Newham social housing rated worst by regulator

Newham Council accepted that it had let tenants down

An east London council has apologised to tenants after it was given the worst possible rating by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).

Inspectors found thousands of yet-to-be-done repairs in Newham Council properties as well as fire safety works overdue by more than 12 months.

In a report published by the regulator on 16 October, Newham Council became the first social housing landlord to be given the new "C4" grading after RSH found "very serious failings".

Abi Gbago, chief executive of Newham Council, said it had let tenants down and would address the report's recommendations.

The Social Housing Regulation Act, which came into effect earlier this year gave more power to the RSH to ensure social housing landlords were following consumer standards.

Newham Council owns around 16,000 homes in the borough and manages around 14,000 of them.

Inspectors found there were 9,000 overdue fire safety remedial actions were overdue - 8,000 by over a year – while 4,000 were classed as "high risk".

And some of the homes had not had an electrical installation inspection in more than 11 years.

'Significant improvement'

The report said although there were plans in place to complete the overdue remedial actions, the council could not provide "sufficient assurance" that it was effectively reducing fire safety risks for the affected homes.

The council lacked evidence to show that it was meeting the smoke and carbon monoxide alarm requirements and at least 20% of its homes did not meet the Decent Homes Standard, which sets minimum standards for the condition of social homes, the report said.

Inspectors also found the council did not have up-to-date stock condition on most of its homes and around 60% of its homes had not been surveyed in the last five years.

The report found that the council’s repairs and maintenance service needed "significant improvement" after it logged 5,400 open repairs – of which 49% had surpassed the target completion date.

'Must do better'

Kate Dodsworth, chief of regulatory engagement at RSH, said the findings posed "an unacceptable risk to tenants’ wellbeing" and said it was "extremely concerning" that Newham Council failed to refer itself to the regulator over the issues.

Ms Dosworth said: “We are now engaging intensively with [Newham Council] as they work to resolve these issues.

"While we are not proposing to use our enforcement powers at this stage, this will be kept under review.”

Following the inspection in May, the council wrote to all tenants who have not had an electrical installation inspection in more than a decade and offered them appointments.

Ms Gbago said: “We can and must do better for our tenants.

"We have long been prioritising actions aimed at keeping residents safe, making many improvements even since the inspectors visited us in May."

The council has allocated more than £64m on improvements to its homes as part of a capital investment programme.

Shaban Mohammed, member for housing, said: “The regulators have rightly focused on areas where we need to move further and faster – but I am glad they haven’t felt it necessary to take enforcement action against us.”

He said he would closely monitor the improvement plan and its delivery.