THE Conservative leader of Waverley council is urging his Liberal Democrat opponents to reconsider their anti-council house sell-off stance, two years after the Tory-driven bid to raise funds was rejected by tenants.

David Harmer has written to the leader of Waverley's Lib Dems, Chris Slyfield, asking him if his group would support the highly controversial Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) of council houses to a housing association.

Mr Harmer's plea comes in response to legislation which will see central government claw back up to 75 per cent of money raised from debt-free local councils such as Waverley when tenants exercise their right to buy council homes.

This could mean less money for council house repairs: money that a housing association could raise more easily than a local authority.

The Lib Dems were vehemently opposed to LSVT when the ruling Conservative group campaigned for it in 2000, and it is unlikely that Waverley officers would back another LSVT bid without Lib Dem support.

The failed campaign, say Lib Dems, cost £500,000.

But Mr Harmer will have to wait until Waverley's Liberal Democrats have formally discussed the matter before he receives an answer, though comments from Chris Slyfield to The Herald this week do not bode well.

"I don't make decisions in isolation. Until the group has adopted a line then I have no comment," he said.

He then added: "The Conservatives wasted £500,000 trying to persuade tenants that LSVT was a good move. The tenants decided they didn't want it. That money could have been spent on repairs. The council stopped all repairs except those for health and safety reasons in September and the tenants are up in arms."

Mr Slyfield continued: "They (the Conservatives) were depending on receiving £50 million from LSVT to finance their budgets and they didn't tell the electorate that what they promised in their manifesto was dependent on LSVT receipts."

At a full Waverley council meeting on Tuesday, members voted 47 to two to raise the changes that have forced Mr Harmer to reconsider LSVT at a forthcoming meeting of the Local Government Association (LGA).

They agreed the following motion: "The LGA deplores the proposal in the Local Government White Paper to requisition part of housing capital receipts from debt-free authorities."

In a statement, Mr Harmer said the legislation would see up to 75 per cent of money raised by debt-free local authorities from housing capital receipts, which they previously kept, go to central government, which will redistribute the funds in favour of poorer areas.

"This is quite outrageous," said Mr Harmer. "We are debt-free because our council tax payers have paid back all the debut incurred over the years. Waverley's assets belong to Waverley's council tax payers. To requisition them is straightforward theft.This government policy has moved the whole playing field and demands a complete re-consideration (of LSVT)."