THE Government has promised more than £200m to underwrite the cost of offloading 18,000 council houses to a new landlord – paving the way for the “historic” transfer to happen within weeks.

The £214m pledge from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) clears the way for Durham County Council to hand ownership and management of 18,400 council houses across Durham City, east Durham and Wear Valley to a new landlord, the County Durham Housing Group (CDHG), on Monday, April 13.

For thousands of council tenants, who backed the shift in a ballot last year, the deal promises £800m of investment over the next 30 years.

Seven hundred new homes have been promised within a decade and some potential sites have been identified, although not yet disclosed publicly.

Deputy council leader Alan Napier recently described the transfer as a “historic moment”.

Eddie Tomlinson, the council’s cabinet member for housing, said: “We are pleased to have received this confirmation from DCLG of their commitment to the transfer of our housing stock.

“We continue to work closely with DCLG and are making good progress with the project.”

The transfer was delayed from Monday, March 23, raising fears it would be further postponed by the looming General Election.

The Government had set the end of this financial year, Tuesday, April 5, as the deadline for transfers to happen, if it was to write off councils’ housing debts.

Durham’s debt currently stands at nearly £250m. Of that, more than £100m will be covered by the sale of the houses to the CDHG and the remainder will still be cancelled by the DCLG.

Housing minister Brandon Lewis said it was “great news for residents” that DCLG was still working with Durham on the transfer.

Nearly 200 staff will be moved across to CDHG under “TUPE” regulations.

The homes are currently managed by Durham City Homes, East Durham Homes and Dale and Valley Homes, which will continue under the CDHG umbrella.

Council houses in other areas of the county have already been transferred to landlords Cestria Community Housing, Derwentside Homes, Livin and Teesdale Housing Association.

More information is available online at yourhomeyourchoice.info

Just over half of tenants voted in last year’s ballot, with 82 per cent of those supporting the transfer.

The CDHG has already appointed Bill Fullen, formerly chief executive of The Gateshead Housing Company, as its chief executive and Alan Smith, executive director of finance and governance at Livin, as its director of finance and resources.