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RESPONSE FORM
Please note this is not the ballot
1. On the basis of the information you have received so far, what
are your views on the housing transfer proposal?
I am generally supportive of the transfer proposal
I am not generally supportive of the transfer proposal
I am not sure/need more information
2. Please use the space below to describe what you like or
dislike about the housing transfer proposal and any views or
comments you have on how it could be improved.
Housing Transfer Offer
Name:
Address:
Telephone:
Information request: If you would like someone to contact
you to discuss the housing transfer proposal, or to answer
any queries that you might have, please tick the box to the
left and write your name, address and telephone number
above.
Plymouth
Community Homes
Please return this reply form to reach the Council
by midday on 3rd October 2008.
Remember, this is NOT THE BALLOT.
This is the Council’s formal consultation on the
transfer of its homes to Plymouth Community Homes
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Need help with this document?
If you need help with this document, or would like it in a
different format such as large print or on CD, please
contact the Council’s Stock Transfer Team on freephone
0800 694 3101
Or you can ring the Independent Tenants’ Advisor, DWA,
on freephone
0800 0855 492
Need help with this document?
If you need help with this document, or
would like it in a different format such as
large print or on CD, please contact the
Council’s Stock Transfer Team on freephone
0800 694 3101
0800 694 3101
Or you can ring the Independent Tenants’
Advisor, DWA, on freephone
0800 0855 492
0800
694 3101
Stock Transfer Consultation
Housing
Plymouth City Council
Civic Centre
Armada Way
PLYMOUTH
PL1 2AA
0800 694 3101
0800 694 3101
0800 694 3101
0800 694 3101
0800 694 3101
0800
694 3101
0800
694 3101
0800 694 3101
0800 694 3101
0800 694 3101
0800 694 3101
0800
694 3101
0800 694 3101
0800 694 3101
Plymouth City Council would like to thank the people who contributed to the writing of this
document. In particular, the tenants and leaseholders on the Stock Transfer Advisory Group (STAG),
the Disabled Tenants Action Group (DTAG), the Plymouth United Sheltered Housing Group (PUSH),
the Housed Young People, Housing Opportunities Plymouth Group (HYP HOP), the Tendering and
Contracts Group (TAC) and the Offer Document Editorial Panel who have worked hard to ensure that
what is contained in this document reflects the priorities of many of our tenants.
We would also like to thank the tenants and staff who have allowed us to reproduce photographs
of them in this document.
0800 694 3101
0800 694 3101
0800 694 3101
Business Reply Plus
Licence Number
RLTZ-JBUY-YCTJ
0800 694 3101
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8 transfer facts
Transfer would mean:
1
3
5
7
There would be a budget of
£168 million over the first five
years to bring homes up to the
Plymouth Community Homes
Standard. The Council only
expects to be able to spend
£55 million in the same timescale.
Tenants’ rents would be the
same with Plymouth Community
Homes as they would be with
the Council due to current
Government policy.
Tenants’ key tenancy rights
would be protected, including
the Right to Buy and the Right
of Succession.
Plymouth Community Homes
would deliver services tailored
to the needs of its tenants
taking into account age,
disability and ethnicity.
2
Plymouth Community Homes
would plan to spend in the
region of £1 billion over the
next 30 years to keep homes
up to the same high standard.
4
Entitlement to claim Housing
Benefit would not be affected
by transfer.
6
Tenants would be at the heart
of decision making with
Plymouth Community Homes.
8
Plymouth Community Homes
would work in partnership
with the Council which would
continue to provide a range of
services such as providing
housing advice, dealing with
homelessness and
administering Housing Benefit.
1
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Statement from PETRA
The Plymouth Federation of Tenants And
Residents Associations (PETRA) is a
democratically controlled membership
organisation.
Its main aims are to support the development
of individual tenants and residents
associations and to provide a representative
voice on behalf of the City’s Council tenants.
“
Choosing a landlord is one of the biggest decisions you will have to
make as a tenant.
This Offer Document contains all the information you should need to help
you make that choice, including binding promises of what Plymouth
Community Homes will deliver if it becomes the new landlord. There is
also an honest assessment of what will happen if tenants opt to stay with
the Council.
