Agenda item

To receive information on the judgement made by the Regulator of Social Housing on 27 November 2024, and how the Council intends to respond to the judgement.

The committee first heard from Councillor Sarah King, Cabinet Member for Council Homes and Hakeem Osinaike, Strategic Director for Housing on the following points of discussion.

·  Inspection in 2024, details and judgement in the report; action plan in place prior to inspection and regulator confident of improvement in HRA

·  Council commitment to engage with residents and to improve Southwark’s status from C3 as in the report (Supplementary Agenda no.1, pg. 2) to a good landlord

·  Monthly meetings with regulator, agreeing and tracking actions on the good landlord plan; Governance and Oversight- establishing the Strategic Housing Oversight Board, Repairs Improvement Board and Housing Management Board; feedback from these boards along with the regulators and scrutiny’s feedback to be included in the workings of the good landlord plan

The committee then asked questions on the following themes

• Report indicating that some council properties do not have smoke alarms and electrical safety checks, accountability and ownership of these issues
• Devon Mansions full and final report, expectations include resident attendance numbers
• Officers working on action plans/progress on failings outside of Housing Governance Board in response to regulator of social housing; Stock Condition Survey hasn’t happened since 2010, conditions of stock properties.

Hakeem informed the committee that the Housing Improvement Board holds officers responsible accountable, by reviewing progress reports on action plans in accordance with the good landlord plan. Furthermore, these progress reports are shared with Corporate Management Team (CMT) and Strategic Housing Oversight Board chaired by the Leader of the council and attended by Cabinet Member for Council Homes and Strategic Directors and Chief Executive. The Stock Condition survey has been commissioned for 100% of the properties internally and externally (communally). In addition, information would also be gathered on public health and social care within these properties to provide a holistic overview. The aims are to survey 20% of properties every year providing a complete 100% assessment every five years on stock conditions. The 30% of non-decent properties are the ones that don’t have an Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICR), although the properties might have satisfied all other criteria for a decent home.

The committee then asked further questions on the following topics

• Strategy for addressing windows and other repair issues in the diverse street properties in House in Multiple Occupancy (HMO).
• Actions in the housing improvement plan to identify trends in types of housing complaints and subsequent sharing of that information with residents through ward councillors and their respective surgery casework; Intelligence within the housing improvement plan on the ratio of stage 1 and stage 2 complaints differentiating major works complaints from other non-repair related complaints like missed bin collections, and sharing of this information with wards councillors for their respective surgery casework.

• Clarifications on:

§  the chronological order of the Housing Improvement Board Action Plan, pg.16 8.1 complaints team target of the last quarter of 2025

§  the prioritisation of 4.1 EICR testing target of first quarter of 2026

§  the measuring of the persistent complaints of damp and mould as per law.

The committee learnt from Hakeem that the stock condition survey would provide the base for developing an Asset Management Strategy, and the amount of investment needed in the housing stock is governed by limitations of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA). The asset management strategy would also include engaging with residents to inform them of the upcoming window replacement programmes which could be over a longer period, whilst committing to residents of repairs to be carried out meanwhile.

Cllr King explained to the committee the importance of the stock condition survey, in developing an investment strategy to fully reflect the needs of our residents. The stock condition survey will identify the needs of the stock whether they are street properties or other types of properties, and it will also have sub-groups for different types of windows building typographical profile of needs within the borough. As and when these properties with need are identified within the survey, the work will commence on priortising these properties from year 1. The work on engaging with residents through Housing and Resident associations has already commenced for stock condition surveys.

Furthermore, the council has committed to publishing progress on the housing improvement action plan in discussions with the regulator to ensure transparency and assess effectiveness. However, the approach and format of publishing such information to the public is yet to be determined, as it requires further work.

Hakeem informed the committee that the new complaints team has prepared a report on the drivers of the repair complaints, and it also makes recommendations on other areas to concentrate on within housing improvement action plan. Once implemented, this action plan will be monitored continuously to check progress.

The committee noted that the housing improvement action plan and monitoring its progress is included in the council’s digital transformation strategy. The committee also noted that the Judgement made by the Regulator of Social Housing for Southwark Council was a result of a self-referral by the council and an inspection carried out by the Regulator of Social Housing.

Hakeem explained to the committee that the complaints team target of the last quarter of 2025 is to track the progress of the recommendations made by the team, based on analysis and identification of trends and themes within housing complaints.

