By Danielle Aumord

Council tenants living in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) claim they have been left in the dark about proposed changes to their tenancy agreements.

Some residents say the “selective consultation” carried out by the council reminds them of similar behaviour before the Grenfell Tower fire and has left them suspicious of the intentions.

A protest against the proposals and the way the council has handled the consultation was staged outside Kensington Town Hall at the end of last month. A petition has also been launched.

Around 6,500 tenants are set to be affected by the tenancy agreement changes and many worry about misunderstanding the “legal jargon” within the new proposals, particularly where English is not their first language.

Residents that have spoken to HQN allege that the consultation around the proposals has been “virtually non-existent”.  “The council started their consultation during the coronavirus lockdown and many people weren’t aware of this,” said Virginia Sang, a Lancaster West estate resident for 40-years.

The London borough has funded solicitors to provide legal advice to tenants but residents claim this is “largely inaccessible”.

Earls Court ward councillor Linda Wade has also raised concerns about the difficulty for residents in South Kensington, accessing the legal advice services in North Kensington. An extension to the consultation process has been requested.

A spokesperson for the council told HQN that they have been carrying out consultations on council tenancies since 2020 and that the current proposals have been developed based on needs identified through resident casework.

“We have offered all residents the opportunity to comment by post, email, or using our online portal, and we have also held face-to-face and online sessions for residents to share their opinions,” the council said.

“We asked the Tenants’ Participation Advisory Service to work with a group of involved residents, and have committed to funding independent legal advice to review the proposals on behalf of our tenants.

“The final round of consultation closed on 27th February, and we will now consider all the feedback from our residents, as well as the independent legal advice before taking a decision on our next steps.”

Virginia Sang says the way the council is handling the consultation has made her wary of the motives.

“Prior to the Grenfell fire, our homes in the walkway were due for demolition,” she explained. “We were offered to move to Huddersfield or Birmingham where we have no friends or family. But once the fire happened, the council had to think of new ways [of getting rid of us].”

What are the proposals?

According to RBKC, there are four areas of the tenancy agreement where changes are proposed, some of which they say are as a direct result of resident feedback:

Anti-social behaviour – This change updates the definitions of anti-social behaviour in the tenancy conditions as a basis for taking formal action against a tenant whose behaviour is seriously affecting their neighbours. On a couple of occasions, the council says it has been able to prove a person is causing a problem but the tenancy agreement wasn’t specific enough to get a result in court. RBKC says it wants a more modern definition that can be used to manage future cases. It includes bullying of children and committing crime in the area.

Domestic abuse – Similar to the anti-social behaviour clause change, the council says this modernises the language used to describe the offence, ensuring that it is able to take action when needed.

Hard flooring – The change would mean that people need to ask the council before installing laminate, wood or tile flooring. RBKC says it wants to ensure that flooring is installed properly, and with good sound insulation below, because of the high volume of complaints where poor installation of the floor is to blame. The council says if hard flooring is already installed, it would only look at this condition if the flooring was shown to be a problem for neighbours. At that point, the council says it would work with the resident and offer support to improve the insulation or floor covering if needed.

Owning a home – The council says this change would mean that you cannot own another home in which you could reasonably live, while benefiting from a council tenancy. The new clause would also apply to inherited properties but there would be a 12-month period for people who inherit to decide what to do with their new property or show that it doesn’t meet the criteria for the clause.

What’s not included?

RBKC says there has been some confusion about the rights of succession – where a council tenancy can pass on to another person if the main tenant dies. It says the proposals don’t cover succession because succession rights are governed by law.

The council says there is nothing in the proposed changes that threatens or changes security of tenure.