THE Government has given a council the green light for a multi-million pound boost to its tenants on the same day a union raised doubts about the scheme.

Housing Minister Sally Keeble named Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council among 27 authorities to move forward with a Large Scale Voluntary Transfer proposal - subject to tenants' approval in a secret ballot this summer.

The transfer will involve the setting up of a not-for-profit organisation that can access millions of pounds for essential repair work to the 12,000 council homes in the area.

But Mike Hill, regional officer for Unison, said evidence from the Midlands suggests rises of up to 56 per cent have occurred after a five-year period of guaranteed rent levels.

"Given these issues it is extremely important that tenants are fully consulted on any proposals and balloted over the future of housing stock management in Redcar and Cleveland," he said.

"Such things as immediate cash injections and rent freezes might seem attractive in the short term, but what lies ahead might not be so appealing. In most situations the council could do very little to help."

Mr Hill's comments were dismissed as 'a scare story' by Eric Barton from the council's housing transfer team.

He said the council was working within current Government guidelines, which suggested there would be a 2.5 per cent rise above the rate of inflation in rents over the next five years. After that, the figures suggest a rise of just a half of one per cent.

Anyone with any queries can ring a freephone number on (0800) 1697503.