We believe that this Offer Document, having been put together with the
full involvement of tenants, represents a genuine proposal to deliver the
improvements and changes that tenants most want.
We can say this because the Council has given us access to, and
information about, all aspects of the consultation process.
We are satisfied that there are no hidden agendas and that the
information you are receiving is accurate and reliable.
The size of this document may look daunting, but it’s been set out so that
you can easily find the information that’s most important to you. Once you
have a clear picture, all you have to do is vote for the vision of the future
you most want to be a part of.
“
Whether you are for or against transfer, your vote counts - so don’t forget
to use it.
2
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Contents
The Council’s housing transfer proposal
page 4
About Plymouth Community Homes
page 15
Improving and repairing your home
page 23
The rent and other charges you would pay
page 32
Your rights
page 36
Delivering better local services
page 43
Strengthening communities
page 48
Involving you in running the service
page 53
Tackling anti-social behaviour and crime
page 58
Services for older people including sheltered housing tenants
page 61
Services for people with disabilities
page 65
Assistance for younger and new tenants
page 68
The next steps – the legal requirements for tenant consultation
page 71
The Proposed Tenancy Agreement
page 73
Other useful information
page 90
Contacts
page 92
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
3
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A
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The Council’s transfer proposal
At a glance
• The Council believes that, of all the options looked at for the future of housing, transfer to
a not-for-profit housing association is the best way to raise the money needed to bring
homes up to the standards tenants want to see.
• Plymouth Community Homes would have a budget of £168 million to spend on
modernisations and improvements over the first five years. The Council expects to have
£55 million.
• By 2010, Plymouth City Council's projections show that it would have to pay around
£3.4 million of tenants’ rents every year to the Government to support social housing
nationally.
• Plymouth Community Homes would not have to send any money back to the Government.
Instead every penny of tenants’ rent could be spent by Plymouth Community Homes on
running its housing services.
• Current Government rent policy means rents would be the same with Plymouth Community
Homes as with the Council.
• Tenants’ key rights would be protected and there would be improvements to the
housing service.
• Tenants will be given a vote on the proposal in a ballot planned for autumn this year.
For now, the Council wants to hear what you think about the proposal.
4
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The Council’s housing transfer proposal
What is the Council
proposing?
The Council is proposing to transfer all its
homes to a new, not-for-profit, local housing
association called Plymouth Community
Homes. Over 200 other councils across the
country have already transferred all or part
of their housing to housing associations in
order to improve and modernise them. This
has allowed more than £14 billion to be
invested in social housing. Transfer can only
take place in Plymouth if tenants vote in
favour of the change.
What is Plymouth
Community Homes?
Plymouth Community
Homes (the association) Plymouth
Community Homes
is a new, not-for-profit,
independent housing
association based in Plymouth, which the
Council has helped to set up. If the majority
of the tenants who vote in the ballot are in
favour of transfer, Plymouth Community
Homes would take over the ownership and
management of the Council’s
(approximately) 15,000 homes.
Why is the Council asking
you to consider this
change?
Plymouth City Council has always aimed to
provide good quality, well-managed and
well-maintained homes at a reasonable rent.
The Council would like to continue to
provide existing levels of services, and if
more money was available, provide an even
better service. However, due to financial
constraints over recent years, the Council has
not had the money to carry out the repairs
and improvements that tenants deserve.
In 2000, the Government brought in new
rules which mean all councils have to bring
their homes up to a minimum decent
standard. This is called the Decent Homes
Standard and councils are expected to meet
it by 2010.
An independent survey into the condition of
Plymouth City Council’s homes in 2005, and
updated in 2007, showed that £476 million
was needed to be spent over the next 30
years to meet this minimum standard. The
Council does not have, and strict
Government rules mean it is not allowed
to borrow, all the money needed to reach
the Government’s standard.
A
The condition survey also showed that due
to the level of investment needed in
Plymouth, the Decent Homes Standard
could only be met by 2014 if transfer goes
ahead. If transfer does not take place the
Decent Homes Standard could not be met
without significant reductions in frontline
services. It would also be many more years
before all homes reached the minimum
Decent Homes Standard.
The Council further consulted with tenants
on the future of their homes in 2005.
