Tenants Back Housing Transfer Plan

85.9% of the tenants vote YES

Mole Valley District Council's proposal to transfer all its homes to Mole Valley Housing Association (MVHA) received a strong endorsement from tenants in a ballot following a major consultation exercise. MVHA has been set up with Council assistance and will work in partnership with Circle Anglia, one of the UK's largest affordable housing providers.

Housing Transfer Result

The Electoral Reform Society, who conducted the vote, announced the result of the ballot of

tenants as follows:

Total number of eligible tenants 4211

Total number of ballot papers received: 3,015

Overall rate of participation 71.6%

Total number of spoilt ballot papers 4

Thus total number of valid votes counted 3,011

RESULT

In favour of transfer: 2,587 (85.9% of the valid vote)

Against transfer: 424 (14.1% of the valid vote)

David Searle, Director of Services at Mole Valley District Council said: "The ballot result clearly demonstrates that the proposal has strong support of Mole Valley tenants. Throughout the consultation exercise it was apparent that tenants were giving the whole issue a great deal of thought and on behalf of the Council I would like to thank them for voting in such large numbers. I would also like to thank the staff and tenant representatives who worked so hard to ensure that tenants knew the facts and understood the choice before them. This proposal has had support because people understand that under current Government rules MVHA will have much more money to spend on homes and services than the Council would".

Alan Catterick Chairman of the MVHA Shadow Board of Management, said: "On behalf of all of my colleagues on the Shadow Board, I would like to thank the tenants for the confidence they have placed in the new housing association. I can assure each and every tenant that we are determined to deliver the best possible housing service for the people of Mole Valley District. We now have a real opportunity to work together with tenants, our partners in Circle Anglia, and the Council, to create a better housing future."

Alan Townshend, who has worked in partnership with the Council, on behalf of Circle Anglia said, "The outcome of this tenant ballot is a great result for tenants, the Council, the new Housing Association and Circle Anglia. Gaining a positive ballot outcome means more services and improvements for tenants living in Mole Valley."

The Council must now formally consider the ballot result and then seek approval from the Secretary of State for the transfer to take place. It is expected that the formal transfer could take place by around November this year. The transfer will bring a major injection of funding for repairs, modernisations and improvements to homes and communities, with tenants at the heart of decision-making.