Regulator of Social Housing hits district council with lowest grade against consumer standards

During an inspection of Arun, RSH found: 

• around 2,500 open and overdue repairs cases 
• nearly 1,000 overdue fire risk assessment remedial actions  
• more than half of the council’s homes do not have smoke detectors and the local authority does not expect to reach compliance in this area until May 2027
• a lack of meaningful opportunities for tenants to scrutinise performance and influence services 
• a lack of evidence that Arun is taking prompt and appropriate action in response to anti-social behaviour cases and hate incidents.

The Regulator acknowledged that Arun “understands the issues it needs to address and is taking action to rectify the very serious failures”.

The district council is also said to be engaging constructively with RSH and is now expected to develop a comprehensive plan that will drive fundamental change across all the areas identified, and to share that with tenants. 

In a statement, Arun acknowledged the judgement issued by the RSH following the inspection of its housing service was “not the result we had hoped for”, and issued assurances that the council is “treating this matter with the seriousness it deserves”.

The district council went on to say: “We are fully committed to addressing all areas highlighted in the judgement. Rectifying these issues is our top priority, and we are taking immediate steps to ensure our tenants are safe and living in satisfactory housing conditions.

“We are developing a comprehensive plan to drive fundamental change across all of the identified areas, with dedicated people and financial resources. This will be shared with both the Regulator, elected members and with tenants.

“The Regulator of Social Housing will be closely monitoring our progress and holding us accountable throughout this process and we will maintain significant focus on demonstrating that we are making sufficient change and progress. While the judgement is deeply disappointing, it presents a clear opportunity for us to improve and deliver better outcomes for our tenants.”

Arun added: “Our staff are dedicated, hard-working professionals. who will give their full commitment to this important work. We remain committed to transparency, accountability, and above all, the safety and wellbeing of our tenants.”

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) also featured in this round of judgements from the RSH, becoming the latest in a long line of councils to be issued with a C3 grade. 

RBKC is said to meet the outcomes of RSH’s standards in a number of areas, including health and safety compliance, its repairs process, and the way it engages with tenants.      

However, the Royal Borough has been asked to improve its understanding of tenants’ homes at an individual level, and also undertake required work to ensure tenants’ homes meet the Decent Homes standard.

Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, Leader of RBKC, said: “We need to better understand the condition of all our housing and bring all our residents’ homes up to the housing regulator’s standard for decent homes, with things like improved kitchens and bathrooms. We expect to have surveyed the condition of all our housing stock next year, and we will be 100 per cent compliant in the decent homes standard by 2030. 

“The report acknowledges that we are meeting 18 of the 20 required outcomes and I personally am very pleased to see positive feedback on how we engage and consult with our residents, how our repairs service works without a backlog and how we are improving neighbourhoods and tackling anti-social behaviour with our partners. 

“I want to thank our residents for their continued patience and valued input as we work towards being the best Council for our communities.” 

Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, said: "Social landlords need to have a strong understanding of their tenants’ homes and ensure that all homes are of a decent standard. Equally, boards must maintain oversight and robust financial governance in order to provide good quality homes and services to tenants.  

"We will continue to keep social landlords under close scrutiny through our inspection programme and wider regulatory engagement. We continue to reinforce the importance of self-referrals by landlords, which enables issues to be resolved more quickly."

Harry Rodd