Tenants said they felt that the
Government’s Decent Homes Standard
was too basic. They said they wanted a
higher standard for their homes, estates
and housing service, the ‘Plymouth
Community Homes Standard’.
From recent surveys the Council knows that
many tenants want extra improvements
such as re-modelled kitchens and
bathrooms, improved security to their
homes, front and back doors and double
glazing that are not part of the Decent
Homes Standard. They also want
environmental improvements such as
fencing and improved parking, which are not
part of the
Decent Homes
Standard either.
To reach the
higher standard
that tenants have
said they want,
and to maintain
properties at that
standard, would
cost around
£1 billion over
the next 30 years.
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What options other than
transfer were looked at?
Since 2004 the Council has worked closely
with tenant and leaseholder representatives,
the Plymouth Federation of Tenants and
Residents Associations (PETRA), staff
representatives, Councillors, an Independent
Tenants’ Advisor and Government Office
South West to look at the options available
to the Council to meet the decent homes
target.
The options considered were:
•
Setting up an ‘Arms Length
Management Organisation’ (ALMO) where the Council would still own the
housing but another housing
organisation would manage the homes.
This option was rejected because it
would not produce any extra funds to
spend on repairs and improvements.
•
Private Finance Initiative (PFI) - this
involves contracting with a private
company to carry out repairs and
improvements. This option was rejected
because the Council does not believe
that PFI offers a long-term solution that
would deliver the money needed for all
its homes.
•
Staying with the Council - with no
increased investment in homes or
services. As explained previously, as
things stand the Council could not pay
for even the basic Decent Homes
Standard to be met.
•
Transfer - this is the transfer of
ownership of all of the Council’s homes
to a not-for-profit housing association.
The new association would be free from
the financial constraints that restrict the
Council from investing the amounts of
money needed to improve homes,
estates and your local area.
The story so far
Having fully examined all the options and
taken on board the views of tenants, the
Council initially decided to proceed with a
6
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mix of options. This would have resulted in
tenants in some areas being invited to vote
on proposals to transfer their homes to
existing housing associations and other
areas remaining in Council ownership. The
options for various areas were based on
investment needs.
However, in 2006 the Government made
announcements about making grant funding
available to councils where their homes have
a negative value, such as in Plymouth. More
details on what 'negative value' and 'grant
funding' mean are contained later in this
section – see the paragraph headed "How
is the price that Plymouth Community
Homes would pay for the homes worked
out?"
This opportunity of grant funding meant that
the Council could revisit the options and
pursue a
transfer
proposal
where the
homes would
not be split
up. This
Government
money would
help fund the
improvements
to homes that
are needed in
Plymouth.
The Council,
therefore,
concluded
that it should offer all tenants the choice of
either transferring the Council’s homes to a
housing association or staying under the
ownership and management of the Council.
An exercise was carried out in 2007 by
tenants and staff to establish the type of
organisation the homes should transfer to in
the event of a yes vote. As a result of this
consultation, it was decided that the new
landlord should be an independent, not-forprofit, local housing association set up by
the Council called Plymouth Community
Homes.
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The Council’s housing transfer proposal
What are the key benefits
of transfer?
A
If transfer goes ahead, there would be a
budget of £168 million for investment in the
homes over the first five years to bring them
up to the Plymouth Community Homes
Standard, higher than the Government’s
minimum standard.
Over 30 years the association would plan to
invest around £1 billion in the homes to
keep them up to the standard in the long term.
This would mean, where needed:
•
Modern kitchens and bathrooms.
•
New PVCu (plastic framed) front and
back doors with improved security
measures.
•
Energy efficient PVCu (plastic framed)
double glazed windows with locks.
•
Modern, efficient central heating.
•
The programme of hard wired smoke
alarms completed by 2019.
•
Over-bath showers or for elderly
tenants and tenants with disabilities,
the option of level access showers,
when assessed as necessary, and
technically practical.
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Compare the difference for yourself
If transfer goes ahead, you can see in the table below what the association would plan to do
to your homes in the first five years after transfer. You can compare this to what the Council
estimates it would be able to achieve.
Plymouth
Community Homes
8
Type of improvement
Approximate number
of properties in the
next five years
Approximate number
of properties in the first
five years
Fitted kitchens
2,000 kitchens
improved to meet the
minimum Decent
Homes Standard.
