THOUSANDS of council tenants are to see details of plans about the possible handover of their homes to a company.

Labour-run Derwentside District Council is the latest authority to consider transferring ownership or control of its housing stock.

The council is sending 7,600 tenants a consultation document on its plans to hand ownership and control to Derwentside Homes - a new not-for-profit, charitable organisation.

They are invited to comment on the document before the first stage of the consultation ends on Friday, October 21.

The council said it would consider all the comments before a secret postal ballot of tenants is held.

It said transfer was in tenants' best interest as Derwentside Homes could invest about £117m on repairs and improvements to tenants' homes in the first 13 years while the council would only be able to invest £51m.

But opponents of the Government's policy, including the pressure group Defend Council Housing, say it amounts to the "privatisation" of public housing.

They argue that councils should be given a level playing field to invest in improvements themselves and warn that rents can rise and tenants end up with less tenancy protection under a transfer.

They also say that stock transfer is more costly, that it removes democratic accountability, and that tenants are outnumbered on the boards of the new style landlords.