14 May 2004
Tenants are effectively being blackmailed into voting for stock transfers or council-owned housing companies, MPs have told ministers.
In a damning report on the government's decent homes strategy, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister select committee calls for a level playing field, with councils given new powers to borrow money.
'The target of achieving decent homes in the social housing sector is being used as a Trojan Horse by the government in a dogmatic quest to minimise the proportion of housing stock managed by local authorities,' says the committee, following its two-month enquiry.
The report, published on May 7, recommends a new system of investment allowances that would allow councils to borrow prudentially against rental income and bring homes up to standard more quickly.
Although arm's-length management organisations should continue to be an option, there should be no financial incentive for councils to go down the Almo route, say the MPs.
According to the committee, there is no evidence Almos are better placed to improve housing than traditional housing departments or that splitting strategic management from landlord services is beneficial.
The Private Finance Initiative, meanwhile, is described as highly complex and 'not well suited' to achieving decent homes.
Committee chair Andrew Bennett said tenants who voted against one of the government's preferred options for housing should not be penalised. 'Tenants are, in reality, being blackmailed into stock transfers or Almos through the current funding arrangements,' he added.
The select committee report was published just two days after the ODPM confirmed that 1 million homes had been brought up to standard since 1997 and announced a further round of transfers, Almos and PFI schemes worth £3bn in public and private investment.
Alan Walter, spokesman for Defend Council Housing, welcomed MPs' support for a fourth option. 'Council housing could pay for itself if all the income from rents and right to buy receipts were put back in,' he said.
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