Published: Friday 6 January 2023
A six-week consultation is seeking people’s opinions on how Kensington and Chelsea Council should allocate its limited supply of social housing.
The Council has created a draft update of its Housing Allocations Scheme and is inviting anyone interested in sharing their thoughts to take part in the online consultation by Thursday 16 February.
The updated scheme being consulted on has been drafted using the feedback provided by residents and community groups during a pre-consultation engagement exercise in early 2022.
A fair and effective Housing Allocations Scheme is vital in a borough with more than 3,000 households on its housing register and only around 400 homes – the majority studio or one-bedroom properties – available each year.
With the same number of households joining the register each year as are housed, it would take eight years to find a home for everyone even if nobody new joined.
Cllr Kim Taylor-Smith, Lead Member for Grenfell, Housing and Social Investment, said:
“We are absolutely focused on providing our residents with the comfort and security of safe, good-quality permanent homes to help them to get on with their lives. This means keeping the use of temporary accommodation – and the uncertainty that comes with it – to the lowest level possible.
“Our refreshed allocations policy is bold and creative in how we plan to achieve that goal in the face of an acute shortage of homes, such as by working with the private sector to open up more affordable rented properties.
“We will continue to do all we can to increase the housing supply in our small borough, including building hundreds of new social homes as part of our ongoing New Homes Programme.”
The consultation into the updated Housing Allocations Scheme is open now and will run until Thursday 16 February 2023. To take part, visit the Council's consultation portal.