Campaigners threaten council with JR over housing stock transfer

Campaigners have threatened a district council with judicial review proceedings in a bid to prevent the transfer of 6,500 council homes to a not-for-profit company.

The transfer by Wycombe District Council to Red Kite Community Housing is set to be discussed at a full council meeting today, after which a formal application to the Housing Minister for sign-off could be made. The date for transfer has been set for 12 December.

A tenant ballot on the transfer, which took place in March and April this year, saw 2,661 votes in favour and 2,027 votes against.

But campaign group Defend Council Housing (DCH) has warned Wycombe of potential legal action if Grant Shapps signs off the deal. It claimed that some members of the council were increasingly critical of the proposal.

DCH argued that “housing privatisation, with a new private-sector landlord accessing private finance, would lead to higher rents and inferior tenancy terms”.

The group said that if the dispute reached as far as judicial review, it would be the first challenge to a stock transfer under the 2009 Statutory Guidance on transfer consultations issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

This guidance set new standards with which local authorities must comply when they are seeking to transfer their stock.

In a statement Wycombe insisted that the transfer of 6,500 homes was something that local tenants asked the council to deliver.

“We have supported our tenants and worked in partnership with them every step of the way towards the transfer,” it said. “We have worked with them to create a unique local social landlord, Red Kite Community Housing, which is headed by a local tenant, Jennie Ferrigno. The board has a total of seven residents elected by their peers to serve on the Board.”

The council claimed that it had worked alongside local tenants and leaseholders at every stage of the transfer process.

“The Homes and Communities Agency supported local tenants with an empowerment grant and expert advisers, together with oversight from the DCLG, to ensure we have followed the process to the letter,” it said. “A full tenant-led options appraisal was carried out which confirmed that transfer delivered more investment and sooner than the alternatives.”

Wycombe added that the transfer offer document issued prior to ballot had been carefully drawn up, and scrutinised and endorsed by independent specialist solicitors and the DCLG before it was given to tenants.

“We are proud of the quality and breadth of information it contains and the commitments it makes for the future of local housing here in Wycombe district,” the council said.

Wycombe’s Leader, Cllr Alex Collingwood, claimed the council was supporting its tenants in their bid to take control of their own destiny.

“Local tenants have told us, very clearly, over the last few years, and, crucially, through the ballot box last April, what they want for the future of their homes,” he argued. “We have worked in partnership with them to create a tenant-led organisation which will not only run and manage their homes but also, invest over £100m over the next five years in their homes – an investment which will boost the Wycombe economy and create local jobs.

“We are proud of what we have achieved and how we have worked in partnership with local tenants and we are confident we have met all the statutory requirements throughout this tenant-led stock options transfer process.”