The leader of Britain's largest trade union has vowed to step up the campaign against stock transfer following last week's Defend Council Housing rally at Westminster.
David Prentis, general secretary of Unison, told Housing Today the union would build a nationwide coalition with tenants' groups to increase the pressure on government to halt the transfer of council housing and invest in existing stock instead.

"Homes are being sold off cheaply, and for the wrong reasons, by a government with an ideological preference for taking control of housing out of public hands," said Prentis.

Lobbying from Unison has led to the tabling of a number of amendments to the Local Government Bill as it passes through committee stage.

On Tuesday this week, Liberal Democrat housing spokesman Edward Davey tabled an amendment calling for tenants' rents to be spent entirely on housing.

Further amendments are expected to call for overhanging local authority housing debt to be paid off in all cases, rather than only those where tenants have agreed to transfer their homes to a registered social landlord.

Davey said: "The amendments will raise the point that the government is skewing the pitch deliberately in favour of transfers. Transfer should take place if it is right for its own sake – it should not need for tenants to be bribed."

Meanwhile, arrangements have been unveiled for the phasing-in of capital receipts pooling.

Instead of immediate implementation, debt-free councils are to receive annually decreasing portions of their capital receipts over three years.

Source

Housing Today