15th
Aug 2024
A director of compliance services at a private landlord sector law firm has slammed four social housing providers for getting away with having to pay no fines for serious shortcomings of their management of social housing properties, whilst levying massive fines on PRS landlords.
The director heavily criticised four social housing councils after the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) published its latest damning judgements on Brighton and Hove City Council, London Borough of Hackney, South Derbyshire District Council, and Ashford Borough Council.
The ‘Fantastic Four’ were given a C grading which signifies severe failings and requires significant improvement actions to provide safe housing and management. The RSH judgements uncovered what the director calls ‘alarming safety breaches”.
Below are the judgements and comments from the RSH on the Gov.uk website:
Brighton and Hove City Council
- Failed to ensure that it is meeting electrical safety requirements, with around 3,600 homes not having a current electrical condition report (out of 12,100 total homes).
- Also reported over 500 overdue water safety remedial actions, and more than 600 homes without a water risk assessment. The council also identified 1,700 medium and low-risk fire remedial actions, as well as a backlog of around 8,000 low risk repairs.
The London Borough of Hackney:
- Has over 15,000 homes without a current electrical safety certificate (out of 21,500 total homes). There was also no evidence of smoke detectors being fitted in almost 9,000 homes, or carbon monoxide detectors in over 400 homes.
- The council has 400 homes that have not received a gas safety inspection within the required timeframe. It also reported more than 1,400 open damp and mould cases in tenants’ homes.
South Derbyshire District Council:
- Fewer than half of the homes requiring a fire risk assessment have one in place. Moreover, a number of homes did not have a valid electrical safety certificate, and more than 100 homes required further works due to unsatisfactory certificates.
- The council also failed to demonstrate a sufficient understanding of its tenants’ homes and RSH could not be assured that it is providing homes of decent quality. The council owns 2,935 social homes in total.
Ashford Borough Council:
- Has serious failings in how it is meeting health and safety requirements. This includes overdue electrical safety checks, incomplete fire remedial actions and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors that has not been installed in some of its 4,800 homes.
- The council also reported that it has not carried out a full stock condition survey for over 10 years. RSH’s investigation found that complaints are not being recorded consistently and tenants have lacked opportunities to influence decision making about how their services are provided.
Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, said:
“Landlords must provide safe and decent homes for tenants by taking a proactive approach to delivering the outcomes of our standards. Making sure tenants’ homes are safe and keeping up-to-date data is key to meeting these objectives, as is ensuring there are effective approaches to handling complaints and engaging with tenants.
“The issues outlined in the judgements published today need to be addressed promptly and we are working intensively with each of the landlords as they put things right for their tenants.”
Commenting on the judgements the director says he is lost for words by how the guilty councils manage not to be issued with sizeable fines whilst private landlords would immediately be subject to immediate enforcement action and fines.
He says: "Yet again councils get let off with a slapped wrist for housing failures for which the very same council would fine a private landlord out of existence.
"Fines for not having an EICR are up to £30,000 and it's up to £30,000 for inadequate fire alarms/precautions and another up to £30,000 for damp and mould.
"If this was a private portfolio landlord where 'professional’ means they would get the highest possible fines, because ‘they should know better’ - they would be looking at the best part of £100,000 in fines per property.
"But the same councils that inflict these fines (which they keep for their own revenue budget) just get a slapped wrist and time to leave the tenants in mortal danger until they feel like getting around to the repairs and upgrades.
"It's at best immoral. Some may say completely corrupt."
News Archive »