Tenant Ballots Will Not Affect Approved Regeneration Schemes

London mayor Sadiq Khan’s Good Practice Guide to Estate Regeneration backed residents’ right to vote on regeneration projects where demolition of social housing is involved, in a significant U-turn. Peabody, which is due to start onsite at its huge regeneration of Thamesmead in Greenwich in summer, confirmed that it did not anticipate needing to hold tenant ballots on the parts of the scheme that already have planning permission. But for phases that have not yet gained approval, a spokesperson said: “We will continue to ensure that there is full consultation and involvement with residents, and once more detail is available, will look at how we can take this forward.” Read more on Inside Housing.

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London Assembly Votes For Tenant Ballots On Estate Regeneration

The motion urges mayor of London Sadiq Khan to recommend that ballots are used on all schemes where demolition is an option in the final version of his ‘Good Practice Guide to Regeneration’. The vote does not mean that this recommendation will be included in Mr Khan’s regeneration guide as the mayor will still have the final say. However, the support of Labour and the unanimous vote places pressure on the mayor to follow the opinion of the assembly. Read more on the London Assembly website.

RIPsnorter of a Housing Debate

On 2 November, The Housing and Planning Bill received its second reading in the House of Commons. The Right To Buy extension, while in the Bill, is subject to a “voluntary” deal offered by NHF and so avoids parliamentary scrutiny and, significantly, Greg Clark the Minister stated that this applied to ALL housing associations including those who voted against the deal despite assurances from David Orr saying they would not!  Yet far more important was the announcement on Friday that the ONS had reclassified housing associations as public sector bodies. Healey asked Clark twice as to when he knew about the ONS reclassification – and twice Clark refused to answer. The NHF was stitched up like a kipper and David Orr sold them down the river with his assurances on independence, on the discretion he claimed they would have and on those voting No to his deal would not have to sell their properties. Read more on the Speye blog.

Town Hall Rubber Stamps Housing Transfer

The transfer of 8,500 homes from the council to private ownership has been formally approved. Salford council rubber stamped the transfer of town hall-owned properties to Salix Homes at its full council meeting. This came after a tenant ballot in November when tenants voted in favour of the stock transfer. The transfer is expected to take place at the end of March and Salix Homes, which already manages the homes on behalf of the council. Salix says it will invest millions into the homes to bring them up to a decent standard by 2020 and maintain them. Read more on the Manchester Evening News website.

Ballot Go Ahead Recommended

Plans which could release millions of pounds of housing investment could get the go ahead in Salford. After extensive consultation with tenants, Salford City Mayor Ian Stewart will consider the recommendation to hold a ballot. Tenants will be able to decide whether to transfer the ownership of 8,500 homes from the council to Salix Homes which will see £75 million pounds invested in homes and communities in the next five years. The offer document, setting out details of the proposal, was delivered to tenants at the start of August, giving them a month to reply with any comments on the document. Read more on the Salford City website.

Tenants Vote Yes To Housing Transfer

Durham County Council tenants have voted in favour of transferring the ownership and management of their homes to Dale & Valley Homes, Durham City Homes and East Durham Homes as part of the new County Durham Housing Group. 82% of those who took part in a confidential ballot supported the transfer proposal, with 51% of tenants using their vote. The single ballot of almost 22,000 tenants was run independently from the council by Electoral Reform Services Limited.  Read more on the Durham County Council website.

Thousands Could Lose Homes If Salix Transfer Goes Ahead

Salford Council and Salix have been spending tens of thousands of pounds on propaganda urging tenants to vote `Yes' in a ballot, which would see 8,800 properties transferred from Council ownership to an independent company.  Neither the Salix propaganda leaflets, nor the Offer Document, make any mention of a few paragraphs contained on page 32 of the 76 page official Business Case, not so easily available to tenants. Under the title of the Strategic Case for the transfer, the document quite clearly states that "Salix Homes would have greater freedom, for example, in the range and types of tenancies provided and locations/lettings policy." It adds that there will be the "development of a new tenancy policy" which will "work to change the view that social housing is a home for life towards being a resource for a particular time". Read more on the Salford Star website.

