Now social housing tenants offered ‘springboard’ transfers across London

Two social housing groups that manage 3,500 homes between them in London’s overcrowded East End have helped launch a new ‘transfer’ pilot scheme where families can move to other areas for jobs.

East Thames and Southern Housing are part of the ‘G15 group’ of London’s 15 largest social landlords who have set up the scheme for tenants to transfer, initially for those who need to move for work.

The scheme involving 500,000 London homes aims to get over obstacles tenants face when needing to move.

“This G15 group has really thought on its feet,” said National Housing Federation chief executive David Orr. “The pilot giving Londoners greater mobility will show that housing can be a ‘springboard’ as well as a safety net.”

The pilot is intended as a forerunner to Mayor Boris Johnson’s plans for a London-wide ‘housing mobility’ project, reminiscent of the scheme operated by the GLC before it was abolished in 1986.

The pilot currently has 60 tenants registered to move, including Toby Lynch from Newham who was the first to apply and be accepted.

“It will make a huge difference to my life, without the lengthy commuting to west London,” he said. “I’ll be saving �70 a week and getting an extra four hours a day.”

Tenants can go directly to register to move on www.g15londonmoves.org.uk.