Lewisham Council found non-compliant as 5,000 fire safety actions overdue

A London local authority has been found non-compliant with regulatory standards as 5,000 of its fire safety actions were overdue.

In a regulatory notice issued this morning, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) said Lewisham Council is not meeting its consumer standards.

The council, which in October took over the management of its 19,000 homes, including 13,500 social rented homes, following the disbandment of its ALMO Lewisham Homes, referred itself to RSH in December after finding its repairs services was not to the expected standard.

The RSH’s investigation found 5,000 fire safety actions had not been carried out in the timeframe required by the council’s own policy.

RSH also found nearly half of all repairs between April and December last year had not been completed on time and damp and mould reports had not been correctly assessed for severity.

More than 2,000 of the council’s homes do not meet the Decent Homes standard. RSH said the council does not have completed data for its tenants’ homes.

The council has now put in place a plan to address the issues and is carrying out a stock survey so it can better understand the condition of its homes.

>>See also: Regulator of Social Housing finalises new consumer standards and regulatory approach

>>See also: Kirklees council found non-compliant over 20,000 overdue fire safety actions

Kate Dodsworth, chief of regulatory engagement at RSH, said: “All social landlords need to provide good-quality homes and services for their tenants, underpinned by robust data. Lewisham Council has failed to do this.

“The council referred itself to us when it found problems and is engaging with us constructively to put things right for tenants.

“We will continue to scrutinise the council as it carries out this work.” 

The regulator’s new approach to regulation and revised consumer standards comes into effect on Monday.

A spokesperson for Lewisham Council said: ”In October 2023, Lewisham Council took over responsibility for managing and maintaining more than 13,500 social rent homes across the borough, following the transfer of staff and services from the ALMO Lewisham Homes.

“We are determined to make improvements and tackle some persistent problems in the service, and as part of this process we decided to self-refer to the Regulator of Social Housing in December 2023.

“We take the regulator’s findings very seriously and we acknowledge our underperformance and ongoing challenges in some areas of the service.

“We have already made some progress, which the regulator recognises in its notice. We will continue working with the Regulator until we have satisfied their concerns and achieved full compliance for our residents.”

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