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KCTMO left thousands of repairs undone, council papers reveal

The company which managed Grenfell Tower built up a backlog of 3,500 day-to-day repairs, council papers reveal.

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KCTMO built up backlog of 3,500 repairs #ukhousing

Grenfell landlord left thousands of day-to-day repair jobs undone #ukhousing

KCTMO has not fixed 3,500 day-to-day repairs #ukhousing

Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) – which manages Kensington and Chelsea Council’s housing stock, including the Lancaster West Estate where Grenfell Tower is located – is due to hand back its responsibilities by the end of January.

An officer’s report set to go before the council’s Housing and Property Scrutiny Committee on Monday shows KCTMO has built up a huge number of uncompleted repairs.

The papers also reveal Kensington and Chelsea Council is beginning a programme of fire risk assessments of other towers, seven months on from the devastating blaze, which killed 71. It is aware of less serious fire safety issues in other blocks.


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“KCTMO are aware of the problems within the existing repairs service,” says the document, by Doug Goldring, director of housing management at Kensington and Chelsea Council.

“There is a backlog of existing day-to-day repairs in the region of 3,500 orders and some administrative issues that need to be addressed.”

The report adds that KCTMO will be presenting the council with an improvement plan before the end of January, which will address “a number of key areas of concern”, including performance levels, customer focus, value for money and safe working practices.

KCTMO uses a subsidiary, Repairs Direct, to carry out its repairs.

Residents have held long-standing concerns over the organisation’s handling of repairs, dating back to at least 2008.

Mr Goldring’s report shows 784 complaints have been made about Repairs Direct since 2014/15, including 200 from April to June 2017.

It adds the level of complaints “is a significant concern” and that there has been “a large increase in the area of responsive repairs”.

A 35-week programme of fire risk assessments for all of Kensington and Chelsea Council’s blocks of flats are due to start this month – seven months on from the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June last year.

A spokesperson for the council said KCTMO has already carried out fire risk assessments of its blocks and that these are additional checks.

Kensington and Chelsea Council is aware of fire safety work still required in its stock which is currently being carried out, Mr Goldring’s report states, including improving flat entrance doors and building integrity checks.

Despite no longer functioning as a landlord after this month, KCTMO will continue to exist as an independent legal entity, so it can be held accountable by the Grenfell Inquiry and any criminal proceedings associated with the fire.

A spokesperson for KCTMO said: “KCTMO is fully aware of the backlog and is setting up a dedicated team to clear the outstanding repairs. We also acknowledge that the level of repairs-related complaints is too high.

“We’re implementing a full transformation of the service to deliver the necessary improvements. In addition, a number of new and revised initiatives are already in place; these include monthly complaints reviews and lessons-learnt exercises, as well as the collection and review of customer feedback following repairs.”

Update: at 5.52pm, 12/01/18: A comment from Kensington & Chelsea Council about its fire risk assessments programme was added to the story.

Update: at 09:15am, 15/01/18: A response from KCTMO was added to the story.

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