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Four stock transfer councils register with RSH

Four councils which previously transferred their housing stock have registered as social landlords in recent weeks.

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Picture: Getty
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Four stock transfer councils register with RSH #UKhousing

Stock transfer councils register as social landlords to bid for government rough sleeper accommodation grant #UKhousing

@ChelmsCouncil, @DorsetCouncilUK, @NorthNorfolkDC and @derbyshiredales have registered as social landlords over the summer #UKhousing

Derbyshire Dales District Council, Dorset Council and North Norfolk District Council have all been added to the English Regulator of Social Housing’s (RSH) list of registered providers this month, while Chelmsford City Council joined in July.

Three of the councils told Inside Housing that they had taken the step to support applications for grant funding through the government’s Next Steps Accommodation Programme.

This £266m fund, which opened for bids in July, is intended to pay for interim housing for rough sleepers taken off the streets during the coronavirus pandemic and provide supported homes for those currently in emergency accommodation.

Capital funding through the programme is being administered by Homes England, which can only allocate grant to RSH-registered organisations.

Dorset Council, formed through a reorganisation of the county’s local government structure last year, North Norfolk and Chelmsford all confirmed that this was their motivation for registering.


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None of the four councils said they are in the process of opening a Housing Revenue Account – a ringfenced budget for managing housing stock required for councils that own more than 200 homes.

A spokesperson for North Norfolk Council said that, if successful, its bid for the Next Steps Accommodation Programme “will enable the authority to purchase four properties which will be designated as ‘move-on accommodation’ with support for single rough sleepers or those at risk of rough sleeping”.

Chelmsford Council said that registration was necessary “to be able to achieve all that we want to do for the reduction and prevention of rough sleeping in the city”.

Derbyshire Dales Council agreed in July to become a registered social landlord as part of a plan to return to direct housing delivery, starting with a programme of 52 homes for affordable rent and shared ownership.

The five housing authorities which formed Dorset Council – West Dorset, North Dorset, East Dorset, Purbeck and Weymouth and Portland – offloaded their housing stocks to various housing associations between 1990 and 2005.

North Norfolk Council transferred its 4,700 homes to Victory Housing Trust in 2006. While in 2002, Chelmsford City Council sold its 7,000-strong housing stock to Chelmer Housing Partnership – now known as CHP.

Derbyshire Dales underwent stock transfer in 2002 to Dales Housing Association, which is now merged into 45,000-home Platform Housing Group.

There are currently 201 local authorities registered with RSH, of a possible 317.

Another six councils have become social landlords in 2019 and 2020, the first since 2016.

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