HUNDREDS of council tenants are being asked to stump up £500 a year for the cost of CCTV cameras on their estates ­– as complaints about nuisance behaviour continue to clog up the inboxes of councillors across the borough.

Demand for the security kit has grown, but the huge costs have left questions over who should pay to make people feel safe.

The extra charges scale up to £9 a week but won’t be covered by the Town Hall ­– and residents must instead foot the bill. Across the borough boundary, Camden residents in 2023 were being asked to contribute just £1.12 a week to cost of cameras on their housing estates.

A ballot is due to take place at one estate in the north of Islington as part of a long-running project where residents are asked to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to rigging up the surveillance software, and agree to paying the extra fees.

The Islington Labour group’s office was yesterday (Thursday) scrambling to shut down the Tribune’s questions about the scheme, with a WhatsApp group order for councillors not to speak to our reporter.
Ilkay Cinko-Oner, an independent Laycock ward councillor, labelled the costs “disgusting”.

She said: “I don’t think residents should have to pay £500 extra for CCTV, especially if it’s to do with safety. Crime numbers on the whole are down, but there’s a huge amount that goes unreported.

“The charges are extortionate. Loads of the service charges are extortionate and don’t seem to be justified.”

An increase in service charges has left tenants paying £9.46 a week for multiple cameras operated remotely, whilst those on an estate with a concierge must pay £15.76.

Liz Smithson, the secretary of the King Square tenants and residents’ association near Old Street, said that costs had spiralled since the cameras were first installed a decade ago, originally costing tenants like her £4.95 a week.

She told the Tribune: “We pay £15 a week and it’s quite a huge cost. I’ve been asking for the cost for myself and everyone on the ground floor, where we don’t have a camera or an internal phone to the concierge, to be reduced. But they are adamant that they won’t reduce it.”

“Sometimes the cameras don’t work and broken cameras are taken away and never put back. But we wouldn’t be without it. We had a lot of anti-social behaviour and drug taking, and since the CCTV was put in, it’s a really lovely place to live.”

Other residents across the borough, however, said that the CCTV had done little to act as a deterrent, and crime remains rife on their estates.

Eleanor Tough, a resident on the Andover Estate, has similarly been paying for CCTV for close to a decade, but said it had done little to help her feel safer.

She said: “We were burgled in 2018 and the CCTV didn’t capture anything. It wasn’t working. There are high rates of crime and drug use.

“Of course I’m not happy to pay for it, I can barely make ends meet and I have a good job.”

Several Labour councillors have privately expressed their surprise at the “high costs” and warned residents that the cameras would not be a magic solution to their concerns over anti-social behaviour.

Councillor Martin Klute, the Town Hall’s planning chief, said: “I’m not a great enthusiast for CCTV. I think there are more practical measures we can take, like environmental improvements, and street lighting. The advice would be to look at other solutions to try and disrupt the activity.”

Islington’s homes supremo Councillor John Woolf, said: “Everyone in Islington deserves a safe, decent, and genuinely affordable place to call home. We always aim to resolve anti-social behaviour through early interventions and tailored support ­– but when these measures aren’t enough, CCTV is introduced as a last resort.

“This is typically recommended by professional partners such as the police, alongside other security features to help prevent and deter ASB in the most affected areas. Importantly, CCTV is only installed permanently on estates where residents have voted in favour of it and the costs involved.

“Every penny we receive in rent goes directly back into maintaining and managing our homes and estates. With higher costs making it more expensive to deliver key services, we’re focusing our resources on the safety of our residents. We’re also improving our response to ASB by launching a new day and night patrol service, training our housing staff to identify root causes, and working in close partnership with the police.

“Payments for the upkeep of the cameras are a maximum of £9.46 per week, but they can also be £2.97 per week. Our income recovery team can offer help and advice to anyone struggling —residents are encouraged to contact them at income.recovery@islington.gov.uk.”