Govt. dirty tricks leads to council house sell off
Defend Council Housing | 05.04.2002 14:10
The Treasury had already agreed that if tenants voted in favour of transfer it would write off £900m of housing debt that the council owed. It has also agreed to pay around £100m in redemption charges that the council will face for paying off that debt early. In addition the Scottish Executive will provide an interest free grant £300m.
Glasgow tenants vote for homes sell-off
Matt Weaver - Society Guardian
Friday April 5, 2002
Tens of thousands of council housing tenants in Glasgow have voted in favour of plans to sell off their homes to a housing association.
As Glasgow is one of the biggest municipal landlords in Europe the historic vote represents a body blow to council run housing. It will signal the end of council controlled housing estates in Scotland and possibly the rest of Britain. It will also trigger millions of pounds of investment in Glasgow's crumbling housing stock.
All 80,000 of Glasgow's council homes will be sold or transferred to Glasgow Housing Association, which will act as a parent group for 62 local housing organisations operating around the city.
Had tenants voted against the transfers it would have forced a complete rethink of government housing policy.
A similar vote on the future ownership of homes in Birmingham will be announced on Monday.
As the two biggest municipal landlords in Europe, these votes are highly significant and have been the subject of often campaigns between pro and anti-transfer campaigners.
In a bitterly fought contest, 58.3% of tenants voted in favour of the proposal and 41.7% voted against. The turnout in the three-week ballot was 64.4% significantly more than the 46.8% turnout in Glasgow's 10 parliamentary constituencies in last June's general election.
Glasgow Housing Association will now in effect buy the homes from the council and borrow around £800m for their repair. Unlike the council, the housing association is not restricted in its ability to borrow money from the private sector.
The Treasury had already agreed that if tenants voted in favour of transfer it would write off £900m of housing debt that the council owed. It has also agreed to pay around £100m in redemption charges that the council will face for paying off that debt early. In addition the Scottish Executive will provide an interest free grant £300m.
The vote means that around 11,000 homes in Glasgow's tower blocks will be demolished because they were judged too expensive to repair.
Existing tenants will continue to have a right to buy their properties at generous discounts, but for new tenants those discounts will be less generous.
Turnout in the Birmingham ballot is also expected to exceed the 52% turnout in the 10 Birmingham constituencies last June.
Matt Weaver - Society Guardian
Friday April 5, 2002
Tens of thousands of council housing tenants in Glasgow have voted in favour of plans to sell off their homes to a housing association.
As Glasgow is one of the biggest municipal landlords in Europe the historic vote represents a body blow to council run housing. It will signal the end of council controlled housing estates in Scotland and possibly the rest of Britain. It will also trigger millions of pounds of investment in Glasgow's crumbling housing stock.
All 80,000 of Glasgow's council homes will be sold or transferred to Glasgow Housing Association, which will act as a parent group for 62 local housing organisations operating around the city.
Had tenants voted against the transfers it would have forced a complete rethink of government housing policy.
A similar vote on the future ownership of homes in Birmingham will be announced on Monday.
As the two biggest municipal landlords in Europe, these votes are highly significant and have been the subject of often campaigns between pro and anti-transfer campaigners.
In a bitterly fought contest, 58.3% of tenants voted in favour of the proposal and 41.7% voted against. The turnout in the three-week ballot was 64.4% significantly more than the 46.8% turnout in Glasgow's 10 parliamentary constituencies in last June's general election.
Glasgow Housing Association will now in effect buy the homes from the council and borrow around £800m for their repair. Unlike the council, the housing association is not restricted in its ability to borrow money from the private sector.
The Treasury had already agreed that if tenants voted in favour of transfer it would write off £900m of housing debt that the council owed. It has also agreed to pay around £100m in redemption charges that the council will face for paying off that debt early. In addition the Scottish Executive will provide an interest free grant £300m.
The vote means that around 11,000 homes in Glasgow's tower blocks will be demolished because they were judged too expensive to repair.
Existing tenants will continue to have a right to buy their properties at generous discounts, but for new tenants those discounts will be less generous.
Turnout in the Birmingham ballot is also expected to exceed the 52% turnout in the 10 Birmingham constituencies last June.
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