Council tenant groups in Kingston have vowed to sort out the housing crisis themselves, after a stock transfer was given the thumbs down in a survey.

The administration has come under fire for making little progress since the last ballot in 2004 and the Conservatives pulled out of a cross-party working group in disgust this week.

A stock transfer to a housing association has now been ruled out and the council will now look at other ways to raise money to bring homes up to scratch.

It is also waiting for more details on government plans to scrap its Housing Revenue Account system, which loses Kingston almost £7m every year.

The Federation of Residents will plough on with its plans for a Tenant-lead Management Organisation (TMO), where a panel of residents would decide where money is spent themselves.

Honorary Secretary Sadiq Mohamed said: “The residents have got fed up with waiting for the council to do something, so we’re going to do it ourselves.”

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