Stock transfer is a process whereby the ownership of

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

is transferred to a

housing association In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, Non-profit organization, non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost "Public housing in the United Kingdom, social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budge ...

. The term was first used in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Here 1.3 million dwellings were transferred between 1998 and 2008.

Evolution of stock transfer from 1988 in the United Kingdom

Stock transfer has become an increasingly centralised process. The term

social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

was not originally widely used as Council housing outnumbered Housing association housing by about 6:1.

1988–92

There was no special legislation.

Chiltern District Council Chiltern can refer to the following places: In England: * Chiltern Hills, an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, known locally as "the Chilterns" ** Chiltern District, a local government district in Buckinghamshire named after the hills ** Chiltern ...

was the first Council to take up stock transfer. 4,650 homes were transferred.

1993–99

An annual programme was introduced.

From 2000 and the Decent Homes programme

Stock transfer was part of a centrally driven programme. In 2000 when the Decent Homes Programme was brought in by the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

government the policy also made it possible for local councils to privatise their housing stock via stock transfer to registered social landlords,

s or private companies.

In New Zealand

In 2013 in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

the National government announced the Social Housing Reform Program. One element of the reforms are the transference of state housing stock to the third sector. Criticisms include Salvation Army's Alan Johnson calling the stock transfers "privatisation by stealth". On 31 March 2016 the

Tamaki Redevelopment Company Tamaki may refer to: New Zealand *Tāmaki, a suburb of Auckland to the west of the Tamaki River *Tāmaki (New Zealand electorate), in Auckland *East Tāmaki, a suburb of Auckland to the east of the Tamaki River *Tamaki River, in Auckland *Tamaki St ...

became the first recipient of a stock transfer. They received 2,800 state houses in Glen Innes, East

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. Housing commentator Alan Johnson called the transfers "privatisation by stealth".Alan Johnson, The New Politics of Social Housing. March 2014. http://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/sites/default/files/uploads/20140723SPPUAlanJohnsonspeechMar14.pdf

References