The future of East Kent Housing (EKH) hangs in the balance after four councils embroiled in a safety scandal launched reviews into the service.

Thanet District Council (TDC) says it is investigating what has gone wrong while Canterbury City Council (CCC) is due to release a report into failings by the housing company tomorrow.

The reviews will discuss what went wrong after it emerged more than 500 gas safety certificates had not been checked putting thousands of council tenants across east Kent at risk.

Each of the four councils - Canterbury City Council, Thanet District Council, Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) and Dover District Council - have a 25% stake in the company.

It was set up to manage and maintain the properties on all the four district's council housing lists in one service rather than each authority having departments to oversee day-to-day running.

The property boss at EKH, Mark Anderson, left his job just days after the scandal emerged.

Councillors across the four districts will now meet throughout July to discuss the findings of investigations about what went wrong and recommendations to prevent further failures.

A spokesman for TDC said: "First and foremost our concern is for those tenants who have been affected and have been contacted by EKH.

"We’ve worked quickly with EKH to resolve this issue and understand that the number of outstanding checks has fallen significantly.

"Each of the four east Kent councils will be reporting back to its councillors to set out the circumstances of this issue, the actions required and to review the future options for this service."

Canterbury City Council is due to publish a report tomorrow highlighting concerns with the EKH contract and services.

Councillors on the policy and resources committee will discuss findings relating to failings, a spokesman confirmed.

Cllr David Godfey, cabinet member for housing, transport and special projects at FHDC, said: "At its peak, 120 gas safety checks were outstanding in May 2019 [in the Folkestone and Hythe district].

"As of today, all outstanding checks have been completed in our district."

Cabinet members will be presented with a report on July 31 following a report to the council's overview and scrutiny committee on July 16.

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