Housing transfer campaigner hits out at 'bullying' tactics

CAMPAIGNERS fighting the transfer of thousands of council homes to a new landlord have called for an end to the "blackmail and bullying" of tenants.

Neath Port Talbot wants to transfer its 9,335 homes to a new not-for-profit organisation, NPT Homes.

The Defend Council Housing (DCH) group is bitterly opposed to the hand-over and is urging tenants to vote no when a ballot is held early next year.

It argues the money given to new landlords should be given to councils directly instead.

Last month, Neath Port Talbot Council councillor Peter Rees said that was not going to happen, and challenged protesters to spell out where they thought the money would come from.

Now Paul Lynch, who chaired Swansea DCH's successful campaign against transfer two years ago, has responded to that challenge.

"It is time to end the privatisation of council housing, and the blackmail and bullying of tenants," he said.

Mr Lynch pointed to a new House of Commons Council Housing Group report, which the DCH says backs its call for fair funding for council homes.

He said that, as a result, the Government had now produced concrete proposals for a sustainable, long-term system for financing council housing.

"The promise of capital grants in excess of £6 billion to meet the backlog of outstanding work offers real hope to those areas where tenants have refused to be blackmailed into transfer," he added.

He said councils had "crazy" amounts of money to promote privatisation, yet there was no budget to ensure tenants heard both sides of the argument.

"Neath Port Talbot Council has £5.2 million to promote stock transfer, yet the local DCH campaign against transfer has virtually no money at all," said Mr Lynch.

"How can anyone describe this process as a fair and balanced debate?"