Partial stock transfer is a ‘risky business’

The warning, from research fellow at Heriot-Watt University Hal Pawson, comes a month after the ODPM confirmed 30 partial transfers were planned for 2005/6 (HT, 11 February, page 8).

This is up from 20 in 2004 and a handful in 2003.

Pawson said: “It [is] much more risky because partial transfers tend to involve a more concentrated portfolio of problem housing than is the case for large-scale transfers.” He was speaking after the publication on Monday of his ODPM-commissioned report into the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund – a partial transfer regeneration programme that ran from 1998 to 2000 and attracted £1.3bn of public and private funding.

Pawson said he was also concerned the ODPM would not be able to approve the large number of partial transfers this year as many would depend on “gap funding” – necessary when the value of the stock is less than the investment required to make the homes decent. “The £180m in gap funding that has been made available so far is pretty poor to pay for what is required,” Pawson said.

But he concluded the ERCF was the best framework for carrying out partial transfers and urged the ODPM to learn lessons from the scheme.

“It has the potential to be very useful and, yes, the ODPM should consider its use again,” he said.