Delivering the housing services you
deserve
East Kent Housing was set
up in April 2011 to deliver the council housing services on
behalf of Canterbury, Dover, Shepway and Thanet
councils. We want you to know what East Kent Housing is
responsible for and what your local council is responsible for, so
that you know who does what and are clear about who to contact for
different services.
East Kent Housing is responsible
for:
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Looking after your estate including
managing grass cutting, gardening contracts, cleaning and
maintenance of communal areas.
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Managing improvements to tenants’
homes.
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Collecting rent and helping tenants
who are having difficulty in paying.
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Making sure that tenants stick to
their tenancy agreements.
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Involving and communicating with tenants including producing
newsletters, leaflets and supporting community groups and
activities. |
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Working with the police, the council and other agencies to
reduce anti-social behaviour |
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Reletting empty properties, approving mutual exchanges and
changes to tenancies. |
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Running sheltered housing schemes and organising adaptations to
the homes of tenants with disabilities. |
Your council is still responsible
for:
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Each of the four councils will still
own their own council housing and all important decisions about the
overall cost and levels of service and where money is spent will
still be made by your elected councillors.
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Each council will decide, after
consulting with their own tenants, where money will be spent to
improve tenants’ homes and estates.
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If you need to, you will still be able
to complain to your council and your local councillor if you are
not happy with the service you get from East Kent Housing.
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Deciding and setting what rents and
service charges you pay (based on government guidelines).
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Managing the housing waiting list and deciding who gets a
council home. |
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Helping people who are homeless. |
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Deciding what improvements and major
repairs will be carried out.
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Dealing with Housing Benefit
applications.
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Deciding the housing Budget. |
How to
contact our staff
Key facts about East Kent
Housing
Having East Kent Housing managing your
council housing services hasn't changed the services you
receive from your local housing team. Our aim is to make
improvements that you will benefit from in the future.
The only change is the ‘management’ of
your services from being
managed by the council to now being run by East Kent Housing.
To explain a bit more about what East
Kent Housing is and is not – we’ve put together a few facts for
you:
What East Kent Housing is:
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An organisation set up and owned by the four local councils to
run its council housing services. |
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Run by an independent management board, which includes tenants,
independent members and councillors, but remains accountable
through a contract with the four councils. |
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According to the government’s watchdog the Audit Commission,
this is the best approach to managing housing services. |
What East Kent Housing isn't:
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A private company, as it is still owned by the four
councils. This is not a way of privatising council housing. Your
homes are safe and still owned by your council. |
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Your landlord. The council remains your landlord and you remain
a tenant of the council with all the same legal rights. |
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A profit making organisation, neither does it have shareholders.
All savings must, by law, be used to improve services.
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A housing association, and it does not mean that your home has
been sold to a housing association. |
Did you know?
Other councils in the UK are now
considering following our lead and want to set
up shared housing services too!