The Future of Council Homes
Tenants will decide homes future
A multi-million pound investment could be made in the Borough's Council
homes - if tenants give their backing. Stockton Council has
agreed to give tenants the opportunity to consider the proposal to transfer
the ownership of its 10,500 homes to a new-style Tristar Homes.
The Council believes that the proposed change would unlock funds for the
improvement of homes across the Borough.
As part of the proposal, Tristar Homes would be changed from an Arm's
Length Management Organisation into a not-for-profit housing association,
registered with the Tenant Services Authority as a provider of social
housing. It would own the homes, as well as manage them.
The decision by the Cabinet (the Council's decision making body) to make
this proposal was taken following detailed a consultation which included
considerable tenant involvement. Council representatives and the Housing
Futures Customer Group (our tenants' consultation group) have been working
together as a Joint Reference Group to look at what kind of organisation
would own and manage the homes in the future if the transfer went
ahead.
The Cabinet has also agreed that under the proposal the new-style Tristar
Homes would form a new housing group with another local housing association
- Housing Hartlepool. Working together as part of a group would provide the
opportunity for both organisations to increase their capacity to deliver
what their tenants really need by sharing their expertise and
experience.
Over the coming months the Council will be running a major consultation
exercise to make sure tenants have all the facts about what transfer would
mean if the new style Tristar Homes became your new landlord. The Council
will be working in partnership with tenants to draw up a formal "Offer
Document", which will contain all the details about the proposed
transfer.
Transfer is not a foregone conclusion. It can only go ahead if the
majority of tenants who vote in a ballot, planned for next year, are in
favour.
Why transfer?
An independent survey has shown that, over the next 30 years, the Council's
homes need around £600million of repairs and improvements to bring them up
to and then maintain at a modern standard.
Under current Government rules we are not able to borrow the money
needed to bring homes up to the standard you have told us are
important to you, via recent surveys. Also, almost a third of every
tenant's weekly rent has to be passed to central Government to subsidise
housing in other parts of the country.
A new-style Tristar Homes, operating as a housing association, would be
able to keep every penny of your rent which would be invested back in to
homes and the housing service and would be able to borrow the money needed
to improve homes and estates and keep rents affordable. This would
unlock funds for improvement which are not available to the Council.
Keeping you informed
The Council wants to make sure that every tenant is fully
consulted on transfer and by law has a duty to consult with tenants on any
proposed changes to their housing service and keep everyone up-to-date at
every stage of the transfer consultation process.
The Council will make sure that every tenant has received all the
information they need to make an informed decision in the ballot planned
for next year.
The first in a new series of our Your Home Your Say
newsletters is now available. Each issue of this new series will help
explain how transfer works and what it would mean for tenants and their
homes, if it goes ahead. The latest issue covers:
- Why the council is proposing to transfer homes
- Answers to some popular questions being raised
- How you can become more involved in the process
- Details on how you can become a board member of the proposed new organisation
Check the facts
All the information we publish has to undergo a rigorous set of checks by
the Government, specialist lawyers and your Independent Tenants'
Adviser. The Tenant Services Authority (the Government agency
responsible for registration and regulation of housing associations) checks
all information relating to compliance with its registration and regulatory
requirements. Literature from other groups and individuals does not
have to undergo any such checks.
If you have any queries on stock transfer please contact us
on freephone line on 0800 432 0891
or you can ring Engage Associates, your Independent
Tenants' Advisor, on 01845 537145.
Would you be interested in becoming a "Shadow" Board member for the
new-style Tristar Homes?
The new-style Tristar Homes would be run by a board, made up of 12 people
- 4 tenants/ leaseholders, 4 Council nominees and 4 independent
people. In the early stages leading up to the ballot of tenants, the
board would be set up but it would operate in "shadow" form only. It
would not become a full working board making decisions about the policy and
direction of the organisation unless tenants voted for the transfer to go
ahead. Shadow board members will be recruited shortly.
The Housing Futures Customer Group have agreed that the appointment of
tenant and leaseholder board members will be by an application and
interview process, with shadow board members being selected by a panel for
their skills and experience.
If you would like more information about becoming a shadow board member or
an application pack, please contact the Housing Futures
team on freephone 0800 432 0891.
Additional Resources
Tenant and Leaseholder Questionnaire Results
Your Home Your Say Newsletters
- Your Home Your Say Neswsletter Jan 10 Insert in Adobe PDF format 105 KB
- Your Home Your Say Newsletter Dec 09 in Adobe PDF format 481 KB
- Your Home Your Say Newsletter Jan 10 in Adobe PDF format 281 KB
- Your Home, Your Say Newsletter Sept 09 in Adobe PDF format 314 KB
- Your Homes Your Say Newsletter Issue 1 in Adobe PDF format 65 KB
- Your Homes Your Say Newsletter Issue 2 in Adobe PDF format 96 KB
- Your Homes Your Say Newsletter Issue 3 in Adobe PDF format 68 KB
- Your Homes Your Say Newsletter Issue 4 in Adobe PDF format 113 KB
- Your Homes Your Say Newsletter Issue 5 in Adobe PDF format 83 KB
- Your Homes Your Say Newsletter Issue 6 in Adobe PDF format 147 KB
If you have problems accessing the Adobe PDF downloads then click here for help
The Future of Council Homes
Contact Us
Contact: Housing Futures Team
16 Church Road
Stockton-on-Tees
TS18 1TX
Tel: 0800 4320891
Fax: 01642 528483
Email:
housing.futures
@stockton.gov.uk
Web Links
Stockton Council is not responsible for the content of external websites.
