Industry News


Two more councils breach Home Standard over safety failings


Another two council landlords have been found in breach of the Regulator’s Home Standard aſter reporting themselves for health and safety failings involving thousands of tenants’ homes. A regulatory notice was handed to Great


Yarmouth Borough Council in Norfolk over a variety of failings, including it completing insufficient fire risk assessments (FRAs) and having overdue fire risk actions. An internal audit by the council


identified failings across fire, gas, electrical, asbestos and water safety services. Tis included a lack of reconciliation between management systems, meaning the council did not have up-to-date records of health and safety compliance. Te regulator was not taking statutory


action at this stage, as it felt the council understands the work it needs to undertake to rectify the problems. However, because of the seriousness of the issues and the number of tenants potentially affected, this meant a breach of the Home Standard had occurred. A recent fire safety management review


commissioned by the council found the FRAs in place were “neither suitable nor sufficient” and could not be relied upon. It also identified a small number of high-risk actions overdue for at least six months. Te council is now completing almost 200 new FRAs for all of its stock. Te council also found checks for water


hygiene and asbestos were not always fully completed or marked as completed in records. It found that 180 properties had not had electrical inspections within the target date of every five years. An action plan is now in place and all outstanding work should be completed by the summer of 2023. Newark and Sherwood District


Council in Nottinghamshire also received a regulatory notice aſter an internal investigation found overdue gas inspections for more than 1,000 properties, representing nearly 20 per cent of the council’s housing stock. Although the inspections were typically


overdue for a “relatively short period of time”, because of the seriousness of the issues and the number of tenants potentially affected, the regulator concluded there was a risk of “serious detriment” to tenants during this period.


Regulator urges landlords to prepare early for new tenant satisfaction measures


H


ousing associations and councils are being urged to get ready for collecting the new range of tenant satisfaction measures


ahead of their introduction from April 2023. Te biggest change to the measures was


clearly separating out how satisfied tenants were that their home is safe, from their satisfaction it is also well maintained. Tis used to be a single question but in the light


of concerns over the safety of residential buildings post-Grenfell and the high profile reports of poorly maintained homes that have appeared in the media in the past couple of years, it was inevitable that these would be measured separately. Among other changes made, the Regulator has


clarified the definition of several TSMs, including the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code timescales, complaints relative to the size of the landlord, and safety checks. Te definition of repairs has been amended to include emergency as well as non-emergency repairs. Te definition of anti-social behaviour cases


was amended to exclude domestic abuse to reflect government guidance. Te Regulator will consider further how to monitor compliance with regulatory requirements concerning domestic abuse. Te Regulator of Social Housing finalised the


new Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) following a consultation earlier this year, which received over 1,000 responses. In all there are 22 measures covering five themed areas of repairs, building safety, resident engagement, complaints and neighbourhood management.


14 | HMMDecember/January 2023 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


Ten measures will be collected directly by


landlords with 12 covered by tenant surveys. It is possible that electrical safety checks and a measure for the standard of communal areas will be added at a later date. While social landlords will need to collect data


from next April, their first annual submissions will not be due until Summer 2024, with the first collective report published in the Autumn. Te measures are intended to enable residents to


scrutinise their landlord and hold them to account and provide a source of intelligence to the Regulator on whether landlords are meeting the regulatory standards. TSMs will be used alongside other tools to gain assurance from social housing providers. Te new TSMs will be used by the regulator


along with other tools to scrutinise landlords across a range of areas and gain assurance from social housing providers. A spokeman for the National Housing


Federation, said: “We know some members will be concerned about some measures being used in a way that doesn’t reflect the context they operate in. Te Regulator has acknowledged that care will need to be taken in interpreting the results of some measures and says that its regulatory view of providers’ performance will be based on a range of sources of assurance, not the TSM data alone. “We will work with NHF members to


understand the final measures and requirements in preparation for the implementation of the TSMs from April 2023.”


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