Spire Homes took ownership of Rutland County Council's housing stock. Ownership transferred on November 9, with £21 million to be spent over the next five years on homes and services.
Tenants took part in a ballot earlier in the summer to decide whether or not to transfer the ownership of their homes to Spire. The outcome was that 87.1% of tenants voted in favour of transfer, with a 75.5% turnout – one of the highest 'Yes' votes in the history of housing transfers.
This is the second excellent transfer result for Spire Homes. In 2001, of those tenants who voted, 92% of East Northamptonshire Council's tenants voted yes.
Spire Homes has been managing Rutland County Council's housing stock since February 2006.
Chairman of Spire Homes, John Farrar said:
"We are delighted that the housing transfer has now taken place after tenants showed overwhelming support for this to happen in the ballot this year.
"We can now start to deliver all of the promises made to tenants to radically improve their homes and housing service."
To ensure that all promises are delivered, the Rutland Management Board has been formed and have already started meeting regularly. The Board will consist of 3 Rutland tenants, 3 Rutland County Councillors, 2 independent people and a representative from Spire Homes’ Board.
The biggest priority for the Board is to make sure all of the promises made to tenants before the transfer vote this summer are kept. A key part of this is making sure that the programme of works is well planned and starts as soon as the transfer takes place.
The housing waiting list and help for homeless people will continue to be the responsibility of the Council, but the service will be managed day to day by Spire Homes.