Bury looks to finalise Six Town shutdown
Having signalled the closure of the social housing subsidiary a year ago, cabinet will be asked to sign off the transfer of its stock into the council’s portfolio.
Bury Council said in September 2025 that it would wind up Six Town’s operations, after a strategic review deemed commercial and regulatory risks of continuing to operate as too high.
Six Town had operated as am arms-length management organisation until 2024, at which point it became a wholly-owned council subsidiary, responsible for council properties hat have been reduced in number from around 150 a year ago to 115 now. .
Advisory firm Campbell Tickell has been working with Bury officers in an initial appraisal to identify future management options for the properties under STH management. These options were reported to cabinet in June 2026, and included these possible routes forward:
- Transferring the business and properties to another registered provider
- Disposing of the properties to an RP with the tenants remaining in their homes (a ‘tenanted disposal’)
- Transferring the stock into Bury’s own Housing Revenue Account (HRA) – a ringfenced account for managing, maintaining and funding council housing stock
- Transferring the stock into a general Bury account and making the homes temporary accommodation as they become void
- Securing vacant possession before selling the homes on the open market.
Following June’s meeting, soft market testing was carried out on the first two options, before Campbell Tickell recommended option 3 as the preferred course – ie, that the council will take on the stock into its HRA, with the exception of the supported accommodation at Sherborne House.
For Sherborne House, a registered provider will be sought to take on the lease. Should that not be achieved, the council’s housing service and adult social care service will work to rehouse tenants into alternative specialised supported housing and then look at alternatives for the property.
As outlined in the report, the STH portfolio now stands at just 115 properties. Sixty three of these are houses across Bury, Whitefield, Prestwich, Ramsbottom and Whitefield; 40 are in the Red Bank extra care scheme in Radcliffe; and 12 in Sherborne House.
Bury’s cabinet meets on Wednesday 4 November.
