A borough council has been downgraded by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) over “very serious failings”, including risks around fire safety
Of the issues identified during a planned inspection in December, RSH said that Castle Point Borough Council “could not demonstrate” that it was “effectively managing and mitigating fire safety risks in its homes”.
As reported by Inside Housing, a C3 grading was given to the Essex council in September after it failed to “collect and report Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs)”. However, in December, the regulator found that the council “had not yet taken remedial action” to address the issues. Other concerns included “significant gaps” in information on the condition of its 1,500 homes, with less than 1% of homes surveyed in the last five years.
RSH stated: “Castle Point Borough Council failed to self-refer over any of these issues and although it has indicated a willingness to address these serious failings, there is not sufficient evidence that it understands the potential risks to tenants and of its ability to put matters right, to ensure tenants are safe.”
The council was downgraded from a C3 to a C4 grading, with the regulator stating: “Our judgement is that there are very serious failings in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards. The landlord must make fundamental changes so that improved outcomes are delivered.”
The regulator added that the council would need to “develop a comprehensive plan” that would “drive significant change across all the areas identified, and to share that with tenants”.
“Our engagement with Castle Point Borough Council will be intensive and we will seek evidence that gives us the assurance that sufficient change and progress is being made. Our priority will be that risks to tenants’ safety are adequately managed and mitigated. We are not proposing to use our enforcement powers at this stage but will keep this under review as Castle Point Borough Council seeks to resolve these issues,” RSH added.
In a press release published on 12 December 2024, the Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, Kate Dodsworth 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.”
Commenting on the RSH judgement, the leader of Castle Point Borough Council, Dave Blackwell 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’ well-being and safety, and this will remain our priority even after all issues have been addressed.”
Blackwell said that the council had agreed to invest an additional £438,000 into the “improvement journey” but added that “money alone will not fix the problems, that have been many years in the making”. He said the council would be reviewing its policies and maintenance and repairs programmes.
The council added it had begun work to procure new contractors who could speed up the process of remedial works still to be carried out across its portfolio.
The full RSH judgement can be accessed here.