4,100 Shropshire council houses will not be sold, authority confirms

The future of the houses, which are mainly in Oswestry and Bridgnorth, has been the subject of a review by property experts Savills since 2017.

The news will be welcomed by tenants, and provides certainty over the ownership of the properties, managed by Shropshire Towns and Rural Housing (STAR Housing).

In a joint statement, Councillor Robert Macey, Shropshire cabinet member for member for housing and strategic planning and Sue Adams, STAR Housing’s managing director, said they understood the uncertainty the review had caused.

“Shropshire Council has recently undertaken a review to ensure that it has enough of the right housing for the people of Shropshire, both now and in the future. This included exploring options with regards to the future arrangement of the council’s 4,100 council-owned homes," they said.

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“This review was something that the council always planned to do. The time was right as it’s been five years since it created an arm’s length management company, Shropshire Towns and Rural Housing (STAR Housing), who manage the homes on the council’s behalf.

“It is now complete and, after considering all options as part of this, a decision has been made by cabinet todayto retain the council’s housing stock. The homes will also continue to be managed by STAR Housing.

“We understand that this review has caused some uncertainty, but we hope that tenants will be reassured now that a decision has been made. The management of their homes won’t change, and we will be working together to improve things even further.

“These are exciting times as we look to work even closer with each other to explore new opportunities with regards to addressing unmet housing need, place shaping, regeneration and service development.”