WORCESTER City Council chief executive David Wareing describes the transfer of his authority's housing stock to a private company as a "win-win" situation.

The not-for-profit Worcester Community Housing is, from today, responsible for the city's 4,659 homes that were offered for social housing.

The transfer should, we are told, see a significant cash injection, to be spent on modernisation and repair works over the next few years.

The decision to transfer the homes was endorsed by 75 per cent of the city's council house residents in a ballot last July.

Tenants were persuaded by Worcester Community Housing's promises to keep rents at affordable levels, improve housing services, protect tenants' rights and offer them a greater say in matters which affect them.

At the time, we applauded this as a vote for common sense.

There was no realistic alternative to the transfer. The city council, strait-jacketed by Government spending rules, has been unable to meet the cost of renovating its housing stock.

Tenants' homes would have continued to crumble and fall into disarray. There's no point in having affordable homes if they are not fit for people to live in.

Given Worcestershire's rocketing property prices, and the fact that even the smallest starter homes are out of reach for many, the need for decent, well-maintained and attractive affordable housing has never been greater.