Kingston Conservatives Support Tenant-led Stock Transfer

27th May 2010

Kingston Conservatives have demanded that the Executive Member for Housing implement their strategy for tackling the problems affecting Council Housing in Kingston. They further questioned the value of spending over £100,000 on consultant’s fees to test the opinion of residents when a previous, council-led survey had already returned a resounding conclusion.

Last year, the Lib Dems commissioned a consultation on the future of the council’s property stock, in which a variety of outcomes were considered, including a transfer of RBK’s properties to a benevolent housing association with the funds to carry out the immediate major improvements that many of our estates so badly need. Yet, with the returned results, the Lib Dem Administration bottled any further discussion on the options that were then available.

Additionally, the Council ran its own survey of council tenants in which a majority revealed that they would support a transfer to a new landlord if all their tenancy rights were protected and it led to improvements to their homes, this is a position largely supported by the Kingston Federation of Residents Associations.

Kingston Conservatives are determined to work closely with The Kingston Federation of Residents Associations, to ensure inclusive resident representation and support, and to guarantee a fully open consultation on the issues that concern residents most, such as tenancy rights and legal security post-transfer. The Federation of Resident’s Associations under a Conservative administration would have been given resources and expected to play a lead role in ensuring a satisfactory future for all Council tenants and leaseholders.

Councillor Dennis Doe, Shadow Portfolio holder for Housing, said ‘The Administration should be ashamed of the conditions many of its residents live in, and with the ever-increasing number of requests for repairs or urgent renovations, coupled with tightly constrained budgets, an alternative solution must be found. Our Group proposed a coherent strategy for Council Housing in the elections. We offer it to the Executive Member for Housing for implementation immediately.’