Harlow District Council latest to breach consumer standards

Harlow District Council has become the eleventh council to receive a ’C3’ grading following an assessment of how it is meeting the Regulator of Social Housing’s (RSH) consumer standards, which were introduced in April. 

The regulator raised concerns regarding Harlow District Council’s failure to meet the Safety and Quality Standard component of the consumer standards.

Its ‘C3’ grading means there are serious failings which the landlord’s current arrangements are not strong enough to put right.

The RSH said Harlow District Council (HDC) has carried out fire risk assessments in just over 20% of homes in blocks where they are required. 

>> See also: Three more councils found in breach of regulator’s consumer standards

>> See also: Regulator of Social Housing issues second set of judgements from planned inspections

The regulator also found more than 500 overdue high-risk remedial actions and around 1,500 overdue medium-risk actions, with more than 1,000 of those overdue for longer than 12 months.

The report noted “we have not seen detailed evidence of how the associated risks are mitigated in the period between remedial actions being identified and when they are completed.”

The regulator’s assessment was carried out after it identified issues in the council’s Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM) submission in June. 

Harlow Council has employed an external consultant to help it to develop a detailed improvement plan. The authority is working to complete the outstanding fire risk assessments and resulting actions, starting with the highest risk blocks. 

RSH has said it will continue to scrutinise the council closely and expects HDC to demonstrate that it is reducing risks to tenants as it addresses these fire safety issues. 

Kate Dodsworth, chief of regulatory engagement at RSH, said: “It is unacceptable that Harlow Council has failed to meet fire safety requirements. Providing safe, decent homes for tenants begins with robust data, and this must include fire risk assessments for every home that needs one.  

“We identified these failings by scrutinising the council’s TSM results. It is the landlord’s responsibility to notify us themselves of material issues.

“Our new proactive approach and expanded consumer remit is helping to bring issues to the surface earlier. We expect all providers to regularly review and evaluate their services to improve outcomes for tenants.” 

In response to the assessment, councillor Dan Swords, leader of Harlow Council, said that the introduction of the new consumer standards in April “is an extremely welcome step”.  

He noted that this is the first time councils have been required to report to the regulator on various tenant satisfaction measures and acknowledged that “unfortunately we have seen a very large number of councils falling short on some of those measures and being graded with a C3 rating”. 

Swords said that Harlow performed well on nearly every tenant satisfaction measure, but is taking “clear steps to drive improvement across the board. 

>>See also: Evolution or revolution? What new consumer standards mean for RPs

He added: “However, on one measure – the number of fire risk assessments that had been carried out in our flat blocks – we performed very badly. 

“As a result of this shortcoming, the Regulator has awarded Harlow, like many other councils, a C3 grading. This does not mean Harlow’s flat blocks are unsafe, there is no ACM (Grenfell style-cladding) or anything of the like and tenants should be reassured of that.”

Swords continued: “This historic issue has not been dealt with well or quickly enough by the council. For several years, we have not carried out enough fire risk assessments and that is why this moment will be a very clear turning point.”

“We are already working closely with the Regulator to make specific improvements against these new requirements, and we are making rapid progress to that effect.”

He said the council will also bring forward an action plan that will be considered by the council’s cabinet, to make sure “we are taking every necessary step to right this historic failure”. 

Latest regulatory judgements 

Provider	Governance	Viability	Consumer Standards	Engagement Process
Saxon Weald	G1 Assessed and unchanged	V2  Assessed and unchanged	C2 First grading	Programmed inspection
Great Places Housing Group	G1 Assessed and unchanged	V2 Assessed and unchanged	C2 First grading	Programmed inspection
Calico Homes	G2 Downgrade	V2 Assessed and unchanged	C2 First grading	Programmed inspection
Bolton at Home	G2 Downgrade	V2 Assessed and unchanged	C2 First grading	Programmed inspection
The Haverbury Housing Partnership	G1 Assessed and unchanged	V2 Assessed and unchanged	C1 First grading	Programmed inspection
Rooftop Housing Group	G1 Assessed and unchanged	V2 Assessed and unchanged	C2 First grading	Programmed inspection
Mossacre St Vincent’s Housing Group	G1 Assessed and unchanged	V2 Assessed and unchanged	C2 First grading	Programmed inspection
Legal and General Affordable Homes	G1	V1	N/A	Stability check
Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association	G2 Downgrade	V2 Assessed and unchanged	N/A	Responsive engagement following a self-referral

Swords said he is confident that as a result of these actions, the council will resolve the issue and not be in a ‘C3’ position when the regulator’s next inspection takes place.

He added: “All Harlow Council tenants should know that the whole Cabinet and I take this matter extremely seriously. That’s why one of our corporate missions is to Transform Harlow’s housing and we will leave no stone unturned to ensure we deliver on that mission.”

The Regulator of Social Housing has published consumer standards gradings for a further nine social landlords. 

It has issued ‘C2’ gradings to Great Places, Mossacre St Vincent’s Housing Group, Rooftop Housing, Bolton at Home, Calico Homes and Saxon Weald. 

Suffolk-based Haverbury Housing received a ‘C1’ grading from the regulator. 

The regulator also issued governance downgrades to Calico Homes and Bolton at Home, meaning they now have ‘G2’ gradings. Calico Homes received a downgrade due to issues flagged in relation to board effectiveness and the need for it to strengthen its risk management processes. 

For Bolton at Home, the regulator said  the reason for the downgrade was due to weaknesses in financial planning, board oversight and in the effectiveness of risk management processes.

Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association (ISHA) has had its governance rating downgraded, from G1 to G2.  

Its financial viability grading has remained at ‘V2’, and it has yet to be assessed against the consumer standards, as the assessment came out of responsive engagement prompted by concerns about ISHA’s governance. 

ISHA referred itself to the regulator in October 2023 due to an issue of fraudulent activity. The regulator said that the housing association did not have sufficient internal controls in place to identify when fraud issues have occurred.

The regulator has confirmed Legal and General Affordable Homes’ financial viability and governance gradings, as ‘V1’ and ‘G1’ after carrying out an annual stability check.  

Annual stability checks are carried out to see whether a provider’s current viability grade is consistent with the financial information submitted in their regulatory returns. Consumer standards are not assessed during stability checks.

Social landlords found non-compliant with new consumer standards	Type	Date of judgement
Harlow District Council	Local authority	25-Sep-24
Castle Point Borough Council	Local authority	13-Sep-24
North Yorkshire Council	Local authority	13-Sep-24
Warwickshire Council	Local authority	13-Sep-24
Brighton & Hove City Council	Local authority	09-Aug-24
Hackney Council	Local authority	09-Aug-24
South Derbyshire District Council	Local authority	09-Aug-24
Ashford Borough Council	Local authority	09-Aug-24
Bristol City Council	Local authority	09-Jul-24
Guildford Borough Council	Local authority	09-Jul-24
Octavia Housing	Housing association	09-Jul-24
Sheffield City Council	Local authority	09-Jul-24