14,000 new, high
quality kitchens fitted
to meet the Plymouth
Community Homes
Standard.
New bathrooms
2,000 bathrooms
improved to meet the
minimum Decent
Homes Standard (for
example, no over bath
showers).
Level access showers
only fitted as part of a
limited adaptations
budget.
14,000 bathrooms
fitted to meet the
Plymouth Community
Homes Standard
including over bath
showers.
Level access showers
fitted, when considered
necessary, and
technically practical.
Front and back doors
Only fitted if part of a
combination unit on
upgrade of windows or
replaced where
necessary, like for like.
High security doors to
15,000 properties.
Fully double glazed
windows with secure
PVCu (plastic) frames
1,500
3,800
New central heating
systems
3,500
5,000
Hard wired smoke
alarms
0
5,000
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The Council’s housing transfer proposal
Plymouth Community Homes would have
the money needed to carry out this work.
All of the improvements shown (to the left)
are included in its business plan. After
making the improvements, homes would be
kept up to the Plymouth Community Homes
Standard.
•
•
Consulting all tenants individually on
improvement works to their homes,
taking into account cultural or special
needs.
In addition, and in consultation with
tenants, Plymouth Community Homes
would be committed to:
•
Improving how anti-social behaviour
is managed.
•
Consulting tenants on further service
improvements.
•
Providing an improved repairs service
and investing in environmental and
estate security improvements.
•
Providing more off-road parking facilities
where feasible.
•
Introducing a Handyperson Service
within two years of transfer to assist
tenants with carrying out minor jobs
which are the tenant’s responsibility. A
charge would be made for this service.
•
Re-introducing a decorating scheme for
elderly tenants and tenants with
disabilities within two years of transfer,
for which a charge would be made.
Being able to progress the regeneration
of areas such as North Prospect in the
first 10 years following transfer.
A
Why can’t the Council
spend what is needed?
There are a variety of reasons why the
Council cannot do all the repairs and
improvements that it would like. The table
below sets out the main reasons why, due
to current Government rules on local
authority finance, Plymouth Community
Homes could afford to carry out the
promises in this document when the Council
could not.
Plymouth
Community Homes
The Council cannot afford to borrow all
of the money needed to pay for
modernisation and improvements as it
would be unable to repay the loans.
The new association would work within
different financial rules than the Council.
It would have more freedom to raise money
to pay for the works and to pay back
money over a long period – usually 30 years.
The Council has to send back to the
Government an amount of tenants’ rent
money to support council housing
nationally. By 2010 this is expected to
amount to around £3.4 million every year.
Every penny of every pound of rent received
by Plymouth Community Homes would be
spent on the housing service and repaying
its loans. It would not have to subsidise the
cost of social housing nationally.
The Council has to pay over 75% of its
Right to Buy sales to the Government for
redistribution across the country. Of the
remaining 25%, all of this money is
currently used for other capital projects
in the City but not specifically on social
housing.
There is no requirement to return Right to
Buy money to Government.
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Where does tenants’
current rent money go?
The Council runs a Housing Revenue
Account (HRA) which is used to collect rent
and which pays for all day-to-day tenants’
housing services. There are ever increasing
demands on the HRA as a result of the poor
condition of the homes.
Every year, Plymouth City Council has to pay
over a large sum to Central Government
from tenants’ rents. This money, along with
money from other councils, is paid into a
Government fund and is shared by the
Government between other councils to help
them to repair their homes and run their
housing services.
Some councils gain from this process but
others like Plymouth lose out. For example,
projections show that by 2010 around
£3.4 million a year of tenants’ rent will have
been paid over to the Government, an
average of £4.50 a week for every Council
home in Plymouth.
The financial rules for councils and a
housing association such as Plymouth
Community Homes are different. Unlike the
Council, it would not have to pay any rent
money to the Government each year and
it could keep this money to invest in your
housing service, if transfer went ahead.
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How is the price that
Plymouth Community
Homes would pay for the
homes worked out?
If the association buys the Council’s homes,
the price it would pay is based on a
Government formula that would take
account of:
•
The likely rents payable by tenants over
a 30 year period.
