Shropshire Council considering selling off 4,200 council homes
Experts have completed a study on selling 4,200 council homes in Shropshire.
They have made confidential recommendations over the disposal of housing stock, which could potentially raise tens of millions for Shropshire Council.
Any sale would mean the transfer of council tenants to private landlords or housing association.
Estate agent Savills has provided the council with options for a sale, but the findings of its report are not being made known.
The stock amounts to around 4,200 homes in Bridgnorth and Oswestry, which are currently managed by Star Housing – an arms length management organisation set up by Shropshire Council.
Any sale would contribute towards a target the council has set of raising £50 million through the sale of its assets.
Councillor Lee Chapman, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for health and adult social care, said the report is being reviewed and that any recommendation would go before the authority's cabinet.
He also said the priority is to make sure Shropshire's housing is "fit for the future".
He said: "Earlier this year we commissioned Savills to carry out an assessment and produce options on our behalf with regards to the housing stock we own.
"It is really important that the county’s housing is fit for the future and this was the main driver behind getting Savills in to assess what we have.
"A report which outlines their recommendations is now complete. No decisions have yet been made and, at this moment in time, we are simply exploring the options the report proposes.
"The report will be subject to a formal decision making process, which will include consideration by cabinet in the near future."
Former council leader Malcolm Pate, who was replaced by Councillor Peter Nutting in May, said the authority's financial predicament meant it was looking at all options.
But he added: "People should not read too much into me saying that."
Councillor Alan Mosley, Labour leader on Shropshire Council, has previously warned that any move to sell off council housing would be "indicative of the desperate state of the council".
Speaking when the council announced its plans for Savills to review the stock he said: "It would just show what a desperate state this council has got into. We should not be looking to sell off our homes in Oswestry and Bridgnorth to fill a black hole in funding to keep the council going.
"Once these valuable assets are gone I wonder what their plan-B is going to be, and the massive cuts in vital services will no doubt follow in a year or twos time. It is not solving our problem, it just fills a black hole in the budget for 18 months or so and once it is gone, it's gone."
