East Kent Housing to be brought back in-house

In October last year, the four councils that own East Kent Housing (EKH) asked tenants for their views on its future.

Canterbury City Council, Dover District Council, Folkestone & Hythe District Council and Thanet District Council proposed to close EKH and deliver housing services themselves after discovering problems with some health and safety procedures.

The results showed an overwhelming desire to disband EKH and for the councils to take on its role.

This week councillors at all four councils agreed and that process will now get underway.

EKH will not close overnight and it will take some time to put the proper arrangements in place, with a view to services coming in-house from 1 April 2021.

In the meantime, housing and support services for tenants will continue to be provided by EKH.

A spokesman for the four councils said: “We really appreciate the patience of tenants, leaseholders and staff at EKH while we went through the appropriate decision-making process.

“We look forward to working with them to create as smooth a transition process as possible while at the same time building for the future.”