Empty residential properties in Kensington and Chelsea

The request was partially successful.

Dear Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea,

Please can you provide me with the following information under the
Freedom Of Information Act 2000:-

The number of residential properties which have been
empty for more than 3 months within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and
the addresses of those properties.

Information will be used for research and study.

Yours faithfully,

Marta Kliczka

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Dear Ms. Kliczka

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REF: 2014-541

 

I am writing to confirm that we received your information request on 14
April 2014. For your information and future communications your request
has been allocated the reference number FOI2014-541. Please quote this
reference in any future correspondence. 

 

We will consider your request and respond in accordance with the
requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Our duty is to
respond promptly or at least within 20 working days.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Robin Yu

Information Protection Assistant

Information Governance Team

Information Systems Division (ISD)

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

The Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 7NX

Tel: 020 7938 8226

 

Web: [1]http://www.rbkc.gov.uk

 

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Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Dear Ms. Kliczka

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REF: 2014-541

 

I am responding to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000,
which we received on 14 April 2014, for information held by the Council.
You requested:

 

The number of residential properties which have been empty for more than 3
months within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and the
addresses of those properties.

 

I confirm that we hold the information requested.

 

There are currently 1,924 residential properties which have been empty for
more than 3 months within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. We
are withholding the addresses of these properties.

 

The First Tier Tribunal ruled in Voyias v Information Commissioner and LB
Camden (Case No. EA/2011/0007) that the public interest lies in
withholding the addresses of empty properties:

 

[1]http://www.informationtribunal.gov.uk/DB...

 

We have considered this decision and decided that we too will not release
the addresses of empty properties in the borough for the reasons below.

 

Under section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act, we are permitted
to withhold information if disclosure would, or would be likely to
prejudice the prevention and detection of crime. We believe that the
disclosure of addresses of empty properties in the borough would likely
lead to squatting and other criminal activity in and/or around these
properties.

 

If a list of empty properties were to be disclosed then these properties
would become more vulnerable to potential squatters and other criminal
acts such as theft and vandalism.

 

Section 31 is a qualified exemption so the Act requires us to consider
whether the public interest in disclosure outweighs the public interest in
maintaining the exemption. We recognise that there is a significant public
interest in the disclosure of Council information in the interest of
transparency and accountability. Certainly the Council are accountable for
empty properties in the Borough and we understand that information may be
requested to help bring these properties back into use, which would be in
the financial and commercial interest of the public.

 

However, we believe that there is a strong argument in avoiding the likely
prejudice to the prevention of crime. It is in the public interest to
protect property and to avoid the considerable public expense that would
be incurred dealing with crime associated with empty properties.
Furthermore, we feel that public interest lies in preventing the distress
that is caused to victims of crime. Residents who live in close proximity
will also be affected by crime committed in the area and they will have a
reasonable expectation of feeling secure in their homes.

 

Although there is a strong public interest in bringing empty properties
back into use, our immediate concern is the protection of property and the
well being of residents. Therefore we have decided that the public
interest in avoiding prejudice to the prevention of crime outweighs the
public interest in disclosure.

 

Complaints

 

I trust this has satisfied your request. Should you be unhappy with the
handling of your request, the Council has an internal complaints process
for handling FOIA complaints. Complaints are reviewed by the Chief
Solicitor and Monitoring Officer or her nominee. A form is available from
our website to lodge your complaint
[2]http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/councilanddemocra...
Please contact us if you do not have website access and we can provide you
with a copy of the form. Following this review, should you still be
unhappy with how your information request has been handled, you have a
further right to appeal to the Information Commissioner who is responsible
for ensuring compliance with FOIA.  

 

Yours sincerely

 

Robin Yu

Information Protection Assistant

Information Governance Team

Information Systems Division (ISD)

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

The Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 7NX

Tel: 020 7938 8226

 

Web: [3]http://www.rbkc.gov.uk

 

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.informationtribunal.gov.uk/DB...
2. http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/councilanddemocra...
3. http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/

Peter C. Bell left an annotation ()

Addresses withheld.