The potential pitfalls of one of the government鈥檚 favourite means of meeting the decent homes target were highlighted last week by a prominent expert.
Jeff Zitron, director of housing consultant Hacas Chapman Hendy, was speaking about partial transfer to the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit and Community Housing Task Force鈥檚 conference on neighbourhood renewal and stock transfer.

Existing provisions failed to cushion the effect of partial transfer on local authorities鈥� Housing Revenue Accounts, he said: 鈥淐ouncils could face a relative rise in management costs following a partial transfer, particularly if the stock involved is in good condition.鈥�

Management and maintenance subsidy is calculated with reference to the size of a council鈥檚 housing stock. Partial transfer reduces the size of this subsidy, but the management costs of running the remaining stock do not necessarily decrease by the same proportion, said Zitron.

He added: 鈥淢anagement cost per unit can go up following partial transfer. Economies of scale are lost. Problems with antisocial behaviour can often be concentrated and become more costly to deal with.鈥�

Steve Wise, assistant director of Birmingham council鈥檚 resource management division, agreed that the potential effects of partial transfer were a cause for concern.

Wise said: 鈥淏irmingham has neither ruled in nor discounted partial transfer in the future, although from a technical point of view we are exploring what the possible results could be.鈥�

A commission is considering options, including partial transfer, for Birmingham鈥檚 council homes. It is expected to publish its findings by December.

Source

Housing Today