Minister announces Renfrewshire housing ballot date

Home > News and Events > News - release archive > 2006 > September

Mr Chisholm said, “Housing transfer to RHA would pave the way to an unprecedented £1 billion package of home improvements over 30 years and faster repairs for Renfrewshire tenants, as well as a five-year binding guarantee restricting rent rises to the inflation rate.

“Renfrewshire Council’s £154m housing debt currently costs tenants 36p in the pound in rent. If the transfer goes ahead that money can be spent on investment and keeping rents down. £269 million of public funding will remove the council’s housing debt and provide grant assistance for major improvements and early action funding.”

For the first time in a Scottish transfer ballot, Renfrewshire tenants will be able to vote by post, by phone or over the internet.

If tenants vote yes, transfer would see an early start next year to a £370 million investment by RHA over ten years on home improvements and repairs, including 5700 modern kitchens, 3700 central heating boilers and 2800 modern bathrooms in the first four years alone.

Councillor Iain McMillan, Renfrewshire Council’s housing spokesperson, said, “I welcome RHA’s proposals as the best way forward for tenants’ homes and housing services. However, I feel it’s extremely important that this decision is taken by those whom it will affect most – our tenants. For this reason we’ve made phone and internet voting options available to help ensure as many tenants as possible are able to vote. When the ballot starts, I would strongly urge all tenants to use their votes.”

The 21-day ballot, to be run independently of the Council and RHA by Electoral Reform Services (ERS), will begin once tenants receive their ballot papers and pre-paid reply envelopes. The deadline for completed papers to reach ERS is noon on Tuesday 17 October 2006.

Welcoming the news of the ballot date, RHA Chairman and tenant board member, Gordon Mackie, commented, “We have a vision to deliver social housing in Renfrewshire that is amongst the best in Scotland. We will be able to meet these ambitious goals through an investment package that will mean there will be no significant rent increases for our tenants, but this can only happen if tenants vote for transfer. As a Council tenant myself, I would urge all tenants to take this opportunity to influence the future of social housing in Renfrewshire, to use their vote and to vote yes for RHA.”

Neither the Council nor RHA will know which way individual tenants vote in the secret ballot. Every secure tenant will receive a ballot paper, meaning that those with a joint tenancy will each receive a separate voting paper and will each have a separate vote. The Council will inform tenants of the result shortly after the completion of the ballot period on October 17. Only if the majority of voting tenants vote in favour of the transfer and the Scottish Executive Ministers give their consent will transfer then take place.

All previous housing transfer ballots in Scotland have been exclusively postal ballots. By allowing tenants to vote over the phone or using the internet, Renfrewshire Council hopes to increase turnout. In recently conducted independent research 86% of the 1500 tenants questioned said they intended to vote, with over 67% saying they intended to definitely or probably vote yes.

The ballot follows the start on Monday of a second stage of formal consultation. All Council tenants should by now have received a Stage 2 booklet providing responses to the main issues raised by tenants as part of the first stage of formal consultation in August. The booklet also outlines details of how tenants can give their views on the transfer proposals to Scottish Ministers within 28 days of receiving the booklet.

The transfer proposals include details of the Renfrewshire Housing Standard, a quality standard that RHA would introduce following transfer. The Standard sets out the upgrades all tenants can expect for their homes within 10 years of transfer, including modern fitted kitchens and bathrooms – and would be maintained for the full 30 years of RHA’s plans. It will make sure that social housing in Renfrewshire is amongst the best in Scotland and meets the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS). The SHQS has been set by the Scottish Executive to improve the quality of social housing throughout Scotland by 2015.

Press release: Wednesday 20 September 2006