing Trust Ltd.

• Walsall MBC (28,785) to five registered social landlords which are part of Walsall Housing Group.

• Waverley BC (5,715) to a registered social landlord.

• West Lancashire DC (8,530) to a registered social landlord.

• West Oxfordshire DC (3,884) to a registered social landlord.

• West Wiltshire DC (3,438) to West Wiltshire Housing Society.

• Wycombe DC (7,659) to Wycombe 2000 Housing.

Four of the authorities on the 2000/01 programme - Blackburn with Darwen BC, Calderdale MBC, Coventry CC and Walsall MBC expected to have housing debt remaining in their Housing Revenue Account (HRA) after their stock is transferred.

Sunderland CC and Birmingham CC have applied for a place on the programme but are being given them more time to develop their transfer proposals. They are both placed on the 2001/2002 programme.

March 2000
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Burnley BC was given approval to transfer its entire housing stock of 5,330 homes to a newly established Registered Social Landlord - Burnley and Padiham Community Housing Limited. Tenants voted overwhelmingly last July to transfer their tenancies to the new landlord, which will lead to a five- year programme of repairs and improvements. This is the first consent given for whole stock transfer by an authority with overhanging debt - made possible by the new arrangements for dealing with overhanging debt announced to Parliament in December 1999.

• Under the Government's Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) programme, around 4,500 homes are to transfer from Elmbridge BC to a new local housing company - Elmbridge Housing Trust. The transfer was supported in a ballot in which 73 per cent of tenants voted, 66 per cent of whom supported the transfer. Elmbridge Housing Trust has agreed to pay £ 56 million for the stock.

• The final two transfers to new landlords under Hackney LBC’s Estate Regeneration Strategy (ERS) took place. With the transfer of Pembury Estate to Peabody Trust and the six estates in Stamford Hill to Southern Homes (part of the Samuel Lewis Housing Trust) the Council has the record for the highest number of estate transfers in London. In the last three years, seven estate transfers in Hackney have resulted in 6,347 council homes being transferred to registered social landlords. As a result, by the end of 2005 more than £ 260 million will be invested in the long-term regeneration of 19 estates. In addition to much needed housing investment, the transfers will trigger a range of socio- economic initiatives, from homework clubs to befriending schemes for the elderly. A unique Good Practice Group has also been set up, to help new landlords to achieve their regeneration goals. ERS partners have been given the opportunity to learn from each other and benchmark their performance against indicators developed by residents, the Council and other partners.

• Around 6,650 Huntingdonshire DC dwellings transferred to a new local housing company (LHC) - Huntingdon Housing Partnership. The transfer follows a ballot in which 63% of tenants voted, of whom 75% supported the transfer. Huntingdon Housing Partnership agreed to pay the Council £65.2 million to acquire the stock.

• Manchester CC transferred the Sale Estate (an overspill estates, located in the Borough of Trafford) to Irwell Valley HA, following a ballot of tenants in which 93% of those who took part voted in favour. Many of the properties have not been improved since they were built and there has been some structural deterioration. Irwell Valley HA intends to spend £60 million carrying out a substantial programme of repairs and improvements.

• Manchester CC tenants on the Whitefield Estate in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury transferred to Rivers Housing Association. The transfer of the 1,033 homes follows a vote in favour by tenants (87% of tenants voted, with 95% in favour). The Association agreed to pay the council £1.97 million for the stock.

• All of Tameside Council's housing officially transferred to New Charter Housing (North) Limited and New Charter Housing (South) Limited. New Charter Housing North covers the towns of Ashton, Droylsden, Mossley and Stalybridge. New Charter Housing South covers Audenshaw, Denton, Dukinfield, Hyde and Longdendale.

• Test Valley BC announced that it will transfer 5,500 properties to Testway Housing Ltd, which has been supported in a ballot in which 73% of tenants voted, 69% of whom supported the transfer. Testway Housing agreed to pay just under £80 million for the stock.

• More than 1,500 homes on Tower Hamlets LBC's Dinmont, Bigland, Barnado Gardens, Minerva, Pritchards and Spitalfields Estates transferred to a new local housing company - Tower Hamlets Community Housing. This is the last transfer to be completed under the Government's Estates Renewal Challenge Fund, which is providing £21.277 million towards the cost of the scheme.

• Vale Royal BC transferred the 285 dwellings on its Glebe Green Estate to Muir Group HA under the Government's Small Scale Voluntary Transfer (SSVT) scheme for under 500 properties. The Association will be spending £6.5 million on an accelerated programme of structural repairs and improvements to the homes over the next three years. The new landlord is also setting up the Glebe Green divisional committee, which will consist of 12 members (with 50% tenant representation) and will be responsible for managing the estate. The transfer follows a ballot in which 81% of tenants voted, of whom 95% supported the transfer. Muir Group HA agreed to pay the Council £246,000 to acquire the estate.

• More than 6,000 Wyre Forest DC homes transferred to Wyre Forest Community Housing, a new local housing company set up specifically to take on the Council's housing stock. One third of the Company's Management Board will be made up of tenants. The transfer follows a ballot in which 66% of tenants voted, of whom 80% supported the move. Wyre Forest Community Housing is to pay the Council £40.95 million to acquire the stock.

Scotland

• Scottish Homes tenants in the Irvine area of North Ayrshire voted overwhelmingly in favour of transferring ownership of their homes to the new Ayrshire North Community Housing Organisation (A.N.C.H.OR) ( 91% in favour, turnout 65%). The move will lead to investment of £21 million in their houses over the next 30 years. A.N.C.H.O.R is a newly-established, not-for-profit partnership organisation whose board is made up of Scottish Homes tenants, Council members and community representatives. It offered a total of £8 million to take over ownership of the 824 properties in Irvine, Kilwinning and Dreghorn, keeping them available for social renting.

• Molendinar Park Housing Association paid £1.3 million to take over ownership of 365 Scottish Homes houses in Dalmarnock. The move - backed by 66% of tenants who voted in a postal ballot - paves the way for a range of benefits for tenants, including investment in improvements and repairs, more certainty about future rent levels and a greater say in the way their houses are managed. Locally-based Molendinar is a community-controlled association which has been operating in the East End of Glasgow since 1993. With a reputation for innovative and high-quality developments, it currently owns around 200 houses, some of which transferred from Scottish Homes in 1999.

April 2000
Transfer News in Brief

England

• Chester City Council voted in favour of transferring its 7,000 homes to a new local housing company - Chester & District Housing Trust. The transfer had already received support in a tenant ballot.

• West Lancashire Council voted in favour of whole-stock transfer by a narrow majority of 3 (23 in favour, 20 against). The vote overturns a recommendation against transfer from the Council's Policy and Resources Committee.

Scotland

• Scottish Homes tenants in the Kilmarnock area of East Ayrshire voted overwhelmingly in favour of transferring ownership of their homes to a new, locally-based landlord. The move will lead to investment of £10 million in their houses over the next ten years. Results of two ballots of tenants show that more than 88% of tenants backed the move to East Ayrshire Housing Partnership. Average turnout in the two ballot areas was 74%.

East Ayrshire Housing Partnership made an offer of £8 million to take over ownership and running of the 925 houses in Kilmarnock, Stewarton, Galston and Crosshouse and keep them available for social renting. East Ayrshire Housing Partnership is a newly-established, not-for-profit organisation. It comprises council members, tenant and community representatives and business people with an interest in East Ayrshire. In addition to management board representation from each of these groups, two Scottish Homes tenants’ representatives are also on the board as directors.

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