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Renewed anger over Church Commissioners’ housing sale

Finance | Gareth Jones | 21 Apr 2011

The Church Commissioners for England have come under fire from their own clergy over the decision to sell 1,630 affordable homes in south London.

The clergy of St John’s Waterloo and St Peter’s Walworth protested by holding a service of repentance outside Church House in Westminster, the offices of the Church Commissioners, earlier this week.

They were joined by Vauxhall MP Kate Hoey and residents from the estates in Walworth, Vauxhall and Waterloo.

The Octavia Hill Estates were originally sold by the church in 2005 and 2006 for £266m to a joint venture between the private company Grainger PLC and the registered social landlord Genesis Housing Group.

Now however, those homes have passed entirely into the hands of Grainger, sparking anger over probable rent rises.

Speaking at the protest, Hoey said: "At the time we warned the Church Commissioners that it would only be a matter of time before the ownership was entirely in the hands of private ownership and we have been proved right.

“At the very least the chairman of the Church Commissioners, Andreas Whittam Smith, should apologise to the community for the dreadful error they made five years ago."

“Obliged to seek best price”

At the time of the original sale, the Commissioners argued that it was their role to seek the best price for the assets rather than take into account pastoral or social considerations.

However, Canon Giles Goddard of St Johns’ Waterloo said the protestors, who want the Commissioners to hold a policy review to ensure such a situation does not occur again, believe this should not be the case.

“They didn’t take into account the wider needs of the church. It is our understanding that legally it can transfer assets to an organisation with similar aims if it wishes to.

“For example the Prince of Wales transferred homes to the London and Quadrant Housing Association, and I haven’t had it confirmed, but Kate Hoey told me that Crown Estates transferred properties to a housing association. So there are precedents.”

He added that the Commissioners have now agreed to meet with the protesters and that this meeting would take place after Easter.

New sale unexpected

A statement by the Commissioners said they had not anticipated the resale, but emphasised that it was a financial transaction between two independent parties.

They added: “the Commissioners have been in contact with Grainger, who have assured us that tenants ‘will continue to receive the same high level of commitment and attention that they have always had’. We understand that they are meeting with residents’ groups to explain the move.
 
“The Commissioners sold the properties in 2005 as part of reducing their overall investment in residential property to reinvest in a range of asset classes to reduce the financial risk in the portfolio.”

However, the chorus of condemnation was joined by Simon Barrow, co-director of the Christian think-tank Ekklesia. "Churches in Britain hold assets valued at around £12bn, and are therefore significant economic stakeholders. Accounting for these resources is not just a matter of getting the sums to add up.

"In the case of Octavia Hill Estates and other instances, there has been a serious lack of economic, theological and moral imagination on the part of those in custody of the assets of a major ecclesiastical body.”

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