Another council hit for housing safety failures by regulator

Another council hit for housing safety failures by regulator

9:08 AM, 30th January 2025, About 12 hours ago

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A council has received a C3 regulatory grading from the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) due to breaches of consumer standards.

The criticism of Portsmouth City Council focuses on the safety and quality of its homes.

This comes after RSH criticised Newcastle City Council for numerous issues, including having more than 1,800 outstanding repair requests and 1,000 unresolved damp and mould cases.

The regulator also gave Nottingham City Council a C3 grading for having nearly 1,000 open disrepair cases and data integrity issues.

‘Safety of tenants is non-negotiable’

The chief of regulatory engagement at RSH, Kate Dodsworth, said: “The health and safety of tenants is non-negotiable.

“Providing safe, decent homes for tenants starts with accurate, up-to-date data.

“Without this, it is impossible to deliver the right services to residents.”

Fire Safety Remediation Survey

The RSH’s intervention at Portsmouth began in August 2024 after the council’s Fire Safety Remediation Survey revealed potential issues.

A subsequent investigation, prompted by the council’s self-referral in September 2024, uncovered more than 1,000 outstanding fire safety actions.

Also, 85% of council homes haven’t had an electrical check for five years.

And less than 40% of its homes had been surveyed within the last five years – more than a third had been surveyed more than 10 years ago.

The RSH found that nearly 10% had no record at all.

Room for improvement

Portsmouth’s cabinet member for housing, Coun Darren Sanders, said: “We knew there was room for improvement to meet the new regulatory standards.

“That’s why we referred ourselves and have publicised this to our tenants and other stakeholders.

“We welcome and accept the findings of the regulator and will work constructively and proactively with them and our tenants on those areas they have identified.”


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