'Huge gaps' in housing plan

Much of Glasgow's housing stock is in disrepair

Proposals to transfer Glasgow's housing stock out of local authority control are being kept secret because they contain "huge gaps", according to Scotland's largest public service union.

Unison said it believes Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) is deliberately keeping its business plan for the transfer under wraps because of problems with funding.

The union, which opposes stock transfer, said it was unfair to ask tenants to vote on "incomplete" details.

But GHA's chief executive Bob Allan said the association intended to pass on details of its funding plans to Glasgow City Council in the new year.

We are confident that the information will indicate a clear commitment that the bankers will fund the transaction

Bob Allan, GHA

The council has been given the go-ahead by the Scottish Executive to start consultation with tenants on the proposals to transfer its housing stock to GHA

But Mike Kirby, Unison's Scottish convener, said: "No details of the funding package that supposedly backs up the GHA's business case have been revealed - either to Glasgow city councillors or to tenants.

"We think that this is because there are huge gaps, and some prospective funders are refusing to commit.

"In any case it is completely unfair to ask tenants to vote on an incomplete and secret plan."

Mr Kirby called on the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) to arrange a major conference to look at alternatives to housing stock transfer.

Debt repayment

He added: "It is time the alternatives to whole stock transfer are more widely debated.

"Now that councils elsewhere in Scotland have decided not to go down the housing stock transfer road, it is time we looked at these alternatives more thoroughly.

"If the government doesn't want to look at these, we want an authoritative body like the STUC to do so."

It is completely unfair to ask tenants to vote on an incomplete and secret plan

Mike Kirby, Unison

But Mr Allan said: "We are continuing to have detailed discussions with a range of funders and we will be providing that information to the council soon.

"We are confident that the information will indicate a clear commitment that the bankers will fund the transaction."

The Scottish Executive has struck a deal to clear Glasgow City Council's £900m housing debt if tenants accept the proposed housing stock transfer.

More than 80,000 homes are involved in the proposed transfer.

Councils in Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders and the Shetland Islands are also developing similar schemes.