On target for EICRs, 30% of non-decent properties represents a considerable number of properties, given that Southwark Council is the largest social landlord in London. The council has extended the contracts of the two existing electrical contractors and are in process of procuring two more contractors to meet this ambitious target of the first quarter 2026. In comparison to gas checks which could take up to an hour, EICR takes up to 4 hours, this would mean that residents would have to take time off to allow access and residents are not legally required to allow access, this could create access issues for contractors. The team is committed to this ambitious target given the important safety issues, EICRs that have not been done are mainly due to access issues and the realistic expectation is to attempt an EICR for every single property by the first quarter of 2025.

On damp and mould, following the death of a young child, the government now legally requires social landlords to resolve damp and mould issues within strict timelines from when it is first reported (Awaab’s Law). Contractors are being procured to ensure that the council is compliant within the law on damp and mould fixes.

The committee then asked further questions on the following points

• Combining gas checks with EICRs and annual tenancy checks
• Issues with accessing housing services in certain areas; Concerns on the lack of resident empowerment actions within the resident services (resident engagement) and the wider Housing Improvement action plan; Details on pt 9.1 of the report diversity and inclusion measures (respect towards residents)
• Communicating property access issues to residents and timelines to when the council could access the property (spare key) with or without resident consent, to carry out critical safety checks or work.
• Timelines and next steps for improving Southwark Council’s social housing C3 grade to C2.
• Should there be a need for scrutinising overall Housing services and major works in such detail in the future for accountability
• Lobbying the government for regulatory change in housing.

Hakeem informed the committee that the team are looking at combining various kind of checks to reduce the number of visits to one property, however gas checks are annual and EICRs are every five years.

The Chair addressed the committee explaining that the council is incumbent in ensuring that all safety checks in all council properties are completed and that non-compliance in safety checks could result in loss of life.

The committee also discussed the need for analysis of legacy and current, repair issues and the stock management issue within Southwark’s housing stock and across London.

Cllr King explained to the committee that the larger social landlords in London such as Southwark Council have larger areas of deprivation, and the housing services needed in these areas are limited due to council’s financial constraints. Housing and Resident Associations are heavily regulated by law, Local Authorities (social landlords) are now also being brought into comply with regulations. London councils must now be prepared by understanding and complying with these new regulations.

On resident services Cllr King is looking at bringing resident engagement structures to the Housing Repairs Board, Housing Management Board and Housing Oversight Board to ensure transparency with residents. The council is committed to bring more resident engagement, health and safety and transparency with residents across all services within the council. The aim is also to better use technology to engage with residents.

The committee learnt from Hakeem about the enormous scale and size of the social housing stock in Southwark, and the variety of different builds from different periods that complicates resolving housing related issues. Furthermore, it is critical to have a borough wide plan for social housing rather than fixing certain areas due to external pressures.

On access to properties the council does not have a spare key for properties, in the event of lack of consent from the resident, court (legal) proceedings must be carried out, statutory steps for gas checks and injunctions for EICRs. The council gives residents all the critical safety information in the form leaflets and letters explaining the importance of such safety checks.

Hakeem further explained to the committee that there are no set timelines for improving the grade from C3 to C2, however being in C3 mode involves regular monthly meetings with the regulators discussing progress updates until the regulator feels that sufficient progress has been made and it’s the correct direction of travel for improvement. The social housing regulator must inspect every 4 years; however, an inspection can occur at any time the regulator feels necessary. The objective is to improve Southwark’s grade from C3 to C1.

Cllr King explained to the committee that there should not be a need for detailed scrutiny of housing services, the council should be able to engage early with leaseholders and tenants on the scope of the major works contracts. The council should be able to go through a tender process to ensure we are working with the right contractors, and have scope for the difficult conversations with the contractors; whilst ensuring the viability of the HRA and value to resident housing services. Cllr King aims to improve the confidence ward councillors have in Housing services, and the concerns raised by residents to be taken seriously by teams of officers. The council is undergoing a cultural change in the approach to housing services which involves a wider look into housing issues on property, estate and wider borough levels. The council’s main priority is to work on the good landlord plan based on the judgement by the Social Housing regulator whilst addressing the challenges in the HRA.

On lobbying the government for regulatory change in housing, Cllr King explained to the committee that the council has undertaken a new strand of work on Council Homes with 100 other councils. The five recommendations from the report have been heard and there is ongoing engagement with Angela Rayner, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Matthew Pennycook, MP. There have been positive responses on the future of Council Homes delivery and long-term settlement. Furthermore, more lobbying needs to be done with the government on the precarious state of the HRAs. Cllr King’s Cabinet Member remit of Council Homes is focused on the recommendation on green and decent homes, which requires massive amounts of funding from the government. In addition, fire safety works and building safety works were not funded by the previous government which has increased financial pressure on the council.