A city council has confirmed its commitment to improving its housing after more than 1,000 outstanding fire remedial actions were found
On 29 January 2025, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) announced it had issued Portsmouth City Council, which is a landlord to around 17,000 homes in the south, with a C3 grading following a self-referral in 2024. The C3 grading signifies that there are “serious failings in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards” and that “significant improvement is needed”.
As RSH reports, “responsive engagement” with the council first began in August 2024, following information received as part of a Fire Safety Remediation Survey return. The regulator stated that the survey response from the council “indicated potentially material issues in relation to Portsmouth CC’s delivery of the outcomes of the consumer standards”. While this initially related to fire safety, other areas of the landlord’s health and safety remit were investigated, with the council making a self-referral in September 2024.
It was found that the council had failed to meet the expected safety and quality standard in four areas, namely, outstanding fire remedial actions, stock condition surveys, electrical safety, and emergency repairs clarity and oversight.
In its report, RSH stated: “In terms of fire safety, Portsmouth CC reported that all required Fire Risk Assessments (FRAs) had been undertaken but that following an internal change in how remedial actions are recorded and reported on, it had identified over 1,000 outstanding fire remedial actions, of which a small number were high risk.
“Subsequently, Portsmouth CC provided updated information that showed a reduction in the overall number of overdue actions and the number of high risk actions, but also identified that some high risk actions had been overdue for 12 months or more.”
RSH added that while the council had given “some assurance” that it was working to mitigate the risks associated with the overdue fire safety actions, given the high number of overdue actions, the regulator was “not assured” that the council had “adequate systems and processes in place” to guarantee that all necessary actions could be complete within “appropriate timescales”.
The regulator also noted that 85% of the council’s homes had “not had an electrical condition test for over five years”, with a number of these being located in high-risk communal blocks.
Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, Kate Dodsworth explained: “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.
“Portsmouth City Council has engaged constructively with us, and we welcome their transparency in making a self-referral. This is the first step towards addressing the serious failings identified and making significant improvements.”
Commenting on the RSH grading, Portsmouth City Council admitted that the grading was “not unexpected”, with the council having had a “work plan in place for some time” to address the issues. This included “responding to outstanding fire actions in priority order”, with plans to also “invest significantly” in this area.
Councillor Darren Sanders, Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness, said: “We knew there was room for improvement to meet the new regulator 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.
“I am confident we are already addressing the issues raised. Tenants are at the heart of everything we do, and tenant feedback reassures us that they have confidence in us as a landlord. We want to be open and transparent with our tenants, leaseholders and shared-owners, and to embrace the on-going work plan. This is the start of our journey with the regulator, and we will continue to work closely with them.”
As reported by BBC News, Sanders noted that some of the high risk fire actions mentioned included “delays in upgrading or replacing existing working fire doors”.
As previously reported by the FPA, Newcastle City Council and Nottingham City Council also received C3 gradings from the regulator earlier in January 2025.