Kent councils take back control of 17,000 homes

Four local authorities in East Kent have taken back control of around 17,000 homes from an arms-length management company (ALMO), which has now closed. 

Canterbury City Council, Dover District Council, Folkestone & Hythe District Council and Thanet District Council took back control on 1 October of the homes previously managed by East Kent Housing (EKH), along with most of its staff.

Each of the councils has created its own housing service for the tenants and leaseholders of council homes within its own district.

The local authorities dismissed the board at EKH in December 2019 and took direct control of the organisation after an independent report highlighted several issues around health and safety.

The detailed report by independent housing experts Pennington Choices was commissioned after problems were discovered with gas safety checks, water hygiene checks, electrical checks and fire safety checks at a relatively small number of council homes managed by EKH on their behalf.

The report said a number of factors lead to the failures, including a lack of leadership and the perception of staff at EKH that saving money was a key priority.

In a joint statement, the chief executives of the four councils said the idea of taking council housing back in house was overwhelmingly backed by those tenants and leaseholders who took part in a comprehensive consultation last year.

‘All four councils are determined to put the needs of tenants and leaseholders at the heart of the four housing services that have been established as evidenced by the creation of an extra 70 frontline posts,’ said the chief executives.

‘We realise this is not a magic wand and it will not solve every problem overnight. This incredibly complex project is just the start of the journey and there is a lot of hard work ahead of us.

‘We would like to thank EKH and council staff for putting in an enormous amount of work behind the scenes to make this process run as smoothly as possible.

‘The loyalty, professionalism and dedication of staff at all levels means EKH has been able to prepare its services and team for transfer to the councils while delivering an improving service to tenants day after day,’ added the chief executives.

Photo Credit – PhotoMIX-Company (Pixabay)