Evening Leader 19 March 2009

Wrexham tenants may get a chance to voice views on landlords

A FRESH tenants' ballot on transferring homes to a not-for-profit landlord is among the ideas to be considered in a major review of Wrexham Council housing due to begin soon.
In the last ballot on the issue held in 2004, 60 per cent of council tenants voted against a transfer.But, according to council leader, Cllr Aled Roberts, the issue will be back on the agenda for discussion as preparation of the new Housing Revenue Account Business Plan gets under way.The far-reaching strategy covers the future of housing in the county borough over the next 30 years.It will be hammered out by councillors and officers before being passed for approval to the Welsh Assembly Government.The council's landlord services manager, Fred Czulowski, said it was estimated that the authority needed to spend a massive £790 million over the coming three decades to keep its housing stock up to the standards demanded by the Assembly Government.He said there was currently a shortfall in funding the council's stock of about £450 million, which would need to be addressed.Although the authority had carried out a considerable amount of modernisation work in recent years, including upgrading kitchens, bathrooms and heating systems, more money would need to be spent as properties - the majority were built over 60 years ago - became older.Cllr Roberts said: "We have made record levels of investment in our housing stock but the reality is the shortfall is still there and we are not able to meet the standards required even with this level of investment."He explained that while there were government restrictions on the amount of money local councils were able to spend on their housing stock, the same constraints did not apply to other organisations.But the problem in Wrexham, he said, was that a transfer to an association was not likely as the "vast majority" of tenants wanted to stay with the council.On the question of a new transfer ballot, Cllr Roberts said it would be just one of a range of options to be considered by the group responsible for preparing the new housing revenue account business plan.He added: "We cannot rule out a fresh ballot but there is no pressure from the Welsh Assembly Government to move towards one."
By phil robinson