Over 9,000 overdue fire safety remedial actions have been identified at the London Borough of Newham, following an inspection by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH)
Of the remedial actions identified by the regulator, more than 8,000 were found to be overdue by 12 months, while more than 4,000 were categorised as high risk. The council, which is responsible for 16,000 homes, was issued with the RSH’s first C4 grading, signifying that “very serious failings and fundamental changes are needed”.
In addition to the fire safety issues, the regulator found that 40% of the council’s homes had not had an electrical condition test for more than 11 years while 20% of the homes did not meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard. The RSH inspection also revealed that there were “very limited meaningful opportunities for tenants to influence and scrutinise the landlord’s strategies, policies, and services”.
The RSH added that the council had failed to refer itself to the regulator, and although it had “indicated a willingness to address these issues”, the regulator had “not yet seen sufficient evidence to assure [RSH] of their ability to put matters right.”
Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, Kate Dodsworth said: “The breadth and scale of these failings, including very serious health and safety issues, pose an unacceptable risk to tenants’ well-being.
“Taking accountability is a critical part of the co-regulatory approach and it is extremely concerning that, despite the gravity of these failings, the landlord failed to refer themselves to us over key issues.
“We are now engaging intensively with LB Newham as they work to resolve these issues. While we are not proposing to use our enforcement powers at this stage, this will be kept under review.”
In a statement published on 16 October 2024, Newham Council apologised to its tenants over the failings, with Council Chief Executive, Abi Gbago stating:
“We take our responsibilities as a landlord very seriously. And we accept that we have let our tenants down in the areas outlined by the Regulator. We unequivocally accept all the recommendations in the report. They will be addressed in the programme of improvement already well underway.
“We can and must do better for our tenants. We have long been prioritising actions aimed at keeping residents safe, making many improvements even since the inspectors visited us in May. In line with our culture of openness and transparency, we welcomed the inspector’s review of our how well we are delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards, providing them with opportunities to meet tenants, officers and councillors,” she said.
In a separate statement, Mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz OBE said:
“Residents living in our Council homes deserve better, and I have made clear that the required improvements by the Housing Services department must be swift and rapid. We must do better by our tenants and residents and as Mayor of Newham, I’ll be making sure the recommendations are implemented fully and all lessons learnt across the entirety of the Council. There will be openness and transparency about progress in making those required improvements across all areas of the consumer standards, and I’ll be bringing in external experts to provide me additional assurance that change is happening.
“Fourteen years of cuts by the previous government have had enormous consequences for local authority services across the country – and Newham is no exception. We are already working at speed to complete overdue fire inspections, put in place additional resource to deliver electrical safety improvements and enhance opportunities for residents to engage with our services. In recent years, Newham has made enormous progress – I will work every day to ensure that our housing services are not left behind.”
The council adds it has already begun to take action on the “majority of issues” found by the regulator as part of a £64 million capital investment programme. Since the RSH’s inspection, the council confirmed it had “put plans in place” to complete all overdue remedial fire risk actions. Additional measures to be implemented by the council include a monthly inspection of all firefighting equipment, a mobile hazard removal service, and monthly liaison meetings with the London Fire Brigade.
In April 2024, the RSH introduced new consumer standards for social housing landlords to “drive long-term improvements in the sector”. As previously reported by the FPA, in September, Harlow District Council was told it needed to make “significant improvements” after receiving a C3 grading.