Cabinet Agrees To Proceed With Tenant Vote in Durham

Durham County Council’s Cabinet has given its approval to carry out a ballot of secure and introductory tenants on the future management and ownership of their home.Following extensive consultation, Cabinet took the decision to ask almost 22,000 secure and introductory tenants to vote on whether they would like the council to remain as their landlord or transfer ownership of their home to their current housing services provider. In the coming weeks tenants will be asked whether they agree with the council’s proposal to transfer the ownership of their home via the County Durham Housing Group Limited to Dale & Valley Homes (an ALMO) in the west of the county; Durham City Homes in the city centre and surrounding areas; and East Durham Homes (an ALMO) in the east, making each of these organisations local landlords. Read more on the Housingnet website.

Tenants Back Transfer Plan

Tenants in Salford have backed plans for a ballot on whether to transfer their council homes to a housing association.  Almost 2,500 residents of Salix Homes, the ALMO which manages around 10,500 properties owned by Salford City Council, responded to a ‘test of opinion’ survey.  Nearly half (48.1 per cent) of tenants questioned said they would support a stock transfer, with just over a quarter opposed (27.6 per cent). A further 20.1 per cent did not know and 4.2 per cent did not give an answer. Read more on Inside Housing.

Tenants Asked For Views on Stock Transfer

Salford City Council is asking tenants to vote on whether they wish management of their homes to remain with Salix Homes, a 10,500 homes ALMO set up to manage the council’s stock.  They are not being presented with the option of the management of their homes transferring back to the council but are instead being asked if they want the current arrangement to continue, or for a transfer to a registered provider or housing association. The council said the results of the survey would ‘inform the city mayor’s decision’ on whether or not to conduct a formal ballot of tenants on a transfer to a housing association. This move could only go ahead with the agreement of tenants.  Read more on the Salix Homes website.

ALMO Told To Release Report

England’s largest ALMO has been ordered to publish a document outlining reasons why it should not be scrapped.  The Information Commissioner’s Office has ruled that Sheffield Homes was wrong to keep secret details of the business case for retaining the ALMO.  The 42,000-home organisation refused a request from an unnamed individual under the Freedom of Information Act asking for documents from its annual general meeting. It also rejected requests from the complainant to release the full minutes of the meeting.  Following a ballot of tenants, it was decided the ALMO should be axed from April 2013, when Sheffield Council will take the management of its homes in-house to save £1.2 million a year. However, the ICO ruled the ALMO was wrong to withhold information about the case for continuing with the ALMO and ordered it to provide the minutes within 35 days.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Tenants to Benefit from Simplified ‘Right to Manage’

The government is pressing ahead with plans to make it easier for tenant groups to take over the management of their homes, following a consultation. Revised regulations on the ‘right to manage’ will remove requirements that tenant groups must produce a ‘feasibility study’ before balloting residents, and that local authorities must send the result of ballots and copies of tenant management organisations’ agreements to the communities secretary. The government has also said it will produce ‘streamlined, sector-led guidance that provides practical help for tenants in exercising their right to manage’. The CLG announced it will go ahead with the plans in a summary of the 56 responses it received to a consultation on the proposals.  Download a copy of the consultation responses from the CLG website.

Council Calls Time on ALMO

Councillors in Charnwood have approved plans to take direct control of the Council’s housing in a move which could save £638,000 per year.  Charnwood Borough Council’s Cabinet voted in favour of the proposal to return the management of the homes to the Council from Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing, the ALMO which has managed them since 2007.  The money saved by bringing the management of people’s houses back under direct Council control will be pumped back into improving their homes. The transition could take between three to nine months to complete, with CNH staff being transferred to the Council.  A financial appraisal of how the Council’s housing services are delivered was carried out by an independent firm, CIH Consulting, which identified the savings which could be made by bringing the service back under Council management.  In addition, a test of opinion was also carried out which resulted in 75% of tenants opting for housing services to be brought back under the direct control of the Council.  Read more on the CBC website.

