Improvement is needed at the City of London Corporation’s housing stock after “serious failings” were identified by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), including more than 1,000 overdue fire safety remedial actions
As reported by RSH, the council, which is the governing body for the capital’s Square Mile and owns and manages around 1,900 social homes in central London, made a self-referral to the regulator over a “failure to meet legal and regulatory requirements in relation to electrical safety and fire safety”.
A significant number of overdue remedial actions relating to electrical safety checks, and over 1,000 overdue fire safety remedial actions were highlighted. During their inspection, RSH officers found that while most of the remedial actions were assessed at medium risk, some high-risk actions had been overdue for more than a year. Around 18% of homes also do not meet the Decent Homes Standard (DHS), the regulator added.
“City of London Corporation is strengthening its approach to managing remedial actions and during the inspection we saw evidence of improving performance, but the number of overdue actions and some timescales for remediation remain a regulatory concern and will be a key part of our future engagement with City of London Corporation,” the regulator said.
In its regulatory judgement, the landlord received a C3 grading, indicating “serious failings” in delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards, with “significant improvement” needed.
In a news release, the City Corporation said it accepted the regulator’s C3 grading, adding that it had “already begun delivering wide-ranging improvements across its housing estates and services” to address the long-standing issues mentioned in the report. It will be investing around £300 million in its housing stock to improve the “quality, safety, and sustainability of its homes across London”, which includes upgrades to its fire safety and electrical systems.
“Like many councils, the City Corporation has faced pressures in financing improvement works for its social housing due to historic underfunding and the increase in fire and building safety regulation,” the council said.
Commenting on the historic backlog of residential electrical safety testing and fire risk actions requiring attention, Policy Chairman for the City of London Corporation, Chris Hayward, said:
“We recognised that there were historic issues in our housing stock, which is why we agreed a multi-million-pound housing investment action plan in December. We accept these findings in full and are determined to meet the standards our tenants deserve.
“The safety and comfort of our residents is an absolute priority, and our funding package marks a significant investment in ensuring they receive the high-quality housing they deserve.
“I want to reassure residents just how seriously we take this and how dedicated we are to improving our performance for everyone who lives in our homes.”
Overdue fire remedial actions were also identified in the housing stock of Runnymede Borough Council, which was given a C4 grading. More details of this can be found here.