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Tenants seek legal advice on winding up of KCTMO
Tenants of Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) have sought legal advice over the winding up of the organisation.
Tenants are seeking “urgent confirmation” that a vote for Kensington and Chelsea Council to become the sole member of KCTMO will be postponed.
Following Theresa May’s recent intervention telling residents that KCTMO would no longer manage their homes, the management wrote to tenants and advised them to vote for the TMO to continue for a “limited period” at the annual general meeting tomorrow to allow for “meaningful consultation and an orderly handover of services”.
The TMO also proposed the council becomes the sole member of the TMO so that it remains a legal entity while the Grenfell Tower Inquiry is ongoing.
The TMO said it was proposing this option because “the council has been very clear it sees no future role for the TMO” and the TMO is reliant on the “goodwill” of the council to help meet the extra costs it will need to cover following the Grenfell Tower fire. Without this support the TMO could face insolvency and be wound up, the board said.
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KCTMO said if tenants do not vote for this option then this will mean it has to wind up immediately and a further meeting will be called 28 days later to confirm the decision.
Residents are concerned about the proposal to make the council the sole member, without any tenant members of the board.
In its letter to KCTMO, Bindmans solicitors said tenants have “very serious concerns” about the procedure of the annual general meeting and “what actions [the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea] might take if it was to become the sole member of the TMO”.
The letter questioned why a motion put forward by tenants to postpone the vote at the annual general meeting has been rejected by KCTMO.
Tenants are concerned the council may wind up KCTMO while the inquiry is ongoing and it “therefore may not be subject to prosecution for corporate manslaughter”. It also would not exist as an organisation that could be sued.
Residents are also concerned that even if KCTMO was not wound up, the council would have “sole control” over the way in which KCTMO works with the inquiry and police investigation.
The preferred option for the future management of the nearly 10,000 homes which KCTMO manages is expected to be announced “early in the new calendar year”.
KCTMO has been contacted for a response.