Council Consults Tenants over ALMO Return

Sandwell Council has become the latest local authority to ask tenants if they want to bring the management of their homes back in house.  Sandwell Homes, which currently manages the council’s 29,000 homes, was set up in 2004 to access Decent Homes funding.  Mahboob Hussain, deputy leader and cabinet member for service improvement at Sandwell Council, said the local authority would be launching a consultation later this month to ask tenants what they thought of the plan. Services currently run by Sandwell Homes could be brought under council control by April 2013, with earlier efficiencies taking place sooner subject to both organisations’ agreement. Read more on Inside Housing.

New Housing Regulator Faces Strike Threat

Staff working for the new social housing regulator are threatening to strike over a claim for a one-off £500 ‘end of Tenant Services Authority bonus’. Papers for the final TSA board meeting reveal that union Unite put forward a claim for an ‘exceptional’ bonus for all 151 staff transferring from the TSA to the Homes and Communities Agency.  Unite said its claim for a bonus was ‘consistently rejected’ by TSA management during negotiations. This prompted an internal, non-binding vote of union members, which saw a majority of members vote for a ballot on a one-day strike. The union deferred the ballot while further talks with the TSA took place, but says management has declined to settle the matter through the advisory, conciliation and arbitration service. Unite is now consulting its members on its next step. Read more on Inside Housing.

Council to Take 42,000-Home ALMO Back In House

An overwhelming majority of tenants have voted to return control of their homes to Sheffield Council. A total of 26,465 votes was cast in the ballot on the future management of estates - and 88.2 per cent were in favour of a return to council management. Just 11.8 per cent voted to continue the current arrangement, where arms-length management organisation Sheffield Homes is paid an annual fee to run properties. Turnout among the 42,000 households was 55 per cent - as high as a general election, and almost double the level seen at local elections in some wards. Read more on the Sheffield Star website.

Tenants Say No to House Transfer

Council tenants in Swindon have rejected a move to transfer their homes to a new housing association. In a ballot of tenants carried out during December, just 2329 (27.7%) voted in favour of the transfer, with 6073 (72.3%) voting against. The turnout was 65.6%. This means that plans to create a new Swindon Housing Association to own and manage the council’s homes will not go ahead. Cabinet member for Housing, Communities and One Swindon, Councillor Russell Holland said: “Right from the start, the council’s view was that there were benefits to transfer, but that it was up to tenants to decide how to vote.” Read more on the This is Wiltshire website.

Ballot Underway For Stock Transfer

Thousands of tenants are set to decide the future of a council’s housing stock as a ballot for transfer takes place. Swindon Council is currently balloting 12,600 tenants on their thoughts on transferring the authority’s 10,500 homes to a housing association. If agreed, ownership of the homes will be transferred to Swindon Housing Association – a new not-for-profit landlord.
The council said it wanted to explore the option of transferring stock as under the new self financing funding arrangements, it would have to take on £139 million of debt. Read more on Inside Housing.

Social Housing Co-Op Given Thumbs Up

Tenants have given Rochdale Council the go-ahead to create England’s largest social housing co-operative. Rochdale tenants voted overwhelmingly in favour for the transfer of 13,700 homes to arms-length management organisation Rochdale Boroughwide Housing last night, with more than three quarters of those who voted agreeing to the move. The homes will officially transfer to RBH in March 2012. Membership of the co-operative will be open to all tenants and employees of RBH and a representative body will be established to work with the board and decide on major strategic issues, including future development plans. Read more on Inside Housing.

Transfer Approval Raises Threat of Legal Action

Wycombe District Council has approved the transfer of its homes to a community housing association, raising the prospect of legal challenge to the move. Campaigners had threatened to seek a judicial review blocking the transfer if the council gave it the go ahead. Councillors have now approved the transfer of more than 6,000 homes to Red Kite Community Housing, with 32 votes for, and 10 against. Housing minister Grant Shapps will now consider the proposal, which is scheduled to go ahead on 12 December. Tenants were balloted on the transfer in April this year, with 2,661 votes for, and 2,027 against, and turnout at 65 per cent. Campaign group Defend Council Housing claims tenants were given misleading information ahead of the ballot, and has said it will use legal means to block the move. Read more on Inside Housing.