Anger over potential 'fire sale' of council houses

More than 1,200 council houses could be sold off in a "fire sale" and two council housing projects cancelled to raise money for housing services.

Bristol City Council has also proposed to delay millions of pounds' worth of building and maintenance work.

The opposition Labour group has slammed the proposals, accusing the Green-led administration of being "financially incompetent".

Councillor Barry Parsons, chair of the council's homes and housing delivery policy committee, said his top priority was "urgent investment" in existing council homes.

Mr Parsons added that there had been "years of neglect" under Labour.

The Green-led authority is proposing delaying £17million of tower block refurbishments, £3.9million of new sprinklers and some fire safety assessments by at least a year.

The council needs to tackle a major backlog of repairs after being ordered to do so last year by the government's Regulator of Social Housing which found "serious failings" in how it manages council homes, according to the Local Democracy Service.

The council is also considering withdrawing from a contract with its own housing company Goram Homes and developers Vistry for 135 council homes at New Fosseway and Dovercourt Road.

It would follow the announcement in September to abandon Goram's projects at Baltic Wharf in the Harbourside and part of the enormous new Hengrove Park neighbourhood.

The homes would still be built but it is hoped that a social housing provider would buy and manage them instead of the council.

A report to the sub-committee on 10 January said the council has 700 non-residential properties and 1,222 residential properties which are "increasingly expensive to maintain" and would generate significant funds if sold.

The proposals have angered opposition Labour councillors including councillor Paul Goggin who said he was "shocked" by the plans.

He said: "I hope this will be a wake-up call for anyone that sees them [the Greens] as a progressive party. Bristolians have been conned.

"I feel for the 22,000 households on the social housing waiting list and those in temporary accommodation who are going to have to wait longer for a secure roof over their head because of this."

Mr Parsons said the previous Labour administration had "allowed the council to fall behind on its duty, as a landlord, to ensure its council housing meets the standards residents should expect", saying an extra £14 million in investment for next year was being sought.

"I make no apology for prioritising this investment and asking councillors of all political parties to back that priority and consider carefully the options for finding that much needed finance," he said.

"This includes nearly £10 million of investment in improving the safety of people's homes, making people's homes warmer and more energy efficient by funding over £21 million of works across tower blocks and £2.4 million being ploughed into efforts prioritising repairs to damp and mould issues."

He also called on Labour to apologise for "failing" council tenants, adding: "We are asking councillors to consider selling council property that is too expensive to refurbish into warm, decent homes.

"What we should be doing is using the proceeds of such sales to either build new, warm and affordable housing, or investing it back into the properties we own to improve their standards."

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