•
The cost of the programme of repairs
and improvements that are planned by
the association.
•
The fact that tenants keep their key
tenancy rights and that the housing must
be kept available for rent at affordable
levels set by the Government.
•
The costs of managing the homes over
that period.
•
The cost of carrying out the promises
set out in this document.
This way of pricing the homes takes into
account the fact that the association would
need to have sufficient resources in its
business plan to pay for the expected costs
of managing and repairing the homes and
delivering on all the promises included in this
document. This is very different to the way
the value of homes is calculated under the
Right to Buy.
Because the cost of the works needed to
bring homes up to standard is so high the
calculation means that the Council's homes
have a negative value, which broadly means
the level of investment required exceeds
income generated through rents and other
sources and the association would not be
able to borrow the amount of funding
required. So if transfer goes ahead, the
association would need to enter into a grant
funding arrangement with Government. This
would supplement funds raised through
borrowing to help fund the improvements
that Plymouth Community Homes would
carry out.
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The Council’s housing transfer proposal
Plymouth Community Homes would need to
enter into a funding agreement with the
Government before transfer takes place.
It is likely that the agreement would contain
targets or milestones in relation to those
parts of the works that are to be funded by
the Government. The Government would
monitor Plymouth Community Homes to
make sure it reaches these milestones.
Where would Plymouth
Community Homes get the
money from to pay for the
improvements to the
Housing Service?
In addition to the grant funding mentioned
above, Plymouth Community Homes would
raise the money to pay for the
improvements explained in this document
from high street banks and building
societies.
The loans would be repaid over around 30
years and the cost of repaying them would
be met from rents.
For more information on rents, see Part D.
What would be the
Council’s housing role after
transfer?
If the transfer goes ahead, the Council
would no longer be your landlord but would
continue to work in close partnership with
Plymouth Community Homes.
The association would also have quarterly
meetings with Council officers where any
problems or difficulties could be discussed
and resolved and plans made for
improvements in the future.
For more information on the Council’s
role, see Part B.
What role would
Councillors have?
A
If transfer goes ahead, you would still be
able to ask Councillors to act on your behalf
if you have problems with your housing just
as you would now.
What would happen if
tenants vote ‘No’
and homes stay
with the Council
In the event of a ‘no’ vote, the Council
would still be required to try and meet
the Decent Homes Standard and
would be expected to put all possible
resources from its Housing Revenue
Account into trying to achieve it.
This would come at a significant cost
to housing services as the Council
expects only to have the same
resources as it does now.
Money would therefore have to be
diverted from other council housing
services into meeting the basic
Decent Homes Standard.
Whilst this would have an impact on
services, and likely mean job cuts,
the savings made would still leave a
significant shortfall in the Council’s
financial ability to meet the Decent
Homes Standard in all its properties,
in the next 10 years.
In addition to the tough decisions
the Council would have to make
(summarised on page 12) if tenants
vote ‘no’, the Council would also have
to develop plans which would focus
on the managed disposal of its vacant
properties to existing Registered
Social Landlords.
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The chart below compares what would happen if tenants stay with the Council or transfer to
Plymouth Community Homes.
PLANNED WORKS AND SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS
Plymouth
Community Homes
Decent Homes Standard
Plymouth Community Homes Standard
Maintenance and Improvements
Would have a very limited improvement
programme with only £55 million
available for major works, basic repairs
and improvements over five years.
five years to bring homes up to the
Plymouth Community Homes Standard.
Would not be able to meet even the
Government’s minimum Decent Homes
Standard by 2014, and would not be able
to carry out the extra improvements, such
as new doors with increased security
measures and hard wired smoke alarms.
(See Part C for comparison of the Decent
Homes Standard and the Plymouth
Community Homes Standard).
Would spend as much as it was able but
would be subject to on-going financial
restrictions and reductions.
£168 million of improvements in the first
Would exceed the Government’s minimum
Decent Homes Standard by 2014.
Around £1 billion would be spent on
the homes over 30 years to keep them
up to the Plymouth Community Homes
Standard.
Services
The Council expects that the Housing
Service budget would need to be cut
each year from 2009. This would likely
mean job losses arising from services,
for example:
• Cutting repairs and maintenance
back to the basic legal minimum.
