The Regulator of Social Housing has issued a C4 grading to Castle Point Borough Council, after a planned inspection found fundamental changes were needed to address very serious failings.
Today's judgement is a downgrade from a C3 grading which was published in September after regulatory engagement identified a failure by Castle Point Borough Council to collect and report Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs).
During an inspection, RSH found that Castle Point Borough Council:
Could not demonstrate that it is effectively managing and mitigating fire safety risks in its homes.
Had not yet taken remedial action to address issues with TSM reporting, with no opportunities for tenants to influence and scrutinise its strategies, policies and services.
Had surveyed less than 1% of its 1,500 homes in the last five years, meaning there are significant gaps in the information it holds on the condition of its homes.
Did not have an up-to-date electrical condition test for over 40% of communal areas.
Weakened its service to tenants by its failure to have a domestic abuse policy in place. It was also unable to demonstrate how it responds to reports of hate crime or supports victims.
Castle Point Borough Council failed to self-refer over any of these issues and although it has indicated a willingness to address these serious failings, there is not sufficient evidence that it understands the potential risks to tenants and of its ability to put matters right, to ensure tenants are safe.
Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, said:
The breadth and seriousness of the issues that we found are extremely concerning. Castle Point must act promptly and make significant changes.
The council must urgently ensure that risks to tenants' safety are managed and mitigated. It must develop a detailed improvement plan and share this with tenants to give them the opportunity to scrutinise and influence the proposals. We will continue to engage intensively with the council as it works to put things right.
We identified these failings through our new proactive inspection programme but we expect landlords to self-refer as soon as they become aware of an issue. All social landlords need to ensure tenants are safe in their homes and meet the outcomes in our standards. We will continue to take action when they don't.
Whilst Castle Point Borough Council has an arrangement with a managing agent, as the landlord it is accountable and responsible for meeting the outcomes of RSH's standards. RSH has a range of enforcement powers that it can use if social landlords cannot or will not address material failures to meet its standards. It is not proposing to use its powers in relation to Castle Point at this stage, but will keep the position under review.
RSH is carrying out planned inspections of all large social landlords (those with over 1,000 homes) over a four-year cycle. RSH has started to publish the outcomes of these first inspections and will continue to do so over the coming months.
Notes
On 1 April 2024 RSH introduced new consumer standards for social housing landlords, designed to drive long-term improvements in the sector. It also began a programme of landlord inspections. The changes are a result of the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023 and include stronger powers to hold landlords to account.
