Council's plan for mass sell-off confirms trend

Proposals being worked up by consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers for the transfer of all Sunderland council's 38,500 stock should be finished next month, and the submission should be ready for the December deadline.

The move follows news that Birmingham is exploring transfer options for its stock (Housing Today, issue 146). Meanwhile a month-long ballot could see 17,000 Tameside council units transfer to a new not-for-profit social landlord New Charter housing trust group.

Sunderland housing director Peter Walls said that there was little alternative to mass transfer if living conditions of tenants were to improve.

He also backed up recent suggestions by Housing Corporation chief executive Anthony Mayer that transfer could go "all the way" in large towns and cities (Housing Today, issue 143).

He said : "Like most of the major metropolitan authorities, the backlog of repair and improvements that is outstanding means we are short of being able to deliver the sort of service to our tenants that we think they deserve."

He maintained that overhanging debt would not be a problem for the council as initial indications showed the council's stock would have a "positive valuation".

Although he accepted that low demand was a problem and that some demolition would be necessary, he said it was "small beer" in relation to the overall size of the stock.

An initial in-depth survey of the city's tenants with a response rate of over 50 per cent, showed that seven out of ten thought transfer was a "good idea". Only four per cent thought it was a "bad idea".

The plan could however be thrown off-course by union opposition. A joint statement from Unison, GMB, AEEU and UCATT said: "We note with grave concern the proposal to transfer all existing council-owned housing stock to a local housing company. We believe the best form of provision of social housing is through democratically-controlled local authorities with sufficient resources to maintain and improve existing stock."