Woolas defends housing transfer

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Phil Woolas has backed the council housing switch to First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO) against criticism from colleagues.

The Immigration Minister says the ballot result was a victory for common sense.

A majority of the borough’s 13,500 tenants voted to transfer the ownership and management of council housing stock to FCHO, securing £149 million of investment that wouldn’t have been available to Oldham Council and seeing the council’s £212 million housing debt written off.

Oldham Council, FCHO and tenants representatives hailed it as a boost that will upgrade houses, create jobs and improve neighbourhoods.

But Oldham Labour MPs Michael Meacher and David Heyes say tenants were given no real choice.

Mr Meacher has complained that tenants were only given one-sided information, no choice of landlord, no choice on self-financing proposals and less than half will get improvements.

But Mr Woolas said: “I understand the arguments against the stock transfer from Michael Meacher but the fact is that we have to live in the world we are in not the one we would like to be in.

“The efforts over the last 10 years, through the Decent Homes programme, have been magnificent but the cold fact is that capital investment before 1997 was inadequate.

“As Mrs Thatcher sold off council houses, they also froze the capital investment in existing homes and new homes. We have been catching up ever since. Now, we can move ahead. I would like to be able to support a housing utopia but it doesn’t exist.

“FCHO were facing a capital deficit, through no fault of their own, and without this result, 2010 would have seen our maintenance budget fall off a cliff.

“By voting to allow independence and borrowing against a secure asset — future rental income — we have found a way of improving our housing.

“I am proud that the Housing Minister, John Healey, listened to my arguments. We are one of three boroughs which have benefited from this regime as a result of our lobbying.

“If I do nothing else as an MP I will have helped facilitate a significant improvement in thousands of homes.”