The Kensington and Chelsea Housing & Communities Select Committee met on Wednesday 2 July 2025, and agreed the minutes of the previous meetings held on 12 May 2025 and 21 May 2025, with actions to be chased outside of the meeting. The committee reviewed the Housing and Social Investment Annual Performance Report for 2024-2025, and discussed the Lancaster West Refurbishment report. The committee also discussed and agreed to develop a detailed work programme setting out reports and items to scheduled meetings of the Housing and Communities Select Committee during 2025/2026.

Housing and Social Investment Performance Update

The Housing and Social Investment Key Performance Information report was presented to the committee, offering annual performance updates for 2024-2025 from the Housing Needs and Housing Management departments, as well as the New Homes Programme managed by the Social Investment and Property department.

Several concerns were raised regarding the level of detail in the report. It was felt that targets were discussed without sufficient figures in the text, and that charts lacked adequate explanation, including a legend for the traffic light system used to indicate performance levels. One councillor said:

I see that you have put more detail in the report. But, for my mind, they're still listening to none. And so that, you know, you discuss targets not being achieved or achieved, but there are no kind of figures in the actual text.

Specific concerns were raised about the Social Investment Property section, with projections given without actual figures, particularly concerning the Kelso Cochrane new build project. There were questions about the commissioning process for new estates, budget allocation, contractor control, and job monitoring.

It was suggested that a more detailed focus item on these points be included in a future meeting.

Other issues raised included:

• A lack of detail on rough sleeper numbers and the consequences thereof.
• Insufficient information on housing allocations, including location (in-borough vs. out-of-borough) and the length of time people have been on the register.
• The need for more insight into the meaning of temporary accommodation figures, including the reasons for changes in numbers.
• The number of families in Bed and Breakfast accommodation for longer than six weeks, and what was being done to reduce this.
• The rise in evictions for antisocial behaviour, and where evicted people were being moved to.
• The number of available social homes.
• The length of time taken to complete void works.
• The clarity of data on fire risk assessments.
• The need for data on operating remote accesses or door entry systems.

In response to concerns about void turnaround times, it was explained that there had been issues with contractors, but that changes had been made and turnaround times were improving. However, it was acknowledged that further improvements were needed, particularly regarding end-of-tenancy servicing.

Christine, whose last name was not provided, addressed concerns about the Silchester Arches scheme, explaining that it was a small scheme on a complicated site with several issues, including legal proceedings with the contractor. She acknowledged that costs were higher than expected and that lessons needed to be learned from the project.

Several councillors expressed concern about the cost of the Silchester Arches project, with one councillor asking:

If it costs you at Silchester a million pounds per unit, if an estate agent came along, is it worth a million pounds? So in other words, we're getting how much it's costing us to build these things. But, I mean, you know, if it is, if we are spending more than the actual property is worth on the market, then that is really a serious problem for us.

It was suggested that the committee may want to look at the new build programme as part of their work programme.

The committee also discussed voids in temporary accommodation, with concerns raised about the costs associated with these. It was explained that there was a focus on letting properties as quickly as possible, and that difficult-to-let properties were being returned to providers.

Lancaster West Refurbishment Report

The committee discussed feedback from the 12 May 2025 meeting regarding the Lancaster West Refurbishment, which forms part of the Committee's Annual Work Programme.

The report highlighted concerns raised by residents, including the length of the project, communication and transparency issues, the quality of works, leaseholder charges, and the impact on health and mental health.

The committee agreed that the project was at a stage where it was time to step back, pause, and reflect on feedback from residents. They also agreed that the focus of the next stage of the project should be to reduce and minimise the issues residents have raised, to get the basics completed and in working order.

Select Committee Work Programme 2025/26

The committee considered a report setting out the development of the Select Committee's work programme, identifying priorities for the municipal year 2025/2026.

The committee agreed to develop a detailed work programme setting out reports and items to scheduled meetings, and confirmed their scrutiny priorities for the municipal year as set out in appendix 1, which will be presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 15 July 2025.

The agreed priorities are:

1. Repairs
2. Sheltered Accommodation and Disabled Access Provision
3. Grenfell Rehousing Policies
4. Report from the Social Housing Regulator
5. Temporary Accommodation
6. Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy
7. Support for Voluntary and Community Groups
8. Major Works

The committee will also maintain a watching brief on Canalside House, the quality of housing stock, addressing local needs and inequalities, and residents associations.