MOST Worcester council house tenants do not want their houses to be transferred to a new landlord and many do not understand the transfer process, a survey has revealed.

The survey, carried out by independent tenant advisers, found that 61 per cent of tenants would rather stay with the council service.

Of the 550 tenants asked whom they would like as a future landlord, a further 26 per cent gave no answer.

They were asked whether they would prefer a "stand alone" registered social landlord or a registered social landlord as part of a group structure of RSLs.

Only 41 people went for the first option - but this is the option that Worcester City Council will choose if tenants vote in favour of transfer.

Thirty-four people chose the second option.

A "stand alone" RSL would be set up by the council, with a management board consisting of councillors, tenants and independent experts. It would be based in Worcester.

An RSL, forming part of a group of landlords, would be run by a board including representatives from the existing group, with fewer decisions being made locally.

The council's head of housing, Sue Jackson, admitted tenants did not have a lot of information about what the council or an RSL had to offer, but said the Government had ordered the survey.

At last night's housing board meeting, she said the poll showed that people had confidence in the council's service, and said a "stand alone" RSL would guarantee service retention.

Coun Stephen Inman said it would have been better to have carried out the survey after the transfer ballot.

"It's not very meaningful," he said. "You can't possibly decide. When there's a question with a choice of A or B, 60 per cent of people have gone for C."

Coun Francis Lankester said it was pleasing that tenants were satisfied with the council's service, but warned this would soon change if the transfer did not take place.

"There will be savage cuts if we don't transfer," he said. "Their confidence won't continue when they realise that we can't keep these standards up."

The council decided to opt for housing stock transfer last December after calculating that it would fall £28.4m short of the £52.4m needed to bring its 5,200 houses up to Government standards over the next 10 years.

Tenants will decide whether to transfer in a ballot later this year.