TENANTS in Derwentside have overwhelmingly voted in favour of transferring the running of council homes to a new arm's-length body.

In a secret postal and telephone ballot, more than 4,000 tenants - or 75.7 per cent - voted in favour of transferring from the council to Derwentside Homes, with just under 1,300, 24.3 per cent, voting against.

Two-thirds of the council's 7,600 tenants voted in the ballot.

The council believes the vote will lead to £117m in repairs and improvements over the next 13 years, double what the council said it would have been able to spend.

The vote means the council's homes and 275 staff - a third of the authority's entire workforce - will transfer to the new body by October next year provided the vote is ratified, as expected, by the council later this month.

Councillor Alex Watson, leader of Derwentside District Council, said: "We are delighted with the result. The council has worked hard to give tenants decent homes, but with the vote to transfer, the money will be available for the repairs and modernisation the homes need to bring them up to the standards tenants deserve and keep them that way in the future. The council will now continue to work hard to ensure a smooth transfer to Derwentside Homes."

Chairman of the shadow board of Derwentside Homes, Councillor Carl Christer, said: "We are delighted that tenants have voted to transfer.

"But now the hard work really begins. The next few months will be spent preparing to ensure everything is in place when the transfer takes place later next year.

"Tenants should be congratulated for taking such a momentous decision.

"Now it is up to the board of Derwentside Homes to deliver the bright future tenants have voted for."

One third of the 15 seats on Derwentside Homes' board of management will be reserved for tenants' representatives.

The council has conducted a wide-ranging consultation campaign. Since September, council staff visited almost 1,900 homes during the build-up to the vote, while 700 tenants visited two show homes set up by the council.

The ballot was conducted by the Electoral Reform Services with the results announced at 6.30pm last night in Consett Civic Centre