A ballot is to go ahead giving all west Oxfordshire's 3,700 council tenants the chance to break with tradition and switch to a new landlord, writes David Horne.

It will take place by postal vote, from September 4 to October 2, and be conducted by the Electoral Reform Society.

On offer is a simple choice stay with the district council, or move to a new landlord called West Oxfordshire Housing Ltd.

The latter is promising lower rents and better repairs and maintenance which the council, because of a strict financial regime, cannot match. In a preliminary sounding-out of tenants, carried out by the council, only one in three bothered to vote on the issue. Of those 69 per cent (648) were in favour of change, 21 per cent (133) against and ten per cent ( 65) were neutral.

On Friday, council leader Barry Norton said: "That was part of a consultation process and not the real vote, but it gives us an idea of which way tenants are thinking. The offer will now be put to them. The council has made it clear it believes the tenants should make the switch." The district council has been the tenants' landlord since local government reorganisation in 1973 and before that, the houses were under the authority of other local councils.

Labour group leader Ted Cooper, who wants tenants to stay with the council, said: "The reason for the low response is because the tenants feel they have no alternative. Only 648 out of 3,700 saying 'yes' is hardly convincing."