Lewisham Council refers itself to social housing watchdog

Lewisham homes have been changing hands this year

A south London council has referred itself to a watchdog over concerns about the state of its housing stock.

Lewisham Council has asked the Regulator of Social Housing if the 13,500-plus homes it manages meet the minimum standard required.

Labour-run Lewisham brought thousands of homes back under its control from Lewisham Homes, in October.

The decision to take them over followed councillors' concerns about how the company was dealing with repairs.

The authority has also asked the regulator to assess whether its own repair service is adequate and whether its fire safety measures are up to scratch.

Grants no longer available

Around 5,500 of Lewisham's newly acquired houses are leased to the occupants and are therefore not under council management.

Lewisham Homes was set up by the council over a decade ago, when private companies were able to claim grants that councils were not.

This is no longer the case.

All Lewisham Homes employees became council employees at the changeover.

In a statement published on Wednesday, the council admitted some of these homes were not in good condition.

It also acknowledged many residents were not satisfied with the level of service they receive.

"Since taking over from Lewisham Homes in October, the council has taken steps to improve services," a spokesman said.

"We will be publishing detailed action plans so that tenants and leaseholders can understand how we plan to continue to transform our services."

He said that many of the borough's homes were built over 50 years ago and need substantial investment at a time when local councils - and other housing providers - are facing serious financial challenges.

Around 17% of the council's homes currently do not meet the minimum standard for social housing, the spokesman said.

But that number is expected to balloon to 31% by 2027 as the council diverts cash from refurbishment works to fire safety improvements.

Backlog of repairs

Between April and October 2023, only 31% of emergency repairs were completed on time, despite a target of 90%.

Meanwhile, 56% of non-emergency repairs were finished in time, compared to a target of 85%.

The authority spokesperson said it had brought in three new contractors this year to tackle the backlog of repairs and expected to see improvements from January 2024.

A "transformation board" has been created to address long-running issues with repairs and to help staff do their jobs well, the spokesperson confirmed.

Lewisham has committed to spending £321m on improving its homes over five years, as well as investing in the modernisation of its systems for managing and storing information.

Will Cooper, cabinet member for housing management, said: "Providing good quality homes is our top priority and we know we have a lot of work to do.

"With the transfer of services from Lewisham Homes to the council we want to be fully transparent with residents, which is why we chose to self-refer to the regulator. We welcome the external perspective on our performance.

"We will be sharing more information about our action plans and how tenants and leaseholders can get involved."

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