£5m bonus for private landlord in transfer of council houses

Alexandra Wood

MORE than 5m of rent money will subsidise the controversial transfer of 1,000 council homes in Hull to a new landlord, it has emerged.

Nearly a decade after the United Residents of Bransholme Area North group started calling for change, more than 1,175 people in north Bransholme will be voting on transferring away from council ownership to a social landlord.

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Residents are being sent information about transferring to the Riverside housing association ahead of the historic ballot in March. Next week a trailer will be making rounds of the estate showing people the new bathrooms and kitchens they are being promised as a result of the move.

However, the council has to make a one-off “dowry” payment to Riverside, either through cash or other assets such as land, and both sides may share 11m of debt, arising from the gap between projected rental income over the next 30 years and the cost of housing maintenance and repairs.

Former Labour council leader Colin Inglis said 5.5m would come from the Housing Revenue Account reserves, a pot of money accrued from the rents of council tenants.

He said: “Tenants will be giving 5.5m to take houses off our hands when we really don’t want them to. These other tenants will be getting no benefit and they will be paying for it.

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“We don’t believe it is in people’s interests and we have seen nothing to change our minds.

“One of the reasons why conditions on the estate have deteriorated is because stock transfer has gone on for seven years.

“We are short of houses and the idea we give them away hundreds of them is just nonsense and I can see no argument in favour of it.”

However, Independent ward councillor Anita Harrison, a founder member of Urban, which first received a grant in 2003 to explore stock transfer, said the estate had been neglected too long.

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She said: “A lot of people ended up here through the slum clearances and we were left here with a couple of shops and that’s it.

“People will get all the information and make their minds up. My view is go for it.

“If we’d had investment in years gone by we wouldn’t have to take this route but we’ve had to because of neglect.”

She said the benefits of transfer included refurbishment of 120 long-term properties and improvements to the estate’s layout.

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Riverside also aims to create more jobs and training opportunities.

A North Bransholme standard for housing – including fencing, security doors and lights, as well as central heating and new kitchen and bathroom within five years of a transfer –- outstripped the council’s decent home standard, which she said promised only central heating and a new kitchen or a bathroom.

However, Coun Inglis said Coun Harrison, an owner occupier, was living in a “dream world” and her expectations would not be met as the landlord would have to raise the money to invest on the open market “which isn’t going to be easy”.

According to a recent report, one area of the estate is the 29th worst area in the country for education and skills, while another is within the worst one per cent for crime.

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A total of 83.2m is needed to refurbish the properties over the next 30 years, with 26.5m needed in the next five years alone.

Council leader Carl Minns said Coun Inglis had started the process when he was council leader. He said: “This is one of the few decisions that Colin took that was right. We are just continuing the process and it’s for residents to make the decision with all the information at hand.”

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