TENANTS in Redcar and Cleveland delivered a resounding yes vote yesterday to transferring ownership of its council homes to a new not-for-profit organisation.
More than 70pc of the 14,000 tenants voted in a secret postal ballot, with 89pc opting for transfer to the new company, Coast and Country Housing.
The decision comes at the end of the most intensive consultation ever mounted in the borough.
The result, announced by council leader Coun David Walsh, means £155m will be spent on modernising homes in the first five years of a 30-year plan.
Coun Walsh, while welcoming the good news for tenants, was sad the result signalled an end to local authority involvement in ownership and management of homes.
"The powers going to the new company could have been given to a local authority," he said.
It is hoped work on the repairs and maintenance programme will start next year.
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