A transfer of 13,500 homes to subsidiaries of Riverside and Liverpool Housing Trust will go through in January as planned, but the council is reconsidering its policy for the remaining 24,000 homes.
It planned to have transfer arrangements in place for them by 2007, though thousands of units will be lost through demolition.
But the transfers are becoming increasingly difficult because the receiving organisation must peg rents under the government's restructuring, limiting its ability to borrow the funds needed.
Other options that allow valuations on individual properties to be put into the equation could be more attractive, the council believes. It has commissioned a study of stock options for the 24,000 homes, and these options include a joint venture with a housing association.
Richard Kemp, Liverpool council executive member for housing, said: "We have said that the only way forward was transfer. But new options are opening up and we are going to explore all of them."
He said he favoured the joint venture idea as it would allow a new organisation to take on problematic stock from both the council and a housing association.
Other local services could also be hived off from the council and supplied by the new organisation. It could generate a critical mass of activity on renewal that would mean it was not wholly reliant on rental income.
A similar idea is already under way through a partnership with the Liverpool Housing Action Trust in the Sefton Park area.
The council is also looking at the government's plans for prudential borrowing. This, Kemp believes, could allow arm's-length management organisations to be established outside the current restricted borrowing rules.
The council has ruled out staying as it is. It has a repairs backlog of £400m and estimates its housing revenue account will be £4m in the red by 2006 if it takes no action.
Source
Housing Today
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