We have now published our interim report and readers will note that stock transfer is not presented as the most obvious or acceptable option for easing the financial constraints facing the
sector in Northern Ireland.

Key benefits from the transfer approach seen by its advocates in other parts of the UK - including financial freedoms over rental income and receipts from sales, and creation of single-purpose agencies outside the control of local politicians - cannot be argued for the Housing Executive.

It has been a free-standing, exclusively housing agency that controls its rents and its surpluses, outside of local politics, for more than 30 years. Whether the advantages of being able to borrow without loans counting against the national debt is reason enough for transferring the stock - with all the disruption and cost that would bring - is by no means certain.

So without pre-empting our final report’s recommendations - due in the New Year - I would not advise anyone to jump to the conclusion that we will recommend the Big Transfer option. And I hope the rest of our report will be helpful to the housing policy-makers and practitioners in Northern Ireland. 

Lord Best, chair of the Commission on the Future of Housing in Northern Ireland

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