Newham Council becomes first social landlord to receive lowest ‘C4’ consumer grade

Newham Council has received the lowest ‘C4’ grading for its performance against new consumer standards following an inspection by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).

The local authority is the first social landlord to receive a ‘C4’ since the new consumer regulation regime came into effect in April. The grading indicates there “very serious failings” and “fundamental changes” are needed.

RSH found Newham has failed to meet legal fire and electrical safety requirements, has a lack of accurate information on stock quality and thousands of repairs not completed on time.

Newham Council has at least 20% of its homes that are not meeting the Decent Homes Standard and did not complete the required Tenant Satisfaction Measure (TSM) surveys within the specified timescale.

The regulator said that there are “very limited meaningful opportunities for tenants to influence and scrutinise its strategies, policies and services”.

The RSH said although Newham Council has indicated a willingness to address the issues, it did not refer itself to the regulator before the inspection, nor was their evidence it had communicated with tenants about the issues in its homes.

According to the regulator, the council’s response to date “has not yet provided evidence to assure of us of its ability to put matters right”.

During its inspection this month, the RSH found that more than 40% of the council’s homes had not had an electrical condition test for more than 11 years.

The authority has developed a programme to complete all overdue safety checks but could only provide limited evidence on its mitigation of electrical safety risks while outstanding checks are completed.

The regulator found that there were 9,000 overdue fire safety remedial actions, of which over 8,000 were overdue by more than 12 months. The council categorised 4,000 actions as high risk.

In addition, Newham Council was not able to provide evidence that it was meeting regulations regarding smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in its homes. However, the local authority did provide information about its alarm-testing process.

Regarding stock condition surveys, around 60% of Newham Council’s homes have not been surveyed within the last five years. Furthermore, where surveys have been carried out, they have not all included an assessment of hazards using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System.

In its delayed TSM return, Newham reported that 67% of non-emergency repairs and 96% of emergency repairs were completed within target timescales. At the time of the inspection, the council had around 5,400 open repairs, of which 49% were outside of target dates, some of which were from earlier than 2024.

>>See also: Why are councils getting low consumer regulation gradings?

>>See also: How our council found the social housing inspection process

The RSH said it has decided not to use enforcement powers at this stage but expects Newham Council to “develop a comprehensive plan” that will drive significant change across all the areas identifed and to share the plan with tenants.

A RSH spokesperson said: “Our engagement with Newham will be intensive and we will seek evidence that gives us the assurance that sufficient change and progress is being made. Our priority will be that risks to tenants’ safety are adequately managed and mitigated. We are not proposing to use our enforcement powers at this stage but will keep this under review as LB Newham seeks to resolve these issues.”

Abi Gbago, chief executive of Newham Council, said the local authority accepts the RSH’s recommendations ”unequivocally” and takes its landlord responsbilities very seriously. She said a programme of improvement is underway to address the concerns.

She said: ”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.”

Since the regulator started assessing social landlords against the new consumer standards on 1 April, 11 councils have received a ’C3’ grading, which means there are serious failings which the landlord’s current arrangements are not strong enough to put right.

The regulatory judgement comes two months after Newham Council warned rising temporary accommodation costs could see it requiring assistance from the government.