Junior housing minister Tony McNulty has accused opponents of stock transfer of usurping the housing debate for political reasons.
Speaking at a conference last week on neighbourhood renewal and stock transfer, McNulty said that the debate surrounding transfer 鈥渋s not fair to tenants and only destroys the opportunity to make a real difference鈥�.

Instead he urged people to remember the 拢10bn of private finance that has been invested in the maintenance and improvement of 600,000 transferred homes.

McNulty also made it clear that stock transfer should be seen both as a means of achieving the decent homes standard and as a tool for delivering urban renewal. He added: 鈥淗ousing transfer is not just about better homes, it鈥檚 about better communities.鈥�

McNulty鈥檚 speech came as doubts were again expressed over Glasgow鈥檚 transfer programme.

A spokesperson for Glasgow council played down reports suggesting leader Charles Gordon had said that transfer should go ahead this year or not at all. He said: 鈥淗e was merely reiterating the council鈥檚 position that the transfer is on course to go ahead before the end of the year.鈥�

Nick Fletcher, policy officer at the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland, said that the Scottish Executive would not allow possible unease within Glasgow council to derail the plans for transfer.

He also said that campaigners hoping to delay stock transfer were ignoring tenants鈥� best interests: 鈥淚f transfer is delayed until next April it could potentially threaten the 拢1bn that the Scottish Executive has agreed to pay to clear the council鈥檚 housing debt.鈥�

Glasgow MSP Tommy Sheridan said no one in the anti-transfer camp wanted to prevent investment in housing. He said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 now open day to blame everyone else involved in this process instead of the principal parties themselves.鈥�

Source

Housing Today