Published: Wednesday 18 November 2020
Kensington and Chelsea Council Deputy Leader Cllr Kim Taylor-Smith has welcomed the Government's publication of its Social Housing White Paper, which aims to provide tenants with a stronger voice, better regulation and improve the quality of social housing. Shaped by the views of residents across England, it also includes a new Charter setting out what every social housing resident should expect from their landlord.
Cllr Taylor-Smith said:
“We welcome these reforms which give social tenants a stronger voice. We've made a lot of progress in this area since regaining control of our housing management in 2018, including consulting with residents on a new Council Plan and Housing Strategy, launching a residents' charter and annual summit, and holding regular scrutiny and Tenants Consultative Committee meetings.
"We now involve residents directly in decisions about improvements to their homes, procurement of contractors and recruitment to senior roles.
“I am especially grateful to the Grenfell community for their strength, resilience and dignity in fighting so resolutely for these changes.
“Every resident has a right to live in a good quality home, and it is absolutely right that all social landlords are properly accountable to their residents and to the regulators. Indeed, we supported more powers for the regulator in our response to the Green Paper.
"We will continue to listen to and work with our residents to deliver safe, quality homes and a service that properly reflects their priorities.”
The White Paper can be read in full at gov.uk, which also includes a summary of the key changes.