Tenants Get Second Best From Cheltenham’s Housing Restructure.
Lost Income And Waiting List Longer
Cheltenham’s tenants and taxpayers are suffering from the Liberal Democrats’ mishandled decision to dissolve Cheltenham Borough Homes (CBH) and bring 5,000 council properties in-house. The first performance report post-restructure is damning: voids—empty council homes—have spiked, at a cost of over £250 000 to council finances and leaving the nearly 3,000 households on the waiting list stranded. This isn’t just poor management; it’s a failure of political priorities.
At a June housing committee meeting, Liberal Democrat councillors gave the now in-house CBH a free pass, accepting flimsy excuses for the rise in voids.
For anyone who understands the housing sector, voids are the clearest indicator of a housing association’s management and directorial competence. Each empty property costs £80-120 weekly in lost rent, starving the HRA of funds for repairs, maintenance, and new homes. More critically, every void delays a family stuck in overcrowded conditions or temporary housing.
The Liberal Democrats, holding 36 of 40 council seats, pushed this restructure despite staff warnings of disruption. They claimed it would boost efficiency and tenant services. Instead, performance plummeted immediately. Were councillors too uninformed to grasp what it takes to run a housing association, or too afraid to scrutinize their own decision? Either way, their failure to challenge CBH’s excuses at the meeting shows tenants aren’t the priority.
Was this restructure about tenant welfare, or a financial move to offset pressures like the £4.7million Minster Exchange bailout or the £2 million annual interest bill on debt for Golden Valley Cyberpark? The data suggests politics trumped people. Tenants, taxpayers, and waiting list families now face longer waits, reduced services, and financial shortfalls.
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