London borough urges Secretary of State to reform laws governing tenant management orders

This followed the council’s decision last month to refer the Loughborough Estate Management Board (LEMB) to the Financial Conduct Authority over alleged impropriety.

Lambeth said tenants had raised significant issues and an audit had found substantial spending on foreign travel and gifts without adequate justification.

In a letter to the Communities Secretary, Danny Adilypour, deputy leader and cabinet member for housing, investment and new homes, said: “The detrimental operations of some TMOs have led to serious negative impacts for tenants and the current legal framework binds the hands of local authorities to take decisive action against poorly operating TMOs.”

Cllr Adilypour noted councils’ dealings with TMOs were governed by the Modular Management Agreement (MMA) published by the government in December 2013.

“The terms of this are now out of date and do not take into account the raft of safety-related legislation in the last decade,” he said.

“There are significant changes that need to be made to the MMA to ensure that residents can be confident that their housing management is fit for purpose and so that they are not left to suffer in the same way as residents living on the estate managed by LEMB.”

He called on the Communities Secretary to provide local authorities with a straightforward, contractual remedy where a TMO fails to comply with democratic requirements and to reform the mechanisms by which a local authority can enforce against performance failures.

Lambeth also asked for adequate powers for a local authority to terminate an agreement with a TMO for material contractual breaches, to act when a TMO has failed to comply with its governing documents and to vary the MMA when necessary to reflect legislation.

Cllr Adilypour also proposed term limits for TMO committee members.

LEMB has been contacted for comment.

Mark Smulian