The council house crisis

Tenants of the city's housing stock, which needs an estimated £650 million investment to survive the next 30 years, will vote next year on whether to transfer out of council control.

Opponents of a sell-off are already mobilising their campaigns, raising concerns that private housing associations would feel free to impose substantial rent hikes.

Similar protest movements have disrupted proposed housing stock transfers in cities such as Birmingham and Glasgow.

But in parts of Sussex, where stock transfers have already taken place, tenants insist conditions have never been better.

They claim they are given more say in how their houses are managed, much quicker and desirable repair work and guarantees on reasonable rents - so far, anyway.

Rother District Council was one of the first authorities in England to transfer its entire housing stock.

At the second time of asking, tenants voted six years ago to transfer the 3,058 homes to a new housing company called Rother Homes.

They had earlier turned down a sell-off to an organisation called the South London Housing Association, fearing it would be out-of-touch with their local needs.

Worthing Borough Council sold its stock of 3,000 properties to Worthing Homes in 1999.

Horsham District Council transferred its 4,650 houses to Saxon Weald Homes Limited in 2000 for £67 million.

About 100 authorities have carried out full or partial transfers of their housing stock, largely as a response to the spiralling cost of bringing homes up to decent standards.

A report this summer revealed Brighton and Hove's housing stock needed an additional £650 million, or £50,000 per house, to meet adequate standards by 2033.

Many authorities have been restricted by Government rules on what they can borrow to fund repairs and refurbishment.

This has opened the way for registered social landlords or housing associations to step in and promise larger investment packages.

Worthing Homes was able to invest £90 million in renovation in the five years since taking over.

Council homes date back to the aftermath of the First World War, as local authorities were committed to building "homes for heroes" as soldiers returned from the European front.

Before the 1919 Housing Town Planning Act, about 90 per cent of housing was privately-rented but council-owned homes became more dominant until the Eighties.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's sale of council homes began to reverse the balance, while the first stock transfers were approved in the late Eighties.

Transfer to a registered social landlord is not the only option open to authorities.

They can establish an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) to take over their duties, with the promise of extra resources if it achieves two or three star ratings from the Audit Commission.

Alternatively they can apply to use the private finance initiative to fund repairs and improvements to parts of the stock, usually by setting up a long-term contract with a private sector firm.

Or, of course, they can keep hold of the stock and use Government money through capital allocations and the new Major Repairs Allowance.

This would seem to be the option favoured by Brighton and Hove tenants, if campaign group Defend Council Housing is to be believed.

Defend Council Housing believes council control provides more secure tenancies, better protection against eviction, lower rents and stronger democratic accountability.

John Blann, 72, has lived in Meredith Road, Worthing, for 30 years and was one of the residents who demanded the borough council give them the option of a transfer.

Mr Blann, who now acts as a tenant representative on the Worthing Homes board, said: "We have hardly had any complaints to make.

"Rents are kept to inflation plus one per cent. With the amount of money that was needed to improve the properties, I'm sure that staying with the council would have meant much bigger increases.

"But even if rents do go up now we've come to the end of the five years, we now have so much more say in what the board does"

He believes the current system is more effective because the organisation's actions are focused solely on the houses and their tenants.

However, opponents of stock transfer have warned that after five years have elapsed, anything could happen with rents.

Andy Richards, Unison branch chairman for Brighton and Hove, said the union would campaign against any proposal to waive council control of the city's housing stock.

He said: "Our main concerns are the lack of security for tenants and the worsening of conditions for our members working in housing services.

"Transfers also often mean our members are moved to other organisations and their terms and conditions invariably suffer as a result."

A Brighton and Hove ballot is expected about a year from now. About 13,000 families will have a lot to think about.