To: Directors of Housing
Local Authorities in England
Simon Llewellyn
Housing Transfer Policy and Programme Manager
Local Authority Housing 5
Zone 2/C2
Eland House
Bressenden Place
LONDON
SW1E 5DU
Direct line: 020-7944-3608
Divisional Enquiries: 020-7944-3618
Fax: 020-7944-3639
GTN: 3533-3608
E-Mail:
Web site: www.odpm.gov.uk
25 September 2003
Dear Sir/Madam
The 2004 Housing Transfer Programme
This letter is to invite applications for the 2004 Housing Transfer Programme. For this programme we are returning to the usual cycle. We require Expressions of Interest by Friday 14 November and full applications by Friday 19 December. We hope to publish a list of schemes securing a place on the 2004 Programme by the end of March.
Authorities wishing to apply for the 2004 Housing Transfer Programme should follow the application procedure set out in Section 9 of the "Housing Transfer Manual - 2003 Programme". You will note from the amended contact details at the back of the attached supplement that the Programme Administrator, to whom all applications should be sent, is now Sally Hunt.
The Preface to the Housing Transfer Manual: 2003 Programme stated that the guidance contained within the manual was for use by authorities applying for both the 2003 and 2004 Programmes. This supplement updates authorities, RSLs and other housing transfer stakeholders on developments in transfer policy in the six months since publication of the 2003 Manual. These developments have arisen largely as a result of the PSA Plus Review into the delivery of the decent home target, the Sustainable Communities Action Programme, the National Audit Office report Improving Social Housing Through Transfer and the Public Accounts Committee report of the same name. The supplement also contains new or expanded guidance on considering at an early stage the implications of transfer for local authority staff, considering older residents on a proposed transfer and determining the amount of LSVT levy payable.
Section and paragraph numbers in the supplementary guidance indicate where the additional or amended guidance fits into the Housing Transfer Manual: 2003 Programme.
Please note that research, guidance and policy documents relating to housing transfer on the ODPM website can now be found at:-
http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_housing/documents/page/odpm_house_602595.hcsp
Please note also that the Housing Transfer Manual and this supplement should be read in conjunction with the ODPM June 2003 document "Decent Homes - Option Appraisal: Guidance for local authorities." All applications for the 2004 housing transfer programme will need to have been validated through an option appraisal that has been agreed with the appropriate Government Office for the Region.
You should already have been working with the Government Office for the Region and the Community Housing Task Force. Any of my team, the contact details of whom are listed at the back of the supplement, will be glad to help you with any aspect of the Housing Transfer Manual or the supplement.
Yours faithfully,
Simon Llewellyn
Accompanying letter.doc