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Kensington and Chelsea Council ‘looking at’ bringing stock management in-house

Kensington and Chelsea Council is “looking at” internal management of its housing stock for the first time since 1996, its chief executive has said.

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Kensington & Chelsea Council ‘looking at’ bringing management in-house

At a meeting of the council’s overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday night, Barry Quirk, its chief executive, said: “I am in the middle of hiring a housing manager with experience of bringing in-house ALMOs or TMOs [tenant management organisations] in two or three other large London authorities.

“The TMO members and board need to agree with the proposal to essentially wind up and transfer their responsibilities and services.”

The proposal follows a resolution by the council on 27 September “to adopt a different, resident-focused model of managing council housing in our borough”. The stock had been managed since 1996 by Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO)

The exact nature of this model will be subject to consultation and an eventual vote at KCTMO’s annual general meeting on 17 October.


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Judith Blakeman, a member of the council’s scrutiny committee, added: “[Residents] continue to be threatened with the prospect of a housing association taking over from the TMO, putting their rents up to 80% of market value and removing their right to buy.

“We need to make it absolutely crystal clear to every tenant on council property that this will lead to a resident-focused model of management, it will not lead to housing associations taking over our stock.”

Generally in stock transfer arrangements, existing tenants will retain a ‘preserved Right to Buy’ and rents would only be increased when new tenancies were agreed.

At the same meeting, Robyn Fairman, head of the council’s Grenfell response, admitted that the council’s attempts to speed up the process of rehousing survivors had “probably not” been successful.

 

A document circulated at the meeting revealed that it has still only rehoused eight families in permanent accommodation.

Daniel Moylan, a member of the council’s scrutiny committee, questioned: “Clearly heroic efforts have been made to increase the housing that is available, but the rate of take-up of what is available has been slow. I understand that there are emotional and psychological and personal reasons why it’s slow, but are there any other structural blockages?”

Mr Quirk said one problem was a lack of supply. He added: “We are aggressively in the market for buying properties of the right quality and of the right size.”

Ms Fairman pointed out that the real delay has been between survivors accepting homes and actually signing tenancy contracts. Fifty-one households have accepted offers of permanent housing but only 21 have signed and only eight have moved in. Many, she said, were concerned that their new contracts would be less favourable.

Update: at 9.52am, 12.10.17 This story was updated to clarify that the meeting was held on Tuesday night.

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