£1m at risk in housing sell-off vote (From This Is Local London)

£1m at risk in housing sell-off vote

11:00am Thursday 3rd December 2009 in Where I Live By Oliver Evans

Wycombe District Council's offices in High Wycombe

ABOUT £1m of public money could be lost if a council loses a vote to sell off its council houses.

Wycombe District Council wants to sell its 6,500 homes to a tenant-led housing association – and wants to set aside £995,000 for the vote next autumn.

Housing boss Chris Watson said: “It is a risk worth taking. The benefits to the tenants would increase if the transfer took place.”

Bosses say they cannot invest in homes enough because the Government takes half of tenants’ rents for other councils.

A TLSO would be keep all the cash, which chiefs say would massively improve homes, and borrow running costs. Tenants would be on the management board.

The move is likely to prove controversial. Transfer to a standard housing association was defeated in a vote which cost Conservative-run WDC £700,000 in 2000.

A recent survey of about five per cent of tenants found 47 per cent were in support while 28 per cent said no. Some 22 per cent were unsure and the rest did not answer.

The cash for the new vote would be paid from a fund mostly made up of tenants' rents.

Eileen Short, chairman of the Defend Council Housing pressure group, warned a yes vote would mean “privatisation” of the service.

She said: “Tenants are on the board but they are legally company directors and have responsibility in law to putting the interests of the company first.

“Tenants cannot make the housing association buck the market. Council housing has accountability, a de-selectable landlord.”

The council was “rushing” into the vote despite suggestions of a shift in Government housing policy, she said. Ministers are trebling investment it was announced in June.

But Martin Hale, WDC council head of housing, said: “I am picking up that the feeling now is very different from tenants [compared to the last vote].

“There is a lot more tenant involvement. The last time it was seen as something that was done to them.”

Tenants would have the same rights under a TLSO, Mr Hale said, except new ones would not be able to buy their homes.

The sell-off is supported by the Wycombe Tenant and Leaseholder Committee, which liaises with the council on behalf of tenants.

A yes vote would net the cash-strapped council an estimated tens of millions of pounds, which it can spend how it likes. This would return cash spent on the vote.

The counci's cabinet is expected to approve putting aside the cash at its meeting on Monday. This would then be confirmed by the full council with a vote on December 14.

The TLSO would be called Red Kite (Housing the Community) Limited.