Wandsworth (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Wandsworth Council’s housing stock fails to meet health and safety standards, with tenants facing delays for fire safety works and lacking electrical safety tests.
The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), a public organization that is currently assessing the housing stock of all local authorities, found health and safety requirements that the local authority is addressing quickly.
Following a first-time inspection of the council’s housing stock in November, the regulator said the council needed to make major changes to address issues outlined in a new report released on Wednesday.
It gave the council the second-lowest possible score of “C3” for its performance in meeting consumer guidelines.
The council declared that it was addressing health and safety violations discovered by inspectors with “swift and decisive action.”
Additionally, it stated that it was generally fulfilling the other consumer guidelines and that it would be closely collaborating with the regulator in the upcoming months to raise its rating. Of its approximately 17,000 properties, the majority are under its direct management.
The 1,800 unfinished fire safety projects were all more than a year overdue, according to the assessment, but none of them were deemed high risk.
Although several of the tests for water safety, asbestos management, and lift maintenance had just recently been finished, the regulator was confident that the council was following legal standards in other areas of health and safety.
The report added:
“Wandsworth has been engaging constructively with us and has put in a place a programme to rectify these failures, including work to complete outstanding health and safety checks and actions, improve its understanding of the condition of its homes, and making improvements to its complaint handling processes.
We will seek evidence that gives us the assurance that sufficient change and progress is being made, including ongoing monitoring of how it delivers its improvement programme.”
The regulator further stated that it had observed proof that the council lacked current data regarding the state of the majority of its residences.
It discovered flaws in the authority’s ability to consider tenants’ opinions while making choices.
However, inspectors commended the council for connecting renters with appropriate housing and for handling antisocial behavior successfully.
The regulator stated that the authority had demonstrated that it was managing complaints fairly, efficiently, and swiftly, but that it still needed to increase tenants’ satisfaction with the handling of complaints and response times.
In response to the report, the council stated that it will inspect 20% of properties yearly for the following five years in order to conduct a thorough assessment of the state of its housing stock.
It further stated that 38,000 fire safety projects had already been finished prior to the inspection, even though 1,800 were past due.
Labour councillor Aydin Dikerdem, cabinet member for housing, said:
“Since we took control of the council over two years ago, we have invested significant new resources into our housing management teams and reformed our tenant participation structures.
While it is not what we hoped for, this report will help us in targeting where we need to improve and the areas of the new housing regulatory framework we need to adapt to.
We look forward to working with the regulator to make this happen.”
What specific health and safety hazards are most prevalent in Wandsworth’s housing stock?
Nearly 1,800 fire safety remedial projects have been unfinished for more than a year, which is a serious problem.
Tenant safety is seriously at danger because of this, as seen by previous instances when failure to promptly address fire safety concerns has had dire repercussions.
Category 1 hazards are the most dangerous and provide an immediate risk to health and safety according to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).
An estimated 13% of privately leased homes in Wandsworth are thought to have at least one Category 1 hazard, which is higher than the national average.
Frequent electrical testing is essential, although timely inspections of all premises may not always be provided.
Although the frequency of electrical risks is not specifically stated, Wandsworth Council tests the electrical systems in shared spaces and rental houses.