East Kent Housing to close in September

A troubled arms-length housing company in Kent is to be broken up, with staff and properties returned to the four councils that own it.

Canterbury City Council, Dover District Council, Folkestone & Hythe District Council and Thanet District Council have announced that East Kent Housing (EKH), which manages 17,000 properties is to close on 30 September.

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.

A joint statement by the chief executives of all four councils said they wanted to ensure the transfer of staff and services from EKH back to the councils happens as quickly as humanly possible ‘in the interest of tenants and to end the uncertainty for EKH staff who are doing an incredible job in very trying circumstances’.

It added that council officers and senior managers at EKH have been working hard in the background to put all of the arrangements in place.

‘A determination to retain EKH staff, minimise redundancies and work closely with all staff has always been at the heart of the process,’ the statement added.

‘There will be more jobs available across the four councils than people currently employed by EKH.

‘We also hope many of the agency staff who have been vital in supporting the organisation during this period of fundamental change will want to go and work for one of the four councils when the services transfer and we will be working with them to make that happen.’

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