Tenants' co-operative in homes takeover bid

Homes run by the former West Hampstead Housing Association (WHHA) are set to be handed over to a tenants' co-operative group.

Six houses in West Hampstead will be handed over to Co-operative Development Society (CDS) for £1.13million and will be refurbished or redeveloped for rent.

A further two houses and one flat will be leased to CDS on a temporary basis while two apartment blocks in Lithos Road will be sold to CDS as rental properties.

Peter Rutherford, of the WHHA Tenants Association, said: "These properties will benefit from good management that could turn out to be a model for managing council homes".

Camden Council will be able to nominate people to move into the flats as soon as they become vacant.

Charlie Hedges, Camden's executive member for housing, said: "This arrangement is what the tenants wanted and it works out well for us because we don't have the money to do these flats up ourselves".