Housing deadline 'will be met'

Glasgow City Council said that it would transfer its stock to the new housing association by the end of this year as planned.

The assurance followed the leaking of a consultants' report which was reported to have cast doubt over whether the target could be met.

An independent assessment commissioned by the Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) was understood to be warning that a 28 November target for the transfer of 82,000 council houses was "unachievable".

The assessment was said to be recommending a target date of 27 January, with the caveat that even this date was "still challenging".

The document was also understood to claim that the GHA will need another £100m from the Scottish Executive to meet staffing costs.

But the Scottish Executive said it had not been asked for £100m extra.

The GHA said it would be appointing a lead funder, one of the big banks, next month.

Glasgow City Council insisted that it had always set itself the goal of achieving the transfer by the end of the year and that 28 November had not been seen as a final deadline.

Closely-run ballot

"Our position is very clear - we are on course for a transfer by the end of this year," said a council spokesman.

"That was the commitment we made to tenants in the statutory consultation."

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive said: "We have always been working for a transfer by the end of the year.

"November 28 was not a final date."

The Glasgow housing stock transfer has been a key executive policy for quite some time and a majority of tenants voted for the proposal in a closely-run ballot.

Supporters of the transfer believe it will enable huge improvements to be made but critics have voiced concerns over who will have responsibility for the stock and possible job cuts.