The Regulator of Social Housing has found serious failings at two local authorities, scoring them C3 grades for consumer standards.
The grades were handed to Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council in West Yorkshire and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in South West London.
During an inspection, the RSH found serious failings in Kirklees MBC’s understanding of the condition of its homes and in its approach to tackling anti-social behaviour, with the local authority only holding up-to-date condition information for around a quarter of its homes. Also, it could not provide assurance that it fully understands potential risks across its housing stock.
The inspection also identified weaknesses in tenant scrutiny, tenant data and complaint response times.
The RSH says that Kirklees MBC has made progress in managing damp and mould and health and safety compliance, although it has around 2,500 outstanding fire safety remedial actions which it still needs to complete.
Kirklees MBC is engaging constructively with RSH to address the identified issues, and the regulator will continue to seek assurance that Kirklees MBC is making sufficient progress and effectively managing risks to tenants.
The RSH also found serious failings at RB Kingston upon Thames in its understanding of the condition of its homes. Accurate, up-to-date information was unavailable for most properties and only 15% of homes had been surveyed under a new stock condition programme.
While the local authority is meeting key health and safety legal requirements and has improved repairs performance, the RSH says that weaknesses remain in oversight of remedial actions, communal repairs and complaints handling.
The regulator also identified gaps in RB Kingston upon Thames’s understanding of tenants’ diverse needs.
The landlord has recognised these issues, is taking action to address them, and the RSH will continue intensive engagement to seek assurance that improvements are delivered and risks to tenants are effectively managed.
Angela Holden, Director of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, said: “Both these cases highlight the importance of landlords having a clear understanding of the condition of their tenants’ homes and delivering services that keep tenants safe.”
“Where we find serious failings, we will engage intensively with landlords and expect them to take swift and effective action to address our concerns and improve outcomes for tenants.”
Elsewhere, Broadacres Housing Association Limited, which owns around 7,000 homes mostly in Yorkshire and the Humber, was upgraded from a C2 to a C1 grade, as the RSH says it continued to make progress in strengthening board oversight, assurance and challenge on its health and safety reporting.
