Housing takeover bid

AN offer by First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO) to become the landlord for all the borough’s council house tenants will be debated next week.

It wants to become a housing association, taking over the ownership and management of 12,500 council houses, worth £892 million.

FCHO already manages some homes on behalf of the council and has improved properties to the decent homes standards, making them windproof and watertight. But the budget did not stretch to modern kitchens and bathrooms, or environmental improvements.

It aims to unlock spending power to improve estates, but the plan needs the backing of the majority of council tenants.

The offer document will be debated by councillors on the Scrutiny board on Tuesday.

If tenants finally approve the plan, it would allow FCHO to borrow money against its assets — the council houses — and unlock government grants for improvements.