Tenants have overwhelmingly backed plans to transfer the ownership and management of Oldham Council's housing stock to a new-look First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO).
More than 13,500 tenants were eligible to take part in the ballot, which closed on 1st April. The final result revealed that a total of 8,997 cast their votes. Of those 7,787 (86.6%) voted in favour, giving an absolute majority of 57.4% of all tenants.
FCHO was created as an ALMO in April 2002 to manage council owned properties across Oldham Metropolitan Borough. It currently provides services to over 12,858 council tenants and leaseholders in Oldham.
Last year, Oldham Council took the decision to transfer its housing stock to a new registered provider of social housing, subject to a tenants ballot.
The proposed new landlord was FCHO, which has been in the process of converting to stand alone as a not for profit registered provider.
The transfer ballot decision followed advice from the Housing Options Panel, on which tenants were the biggest group. It took full account of the excellent feedback from over three thousand tenants responding to a survey earlier in the year.
The result means that £149 million can now be invested in homes in the next five years, as FCHO transforms itself from an ALMO into a housing association.
