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Council votes to terminate contract with KCTMO
Kensington and Chelsea Council voted to terminate the contract of its long-standing housing management organisation at a meeting last night.
At its second full council meeting since the Grenfell Tower tragedy in June, the council formally agreed to plans to remove Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) from the management of almost 10,000 council homes in the borough.
Kim Taylor-Smith, deputy leader of the council, said: “Residents of the council, the government and the TMO itself have come to the conclusion that after the tragedy of 15 June the TMO no longer has the trust of residents in the borough.
“In light of this we are working with the TMO to terminate the contract with the council.”
He said 14 residents’ associations had signed an open letter expressing a lack of confidence in the organisation, “drawing particular attention to issues of fire safety”.
A unanimous vote of 25 leaders of residents’ associations also supported removing the organisation from the management of the stock.
He said the contract would be terminated “in an orderly fashion to ensure TMO’s management of the borough’s estates can continue as we move towards a resolution”.
This will mean it continues to manage council homes and carry out fire risk assessments for the time being, he said, a statement which drew angry heckles from the public gallery.
“We are looking at the options for the future management of our housing and we will work closely with tenants, leaseholders, residents’ associations and other groups to develop and agree a way forward,” he said.
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KCTMO was set up following a ballot of residents in 1996, in part as a means to avoid the Conservative policy of compulsory competitive tendering, which sought to require councils to contract out management of their housing stock.
The organisation changed its legal status to become an ALMO in 2002, and received a positive three-star review from the Audit Commission in 2006.
However, it also faced difficulties; an independent adjudicator’s report in 2009 found serious flaws with its services, particularly in relation to repairs.
At the same meeting Elizabeth Campbell, leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, addressed the rehousing process for survivors of the fire, saying 67 households had so far been matched against a property which they had expressed a preference for.
She said 64 had been to view homes, with 52 households accepting an offer in principle and 12 going through the legal process of taking on a tenancy.
Six have moved into new permanent accommodation and 14 have decided to stay permanently in the homes they were initially provided.
The council has 200 households to be resettled, and has bought 120 properties so far. It plans to buy another 100 by Christmas.
Ms Campbell said leaseholders would soon be sent an updated offer giving them “a settlement that allows them to stay in the local area”.