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Council Transfers Homes
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| Tuesday 17th November 2009 |
Rutland County Council officially transferred their housing stock to Spire Homes on Monday 9 November.
Residents will remember that Council tenants recently took part in a ballot to decide whether or not to transfer the ownership of their Council homes to Spire Homes. In the secret ballot, 87.1% of tenants voted in favour of transfer, with a 75.5% turnout overall – one of the highest ‘Yes’ votes in the history of housing transfers.
Tenants will receive a letter from Spire Homes confirming that they have become their landlord, and explaining in more detail which services will in future come from Spire Homes and which ones stay with the Council.
Spire Homes have been managing the Council’s housing stock since February 2006. The housing transfer means that Spire Homes now own the housing and have become the tenants new landlord. This will enable them to invest £21 million over the next 5 years to carry out a range of improvements inside and around tenants’ homes, including the maintenance of open spaces surrounding the homes.
Portfolio Holder for Housing and Leader of the Council, Councillor Roger Begy says: “Since Spire Homes have been managing the housing in Rutland they have shown a real commitment to tenants across the County. Transferring the housing from the Council will now give Spire Homes access to the money to carry out a full programme of improvements to which we were unable to commit. I am very confident that the transfer to Spire Homes will protect a quality housing service in Rutland for the future. The Council will still manage the waiting list for affordable housing, homelessness and housing advice in Rutland and we will continue to work closely with Spire Homes and other housing associations to help meet the housing needs of all residents.”
Chairman of Spire Homes, John Farrar said: "We are delighted that the housing transfer has now taken place after tenants showed overwhelming support for this to happen in the ballot this year. We can now start to deliver all of the promises made to tenants to radically improve their homes and housing service. We can’t wait to get started and will continue to work with tenants at every stage of the process to deliver the brighter future tenants voted for.”
To ensure that all promises are delivered, the Rutland Management Board has been formed and have already started meeting regularly. The Board will consist of 3 Rutland tenants, 3 Rutland County Councillors, 2 independent people and a representative from Spire Homes’ Board. So far, the Council has nominated Councillor Peter Ind and Councillor Peter Golden to sit on the Rutland Management Board. The biggest priority for the Board is to make sure all of the promises made to tenants before the transfer vote this summer are kept. A key part of this is making sure that the programme of works is well planned and starts as soon as the transfer takes place.
The housing waiting list and help for homeless people will continue to be the responsibility of the Council, but the service will be managed day to day by Spire Homes. If you want to apply for affordable housing or are facing homelessness, you should contact the Spire Homes office at Pinewood, 1 Cold Overton Road, Oakham, or call 01572 755465.
Advice about housing and homelessness will continue to be available from the Citizen’s Advice Bureau in the High Street, Oakham, as well as from the Spire Homes office.
Housing benefit claims will continue to be handled by the Council. Council tenants who are receiving housing benefit on the day of transfer will have their details updated automatically so there is no need to contact the housing benefits team about this. However if your circumstances are changing for any other reason please let the Council know so that we can make any necessary adjustments to your payments. |
| Posted by Kim for Rutland County Council (Unitary) |
Further reading:  http://www.rutland.gov.uk/pp/pressrelease/pressdetail.asp?Id=8413 |
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