Kensington and Chelsea are set to implement a new housing strategy, prioritising safe and modern homes in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. The Leadership Team reviewed the Housing Strategy 2025-2030 at a meeting on Wednesday, 9 July 2025, recommending its approval to the Full Council.
The new strategy aims to address the borough's unique housing challenges, including high property values, limited land availability, and a growing demand for affordable housing. It builds upon the council's response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report, focusing on resident safety and improved landlord services.
The strategy's vision is to embed the learning from Grenfell to provide safe, modern homes and promote the supply of different types of housing for local communities.
This vision is underpinned by three key priorities:
- Providing a diverse supply of housing to help local residents achieve their aspirations for a settled home.
- Ensuring homes are safe and meet the Decent Homes Standard.
- Delivering exemplary housing and landlord services.
According to the Public reports pack, the strategy acknowledges the need to move beyond a reliance on traditional social housing, promoting alternative housing options to meet diverse needs. This includes exploring co-living, specialized housing for vulnerable residents, and partnerships with private sector institutions to unlock investment.
Key to the strategy is a commitment to resident safety. Beyond maintaining a complete ban on combustible materials in external walls for all Council construction and refurbishment projects, the council is implementing several other fire safety measures. These include annual checks on flat entrance doors above 11m for all properties, with quarterly checks on communal doors by trained caretaking staff. Furthermore, all Building Control officers have achieved professional accreditation, and a four eyes
principle has been introduced, ensuring completions are reviewed by two qualified professionals.
The council also aims to achieve 100% decency in its housing stock through a £750+ million capital works programme.
Recognising the importance of community engagement, the strategy emphasizes listening to residents and involving them in decision-making processes.
The new Housing Strategy will be presented to Full Council for information later in 2025, alongside the outcome of the recent inspection undertaken by the Regulator of Social Housing. The Leadership Team was recommended to approve the new Housing Strategy 2025-2030 and agree that the Housing Strategy be presented to Full Council for information later in 2025, alongside the outcome of the recent inspection undertaken by the Regulator of Social Housing.
