Council Jobs Set To Be Moved To New Housing Company

An extra 260 council staff are set to see their jobs transferred to a new housing services company. Stoke-on-Trent City Council has founded Unitas which is due to take over responsibility for housing repairs and maintenance from Kier Stoke on February 4. But now council leaders want to expand Unitas' remit to include other housing services, such as allocations, homelessness, housing management and private-sector housing, from mid-2018. That would see 260 council staff move to Unitas this year - in addition to the 500 Kier Stoke maintenance workers already due to be transferred. Read more on the Stoke Sentinel website.

http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/260-more-council-jobs-set-1051718

Rent To Buy Scheme To Help Aspiring Home Owners

More than 80 families will have the chance to get their feet on the property ladder thanks to £2 million of Government funding. EPIC Housing has been awarded the money under the Homes and Communities Agency's Rent to Buy scheme, which will allow it to help first-time buyers save for their home. EPIC, which is contributing £6 million to the programme, will give aspiring home owners the chance to choose a property for sale, which they would eventually like to purchase, in North Staffordshire. Only homes requiring repairs costing between £1,500 and £10,000 will qualify for the scheme - as one of the aims is to bring homes back into use. Read more on the Stoke Sentinel website.

Council Privately Rent Houses - As 1,700 Still On Waiting List

Council houses are being offered for rent on the open market because people do not want to live in them – despite 1,779 tenants on the waiting list for properties. Dozens of hard-to-let council houses have already been rented out in Stoke-on-Trent. The unwanted properties have been snapped up by people attracted by the cheaper rents compared to the private sector. People must have a 'local connection' and be able to afford the rent to qualify for one of the homes. Many of the properties shunned by tenants are two and three bedroom homes. The situation has been blamed on the Government's welfare reforms which have seen tenants penalised for having spare bedrooms. Read more on the Stoke Sentinel website.

Council Forced To Evict 25 Tenants Due To 'Bedroom Tax'

Dozens of council tenants have been evicted from their homes – after being unable to pay their rent due to the controversial bedroom tax. And they are the first residents who have been booted out of their properties by Stoke-on-Trent City Council where the spare room subsidy is the sole reason which forced them to miss rent payments. The authority has confirmed that in the last year a total of 65 tenants were evicted, with many already in rent arrears before the introduction of bedroom tax in April 2013. But 25 of that number went into arrears purely because of the levy, after previously being able to afford their rent. Read more on the Stoke Sentinel website.