Run on right-to-acquire forces redundancies at South Liverpool

South Liverpool Housing has had to cut costs by £1m and axe 12% of its 131 staff after it was hit by 150 right to acquire sales in a year.

The registered social landlord has lost several senior staff and dropped high-profile projects including one that would have installed broadband services in all its homes (HT 30 January, page 38).

It had anticipated 50 sales a year but chief executive Matthew Gardiner said sales rose to three times that figure in the year to April 2004.

The association is set to lose more than £30m in revenue over its 30-year business plan, even with the income from the sales.

SLH took on 4200 homes from Liverpool council in 1999 but now has just 3800.

Fourteen of its staff have taken voluntary redundancy and the recently vacated posts of the deputy chief executive and assistant director of new initiatives will not be filled.

Gardiner also plans to leave to join Trafford council’s stock transfer. As yet, there is no replacement for him.

But Gardiner and the board maintained that SLH was in a sound financial position and said staff cuts were a “normal” adjustment to changing circumstances.

Gardiner said: “We’ve delivered all of our transfer promises on time and on budget. Our tenant satisfaction is 80%.”

A Housing Corporation spokesman said: “We have discussed issues around the business plan and are satisfied with what SLH is doing.”

Richard Kemp, vice-chair of housing for the Local Government Association and a Liverpool councillor, said: “SLH could never have anticipated the level of sales. If they hadn’t reacted, they could have gone broke.”