A councillor is demanding better provision to spot structural damage in council properties after seven residents were forced to move out of their homes because of subsidence.

Cllr Claire Pearce (Lab) said Dartford council needed to be monitoring its housing stock more closely after families had to leave their flats in Swanscombe following the discovery of structural problems in September.

The councillor for Swanscombe said the situation should have been dealt with sooner.

“The Conservative-run council need to go further – now this issue has been identified it’s vital that the council’s housing stock is regularly monitored for similar defects,” she said.

“We can’t expect residents to solely be responsible for reporting structural problems within their property – they are not structural engineers after all.

“Dartford council needs to rethink its current policy and look at taking out structural insurance to protect both tenants and council properties across the borough in the future.”

Residents were forced to vacate undisclosed buildings in Swanscombe after they were found to have “significant structural issues”.

The move came after an independent inspection of 16 flats, commissioned last year, confirmed a catalogue of problems.

Findings included damp in the rafters, joists and inside the building; movement and cracking in the ceilings and windows; and faulty foundations caused by soft clay.

The council proposed demolishing the buildings and rehousing the seven tenants (nine of the properties were already empty) and offering compensation of £7,800 each – a total cost of £54,600.

At a meeting of the council’s scrutiny committee last month it was revealed most, but not all, of the residents had now been offered alternative accommodation.

According to Cllr Pearce there are two families yet to move out.

The seven flats, the location of which the council will not disclose, are now part of a list of 16 properties marked for demolition.

The council admitted it “did not hold insurance cover for subsidence or any other structural defects for properties in the estate, given that historically, the issues had never previously arisen”.

Cllr Pearce told the scrutiny committee last month residents had been “deeply distressed” by the council’s decision to rehouse them and the issue should not happen again.

Speaking at the meeting, the head of housing informed the committee that subsidence insurance for 13 properties found to have an issue but not earmarked for demolition would be reviewed on an annual basis.

However, it would not be taken up for all council properties as subsidence insurance premiums were high.

Responding to Cllr Pearce’s suggestion that regular structural inspections should be carried out on council properties, the head of housing said the council did not have the resources to inspect every property for signs of subsidence or structural failure.

All council properties were subject to an annual gas inspection when any other issues were identified and addressed as appropriate, they added.