Council slammed over tenant safety risks

A council has been slammed by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) for “serious failings”.

Castle Point Borough Council in Essex has issued an apology to tenants after receiving a C4 grading, making it just the second social housing landlord to be given a non-compliant ‘C4’ rating.

This marks a downgrade from the C3 rating the council received from the Regulator of Social Housing in September.

No up-to-date electrical condition test

A report by the RSH, reveals the council did not have an up-to-date electrical condition test for more than 40% of communal areas.

According to the report, the council surveyed less than 1% of its 1,500 homes in the last five years, meaning there are significant gaps in the information it holds on the condition of its homes.

The council also failed to show that it was managing and mitigating fire safety risks and had not taken action to address issues with Tenant Satisfaction Measures reporting.

The RSH says there were no opportunities for tenants to influence or scrutinise its strategies, policies, and services.

Castle point must act promptly

Kate Dodsworth, chief of regulatory engagement at RSH, said: “The breadth and seriousness of the issues that we found are extremely concerning. Castle Point must act promptly and make significant changes.

“The council must urgently ensure that risks to tenants’ safety are managed and mitigated. It must develop a detailed improvement plan and share this with tenants to give them the opportunity to scrutinise and influence the proposals. We will continue to engage intensively with the council as it works to put things right.

“We identified these failings through our new proactive inspection programme but we expect landlords to self-refer as soon as they become aware of an issue. All social landlords need to ensure tenants are safe in their homes and meet the outcomes in our standards. We will continue to take action when they don’t.”

Apologised to tenants

In a statement, Cllr Dave Blackwell, Leader of Castle Point Borough Council, apologised to tenants.

He said: “We are sorry that the council has not met the expectations of our tenants, or of the Regulator. We remain committed to ensuring that our homes provide safe and warm places to live for our tenants.

“We accept and recognise that in the past the Council hasn’t got everything right, and we are fully committed to making the necessary improvements. Nothing is more important to us than our tenants’ wellbeing and safety and this will remain our priority even after all issues have been addressed.

“The Council has already made key decisions to put this right. In November we agreed to invest an additional £438,000 into the improvement journey and we will take further decisions to invest so that we are completely satisfied we have done all we can to provide safe and decent homes that our tenants expect and maintain the highest standards of service to them.

“In January 2025 a report to Cabinet will request the allocation of further funding to support the improvements.”

Mr Blackwell adds: “Money alone will not fix the problems, that have been many years in the making. Therefore, we are looking at our policies, our maintenance and repairs programmes, and crucially, improving our engagement with tenants through a variety of means which enable any tenant to raise issues, concerns and ideas on the service we provide.

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