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Three more councils fall foul of consumer standards set by Regulator of Social Housing
The Regulator of Social Housing has criticised three more local authorities for failing to meet the outcomes of its new consumer standards.
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Castle Point Borough Council, North Yorkshire Council, and Warwick District Council have been given a C3 grading, “meaning there are serious failings that they need to address”, RSH said.
The Regulator found that Castle Point Borough Council had not collected Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs), which all landlords are required to do annually. “As a result, tenants are not supported to effectively scrutinise its performance in delivering landlord services.”
North Yorkshire Council had meanwhile self-referred to RSH after identifying a range of issues.
The Regulator's investigation confirmed that the council does not have an accurate or up-to-date understanding of the condition of tenants’ homes.
In addition, the council reported that around half of its tenants’ homes do not have an up-to-date electrical condition report. “It holds fire safety information across different systems and, as such, it is difficult to identify the number of overdue fire risk assessments and outstanding actions.”
There was also a lack of information on water hygiene and asbestos. However the council has reviewed its approach to managing these issues and has plans in place to review all risk assessments and complete recommended actions, RSH said.
Warwick District Council also self-referred to RSH because it has more than 1,600 overdue fire safety actions "which it must address promptly". It also could not evidence that it is meeting legal requirements for carbon monoxide safety.
The council also reported that it had not carried out a full stock condition survey since 2016 and, though surveys had now restarted, inaccuracies had been identified by the council in the new data.
RSH’s investigation found that Warwick did not have adequate systems in place to deliver an efficient repairs service for tenants, nor was it recording or responding to complaints effectively.
The Regulator acknowledged that all three local authorities were engaging constructively with it and working to address these issues promptly.
“In the case of North Yorkshire and Warwick District, they are required to manage and mitigate risks to tenants’ safety as a priority and RSH is engaging intensively with them as they carry out this work,” it added.
Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, said: “It is the responsibility of the landlord to take a proactive approach to providing safe and decent homes for tenants. Health and safety must be a top priority and keeping up-to-date, accurate data is a key part of this. We are working constructively with all three local authorities as they put things right for their tenants.
“All landlords should refer themselves to us if they are not meeting the outcomes of our standards, rather than wait for an inspection. This allows issues to be identified – and resolved – promptly. They must also ensure they collect TSMs, which gives tenants the information they need to scrutinise their landlord.”
North Yorkshire, which is the landlord for almost 8,500 social housing properties in its area, said it accepted RSH’s judgment and was working towards becoming compliant.
The unitary said that since its self-referral, the service had been restructured, a new Housing Revenue Account Business Plan had been adopted, and it had been working hard on implementation of a detailed improvement plan.
North Yorkshire's Corporate director for community development, Nic Harne, said: “Our improvement plan gives us the chance to provide the best services and quality of housing for our residents, and a unified housing service for our tenants.
“We have fully restructured the service and have improvement plans in place. The safety and quality of our homes is our priority, and we encourage any tenants with concerns about their homes to contact us directly.”
Cllr Dave Blackwell, Leader of Castle Point, said the council had accepted the findings of the Regulator, which arose from the delay in the submission of the Tenants Satisfaction Survey data in time for 2023/24.
Cllr Blackwell said: “We would like to apologise to our residents for this error.
“The Council will continue to work with its tenants, the Regulator and our partners to provide the best housing service possible."
He added: “As part of ongoing improvements to our Housing services, we will be bringing in new opportunities for residents to engage with us.
“We would urge our tenants to engage with the Tenants Satisfaction Survey currently underway and those running in the future.”
Warwick District Council has been approached for comment.
Last month RSH published regulatory judgements for four councils – Brighton and Hove City Council, the London Borough of Hackney, South Derbyshire District Council and Ashford Borough Council – over their failure to meet the new consumer standards, which were introduced in April this year.
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