COUNCIL tenants in Ilkley are about to decide whether they want to take part in a major revolution in social housing.

Bradford Council is proposing to transfer all its stock of 26,000 homes to a not-for-profit organisation - if tenants agree.

It will be a the most radical step in public housing since local authorities took over the role as a major provider and letter of homes in the years between the First and Second World Wars.

Each tenant of the 305 council homes in Ilkley will have to decide in March this year whether they are in favour of the move or not.

To help them make up their minds, tenants are being provided with free information packs by the council which outline the proposals. And during this month tenants will receive visit from a member of the council to explain the plans.

It tenants vote yes, the ownership of the housing stock will be transferred to the Bradford Community Housing Trust (BCHT) Group.

According to its supporters, the transfer would have the immediate effect cancelling the debt of the housing service and allowing £175 million to be spent on improvements to tenants' homes in the first five years to bring them up to modern standards.

There are also clauses built into the transfer agreement to prevent rents rising to unacceptable levels.

But according to Ilkley housing campaigner Janet Gent, more needs to be done to get the message across.

Mrs Gent, who is the chairman of the Ilkley Residents' Group, said: "I am a bit disappointed with how it has been promoted.

"A lot of elderly people don't understand it. That is the impression I am getting. We had a meeting about it at Ilkley Grammar School lower school site but only 10 people turned up.

"It should be put in simple terms so that the elderly can understand it better and know what they are going to be letting themselves in for.

"Personally I think it might not be a bad idea. It gets us out of debt and the money goes to housing, but no-one likes change and it goes over people's heads a bit."

Ilkley Conservative District Councillor Martin Smith, who was the opposition spokesman on housing when Labour ruled City Hall, will sit on the overall controlling board of the new group and is a supporter of the transfer.

Coun Smith said: "It is the best option we have of increasing the quality of the housing. The Government is going to give us some money and write off the debt so houses can be improved. We have suggested the best way forward - it is transfer to Bradford BCHT."

He said on the controlling board there would be representatives from tenants' associations, financial experts, people with knowledge of construction and housing management as well as five councillors.

Housing management will be under area boards upon which tenants will sit. The one for Ilkley will be Aire-Wharfe.

Coun Smith said: "The real problem is trying to get through to people that they will have a say in how they run and manage their own houses. We have not been the best landlord for many years.

"This is the way forward. We should not have people living at the standard of housing we have got at the moment - it is not acceptable.

"This is the most beneficial way to move forward and give them the quality of housing they deserve, and what they have been paying for. They have not got value for money in the past."

l Is this farewell to council houses? -