Ipswich council tenants want their homes retained by the Borough Council - that is the outcome of a huge consultation exercise in the town.
The Stock Options Appraisal exercise is now coming to a close and the Council' Executive will decide on 26th April 2005 whether to keep its 8,500 homes or transfer them to a housing association or create an arms length management company to look after them.
The Option Appraisal Steering Group has now considered lots of detailed technical and financial information and tenants' views and will recommend that Councillors opt for no change in the ownership and management arrangements. This follows a number of road-shows and meetings and a survey of tenants and lease-holders which brought a 94% preference for stock retention. A quarter of tenants and lease-holders responded.