• A reduction in opportunities for
tenant involvement.
Under current Government funding
rules, the Council would be unable to
develop housing services.
Extra resources would allow the association
to improve front line housing services.
These would include:
• Improvements to how anti-social
behaviour is managed.
• Greater opportunities for tenants to
become involved.
• Offering annual visits to tenants in
their homes.
• Improving Caretaking Services.
• Undertaking a programme of Estate
Inspections at least every six months.
Rents
Rents would be set in line with Government rent rules, which mean rents would be
the same whether homes transfer or stay with the Council.
12
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The Council’s housing transfer proposal
What is the timetable for
consultation?
The current plans are:
Late Summer: This is the period of formal
consultation on this ‘offer document’ (called
Stage 1). Council staff will take every
opportunity to meet you to discuss the
proposal. There will be home visits by staff,
and a short DVD produced by the Council.
Autumn: The Council will take account of
tenants’ comments on the transfer proposal.
The Council will then decide whether this
proposal needs to be altered and whether to
go ahead with the ballot of all the Council’s
secure and introductory tenants. If the
Council decides not to go ahead with the
vote then the process stops and the transfer
proposal goes no further.
Autumn: If the Council decides to go ahead
you will be sent a letter called the Stage 2
letter. This will describe what changes, if
any, have been made to this proposal and
whether the Council has decided to proceed
to a ballot. It will also explain your right to
make representations to the Secretary
of State.
Autumn: A confidential ballot would be
organised by an independent organisation,
Electoral Reform Services. Every secure and
introductory tenant would have a vote. This
means that joint tenants would each have
separate ballot papers. Neither the Council
nor Plymouth Community Homes would
know which way you have voted.
How have your views
shaped this proposal?
The Council has used newsletters, drop-in
sessions, roadshows and surveys to ensure
that tenants are aware of the proposals and
that they have had the opportunity to be
actively involved. It has worked closely with
the Independent Tenants’ Advisor, DWA,
PETRA and tenants from a cross section of
the community, including the Stock Transfer
Advisory Group (STAG), Interested Tenants
Network (ITN), Disabled Tenants Action
Group (DTAG), Plymouth United Sheltered
Housing (PUSH), Housed Young People
Housing Opportunities Plymouth (HYP HOP)
and other groups. The Council has listened
to your suggestions about how to improve
services and also recognised tenants’
concerns and possible objections so that
they can be addressed within this proposal.
A
How the vote would work
The Council will only be able to carry on with
the transfer if the majority of secure and
introductory tenants who vote, vote ‘yes’ to
this proposal.
Leaseholders are being invited to give the
Council their views on the proposed transfer
too, but they would not have a formal vote.
A separate Guide is being sent to leaseholders.
If you do not use your vote it does not
count for or against transfer. It just
means that your view has not been
heard. It is very important to make your
views known by using your vote.
If there is a ‘yes’ vote, the Council would
then ask the Secretary of State to give
consent before the transfer can take place.
If this consent is given then the Council
would go ahead and transfer its housing to
the association. The transfer would be likely
to happen in late 2009.
fact
Every secure and
introductory tenant
would have a vote in
the ballot.
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Where can you go for
independent advice?
The Independent Tenants’ Advisor, DWA,
is also providing an unbiased input to
the process.
The Plymouth tenants’ Stock Transfer
Advisory Group appointed DWA to provide
free independent advice and information to
all tenants and leaseholders throughout the
transfer consultation.
DWA is a very experienced independent
tenants’ advisor. If you are concerned about
any aspect of the proposal and want
independent advice you should contact
DWA by telephoning them on freephone
0800 0855 492.
If your call is out of office hours please leave
a message on the answerphone and they
will return your call within one working day.
Alternatively you can e-mail them on
info@dwa-housingconsultants.co.uk
See Part P for more useful contacts.
Your right to comment
The Council is committed to an open and
detailed consultation process with its secure
and introductory tenants, and you have a
major role to play in the consultation.
The Council will consider any comments
tenants and leaseholders make on the
proposal. There is a tear off card to help you
make comments included at the back of this
document. Please send your comments in
to reach the Council by midday on 3rd
October 2008. The postage has been paid.
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