News

SHEPWAY REMAINS LANDLORD

Council homes across the district will continue to be owned and managed by Shepway council.

The decision, approved by full council on Wednesday (20 April) was made after a Stock Options Appraisal was carried out looking at ways housing could be managed in the future.

The government asked all councils that manage their own housing stock to carry out the appraisal to ensure that their homes meet the ‘decent homes’ standard.

Other options included transferring all homes to a housing association, maintaining council ownership but managing the stock separately or contracting out to a private company.

Keith Cane, Shepway Council’s Director of Housing said the decision to retain and manage the council’s stock of about 3,500 homes had the backing of tenants and leaseholders.

“We gave our tenants the chance to have their say on the future ownership and management of their homes. We are very pleased that the majority want to stay with us. We hope this reflects their satisfaction with the standards and service they get from the council. In making the decision, the council also had to look at whether current standards of maintenance and improvement on the housing stock could continue in the long term.