A site for residents of Prince's Ward, SE11, in the London Borough of Lambeth. Check for updates from your Labour Action Team's campaigning, local information, and meetings.

Sunday 13 November 2011

Ethelred tenants vote yes to Watmos



Tenants living on the Ethelred Estate have voted yes to transfer their homes to Watmos, a tenant-owned social landlord.


51% of tenants voted yes to transfer on an impressive 68.5% turnout.


Councillor Mark Harrison lives on the Ethelred Estate and campaigned for a yes vote. He said: 'this is great news for the Estate which secures its future for decades to come'.


'This will unlock millions of pounds of investment into the estate, preserve tenants' rights, keep rents affordable, and enhance tenant management'.


Mark spoke about the stock transfer at Lambeth Council's meeting on Wednesday, where he praised Watmos' 'unique model of housing ownership which fits in neatly with Lambeth's Cooperative Council agenda.'

5 comments:

A Resident said...

This is not a yes vote and it is outrageous that it is being presented as such.
51.4 % of RESIDENTS VOTED NO.
A lesser vote of 49.25% voted yes.

A Resident said...

This was not and is not a yes vote. 51.4% of residents voted NO.
49.25% voted yes and it is outrageous to suggest that this is a yes vote and the transfer will be going forward. Lambeth Council cannot abdicate its responsiblity as social landlord just because the Government are going to make things unpleasant for future social housing residents

Mark Harrison said...

The vote to decide whether the stock transfer goes ahead is a vote of secure tenants. Lambeth chooses to ballot leaseholders as well but this vote is advisory only. Tenants have voted in favour of transfer on a very high turnout, so the transfer will be proceeding. The article talks about tenants, not residents. Lambeth is not abdicating responsibility - it is supporting a resident-led transfer to a resident-led housing association which will be able to invest far more money into the estate than the Council could ever hope to. All tenants' and leaseholders' existing rights will be preserved.

A Resident said...

The proposal to transfer is NOT resident led as you have claimed. Ignoring the majority vote of residents is arrogantly dismissive at best. It excludes the majority and rides blatantly over their rights.
Residents of council housing can vote out councillors but not WATMOS board members or board members of any private organisation in fact.
Transfer is a one way journey to a council without a housing department. Convenient for whom?

Mark Harrison said...

Wrong on both counts.

The stock transfer was resident-led - it was conceived and led by the three TMOs - which are run by boards of elected residents. The Council rightly facilitated this process, and the decision was taken by tenants in the ballot.

Watmos' board is made up of residents - one from each TMO. Each democratically-elected TMO Board will elect its representative to sit on the Watmos Board. Watmos is a resident-led, non-profit-making housing association with an outstanding record of resident satisfaction. It is not a private company.

Promoted by David Amos and Joanne Simpson of Prince's Branch Labour Party (Vauxhall Constituency and Lambeth Borough) all at 264A Rosendale Road, SE24 9DL