The Labour leadership of the council says transfer is becoming impossible for large metropolitan authorities and new options must be found for its housing stock.
The council's 62,000 homes are officially still on the government's reserve transfer list. The previous, Liberal Democrat leadership had discussed ways of making the transfer stack up financially with the former DTLR before it lost control of the council in the local elections in May.
But now cabinet member for housing Tony Damms has admitted that it would be extremely difficult for the transfer to go ahead.
The council would still face penalties and charges of up to £120m after its remaining debt on the stock was cleared. "Nobody knows where that money would come from so it just doesn't stack up," Damms said.
Tenants are also hostile to the transfer idea and would be likely to scupper the plan anyway, he said. "Tenants might find an arm's-length organisation more palatable," he added.
The council has already proposed a survey to gauge tenants' support for transfer, to avoid wasting cash on a full ballot process if it proves a non-starter.
Damms said it should wait until after the government's spending review in July before taking a decision on the way forward. "We are in limbo at present. But it is possible new options could emerge," he said.
The local government department said Sheffield would have to come up with a detailed plan for the future of its stock, and arm's-length management was the obvious choice if transfer was ruled out. Any option would involve taking a hard look at how it delivered its services.
A government spokesman added: "The government will not just give out money. Arm's-length management is not about handing out cash, it is about driving up standards. As the first two rounds have shown, it can be done."
Source
Housing Today
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