Flintshire County Council has announced it is considering transferring part of its social housing stock to a private body such as a housing association, but keeping hold of the rest.

Consultants have been hired, at a cost of about £25,000, to look into three different "partial transfer" options.

The first option is for the council to retain properties in areas with high levels of social housing, such as Flint and Deeside.

Alternatively, the council could just keep hold of its sheltered accommodation, of which there are roughly 2,000 properties around the county.

The third option would involve a combination of the first two proposals.
Colin Everett, chief executive of Flintshire Council, told the council's executive group about the proposals yesterday.

He said: "We know we can't retain our full housing stock."

If the council decides to transfer some of its housing stock, the move would go to a ballot of all the county's tenants – including those who would not be affected by the move.

Consultants will report back to the council in the New Year, with a special full council meeting taking place in January.

If none of the partial transfer options are found to be "viable", the council will look towards a full transfer of its housing stock.

Jocelyn Davies, Wales' deputy minister for housing, has agreed to grant the council an extra three months to make a decision if needed.

Reaching a decision on the county's social housing stock is seen as one of the biggest decisions councillors will ever have to make.

The properties must be brought up to the Welsh housing quality standard by 2012, a deadline set by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Last September, the then Labour-controlled council took a "high-risk" decision to keep the housing stock within local authority control.

The authority was then given an extension until the end of 2008 to carry out a strategic review before making a "final and binding" decision.

A review board, set up following Welsh Assembly talks in February, met on Friday and the executive group yesterday agreed to hire the consultants.

However, some councillors are unhappy at the way it has been carried out.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Nancy Matthews said: "I'm not very comfortable voting on this. I don't know what my group's position on the matter is.
"It has come out of nowhere."

Saltney Cllr Klaus Armstrong Braun said: "How will the council decide which properties are kept and which are sold off?

"I'm concerned that properties in the best condition would be kept, and the council would get rid of the ones that need the most work."

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