By Aled Rowlands BBC Wales Political Unit

Peter Cahill said major investment was needed in Bridgend's housing

In 2003, Bridgend Council transferred the responsibility for the management and improvement of 6,500 homes owned by the council to the Valleys to Coast (V2C) housing association.

But the organisation had a mountain to climb.

A 1998 survey reported that a quarter of all homes owned by Bridgend Council were unfit to live in, 16% above the Welsh average.

Improvements to homes, services and communities can act as a launch-pad to reversing decline Peter Cahill

In his lecture, Peter Cahill said the council was faced with a huge repair bill.

Mr Cahill said: "The reality for Bridgend Council and the steering group of tenants and residents was an improvements and repair bill amounting to �290m.

"The consultants that took who undertook the stock condition survey reported that the homes in Bridgend were in a worse state of repair than any they had seen.

"V2C is not only aiming to improve homes, but also to use those improvements to bring benefits in terms of health, jobs, training opportunities and prosperity.

'Reversing decline'

"Decline and despair must be replaced by renewal and confidence in the future of these neighbourhoods and estates.

"V2C saw transfer as an opportunity to transform.

"Improvements to homes, services and communities can act as a launch-pad to reversing decline.

"The connection between V2C homes and health inequalities is striking and gives considerable weight to the argument that pour housing and poor health are intimately linked."

According to Mr Cahill, the scale of the investment and work involved in an area the size of Bridgend was staggering.

Mr Cahill said the scheme is being examined by other councils

During the first five years following transfer, V2C will spend approximately �70m on housing improvements which Mr Cahill described as dwarfing the European Objective One funding programme in the county and "the equivalent of three good years of inward investment from the motor industry".

Eighteen months into the scheme, it remains the only large scale voluntary transfer of council owned homes to a housing association.

But that could soon change.

The standard of council owned homes across Wales is becoming a social and political problem and Bridgend Council and V2C are being watched closely by a number of other local authorities in Wales.

Mr Cahill was careful not to claim that the transfer of housing stock has achieved all its aims or that it is the correct solution for other Welsh local authorities.

And even if V2C achieves all its targets, Mr Cahill said it was not the panacea to cure all the ills of society, but he was hopeful that it can be the "glue" that will help bring improvements in terms of health, jobs and prosperity.

He added: "The initial 18 month period has been focused on putting the building blocks in place that will deliver the agenda for change that the residents voted for.

"There is a long way to go before V2C can claim to achieve its ultimate objective in delivering customer service excellence and community regeneration.