26/3/2008Fresh hope for housing transfer
A BID to transfer nearly 1800 homes to community ownership in the East End of Glasgow has been given new hope.
Glasgow Housing Association knocked back a bid of £10.3m from Tollcross Local Housing Organisation for control of the 1764 homes in November last year.
GHA put a £16m price on the transfer.
But that was criticised by Tollcross Housing Association's chairman Eddie Gray as being too high.
Mr Gray, at the time, said there had been an"“error" in calculating the stock's value and appealed for a review.
Now GHA has told the LHO it will consider "one more" offer for the transfer of ownership after it has reconsidered the valuation of the houses.
Should Tollcross Housing Association meet GHA's revised price - expected to be compiled by June - then the transfer could go ahead.
Many of the homes - which range from tenements to four-in-a-blocks and cover Carmyle, Lillybank and Newbank as well as Tollcross - are rundown and in desperate need of repair.
Mr Gray said today: "This means all the work we have put into the process is not wasted.
"It could give GHA's tenants in this area a chance of benefiting from community ownership.
Sandra Forsythe, chairwoman of GHA, wrote to Tollcross Housing Association outlining the social landlord's decision to allow another bid.
She said: "The GHA Board... considered the position of Tollcross LHO with regard to its request to resubmit a business case for transfer.
"GHA is prepared to assess one more business case submission... which meets in full the new valuation GHA will now produce following the conclusion of the housing futures assessment process."
Tollcross Housing Association's £10.3m offer was one of six bids knocked back by GHA in November last year over Second Stage Transfer (SST) across the city.
Sixteen bids were given the go-ahead to transfer to community ownership (LHOs) while another 17 are still under consideration by GHA.
So far a total of 6000 homes have been allowed to transfer and over the next four years will come under the control of community-based associations.
In 2003, when GHA took over Glasgow City Council's housing stock, tenants were promised all homes would be transferred under the SST scheme.
A spokeswoman for Glasgow Housing Association said: "The GHA Board agreed that it was prepared, as a gesture of goodwill, to consider one further SST business case submission."
Glasgow Housing Association knocked back a bid of £10.3m from Tollcross Local Housing Organisation for control of the 1764 homes in November last year.
GHA put a £16m price on the transfer.
But that was criticised by Tollcross Housing Association's chairman Eddie Gray as being too high.
Mr Gray, at the time, said there had been an"“error" in calculating the stock's value and appealed for a review.
Now GHA has told the LHO it will consider "one more" offer for the transfer of ownership after it has reconsidered the valuation of the houses.
Should Tollcross Housing Association meet GHA's revised price - expected to be compiled by June - then the transfer could go ahead.
Many of the homes - which range from tenements to four-in-a-blocks and cover Carmyle, Lillybank and Newbank as well as Tollcross - are rundown and in desperate need of repair.
Mr Gray said today: "This means all the work we have put into the process is not wasted.
"It could give GHA's tenants in this area a chance of benefiting from community ownership.
Sandra Forsythe, chairwoman of GHA, wrote to Tollcross Housing Association outlining the social landlord's decision to allow another bid.
She said: "The GHA Board... considered the position of Tollcross LHO with regard to its request to resubmit a business case for transfer.
"GHA is prepared to assess one more business case submission... which meets in full the new valuation GHA will now produce following the conclusion of the housing futures assessment process."
Tollcross Housing Association's £10.3m offer was one of six bids knocked back by GHA in November last year over Second Stage Transfer (SST) across the city.
Sixteen bids were given the go-ahead to transfer to community ownership (LHOs) while another 17 are still under consideration by GHA.
So far a total of 6000 homes have been allowed to transfer and over the next four years will come under the control of community-based associations.
In 2003, when GHA took over Glasgow City Council's housing stock, tenants were promised all homes would be transferred under the SST scheme.
A spokeswoman for Glasgow Housing Association said: "The GHA Board agreed that it was prepared, as a gesture of goodwill, to consider one further SST business case submission."