Kingston’s council housing has sunk to its worst ever condition but tenants do not want a stock transfer because they are scared of change, a new survey has found.

In a grim evaluation of the 6,400 Kingston council homes, 32 per cent did not meet the national Decent Homes Standard to be warm, weatherproof and have reasonably modern facilities, a statistic that has got worse every year since the measure was introduced in 2004.

The stock transfer ballot will be discussed at executive committee on July 7, and councillors are recommended to reject a ballot.

Estate agent Savills has estimated it will cost £80m in the next five years to bring houses up to scratch.

A stock transfer to a housing association was seen as the only way for improvements to be made because it would be able to borrow money for repairs from the private sector, something councils are not able to do.

But in an independent consultation of 2,000 council tenants, 47 per cent said they would prefer to continue renting from the council, even if it meant their homes would continue to deteriorate.

Security was the main reason for wanting to remain with the council, with tenants saying they did not trust housing associations and worried rents would rise sharply.

Opposition Councillor Ian George said the council had not done enough to allay fears about stock transfers before surveying residents.

He said: “After having talked about it for five years, we are back at the beginning and it’s going to take a couple of years before we can even have a chance at having a vote.”

Tenants voted no to a stock transfer in 2004 at a cost of more than £250,000, so this year’s consultation was to “test the water” before wasting cash.

The project cost about £30,000, a price head of housing Mike England said was worth paying for accurate results.

But some tenants have dismissed it as a waste of money.

A New Malden resident, 34, who has been campaigning for new windows in her boarded-up block for the past year, said: “The money spent on sending out those questionnaires, not once but twice, could have been spent on repairing the windows in our blocks in Sheephouse Way.

“It looks awful having boards up. When you have people round for dinner it’s embarrassing. There are quite a few of us who pay rent, but even the people on housing benefit have some self respect.”

Retired Kingston Hospital cleaner Daphne Church, 79, wanted to stay with the council, despite being forced to wash at her kitchen sink for the past six months because the council cannot pay for a walk-in bath in her Cambridge Gardens flat.

She said: “I get a bit worried when you talk about private companies because they say one thing and you get another. I might be out in the street.”

Kingston gets a raw deal because 31p in every pound of rent - almost £7m every year - is given back to the government to subsidise housing in other parts of the country.

The Government, which this week reconfirmed its commitment to a massive house building project, was expected to announce whether this rule would be scrapped as the Kingston Guardian went to press. It could leave Kingston Council double the cash to fund repairs.

Executive member for housing Councillor Penny Shelton said: “If the Government can bail out the banks, and that was billions, all Kingston wants is to get its £6.7m back each year to bring homes up to a decent standard.”