The scheme is hoped to help regeneration

A ceremony signalling the formal handover of Glasgow City Council's housing stock to the not-for-profit housing association has taken place in the city's Royston area.

Officials at the Glasgow Housing Association claim the move will offer a better repair service, guarantee rents for the next eight years, and give tenants more control of their homes via local housing groups.

As part of the handing over ceremony, Social Justice Minister Margaret Curran met tenants from Royston Corridor Homes.

This is community ownership on an unprecedented scale Margaret Curran, Social Justice Minister

Ms Curran said: "This transfer - likely the largest public sector modernisation project in Europe - will unlock massive investment for Glasgow's most deprived communities.

"This is social justice in action.

"Tenants now have stronger rights and responsibilities and through the network of local housing organisations they will be able to influence the management and development of their own homes.

"This is community ownership on an unprecedented scale."

Elaine Rush, a Royston tenant, said the transfer was warmly welcomed by the overwhelming majority of tenants.

Improvements hope

"The transfer will give tenants much more of a say in how our houses are run," she said.

"We will be able to decide our priorities for the investment programme, and this is bound to lead to improvements in our environment, as well as our homes."

Final approval for the transfer was given earlier this week by First Minister Jack McConnell, who hailed the move as a way of bringing much-needed investment into housing.

The organisation will be non-profit

City residents voted in favour of the plan last year following a heavy publicity campaign led by the city council, which highlighted a �1.8bn deal that was ready to go ahead if the deal was agreed.

The housing association had argued that the project will create thousands of jobs as well as improving living standards but opponents to the plan said it was equivalent to privatisation.

As part of the deal, Chancellor Gordon Brown had agreed to waive the city's �900m housing debt.

The housing association is being regulated by Communities Scotland, the executive agency responsible for implementing housing and regeneration policy.