City council unearths 16 regulatory compliance gaps after ALMO closure

The council confirmed in 2023 that it would be shutting down Your Homes Newcastle after nearly 20 years. It cited increased regulation of the social housing sector as a driving factor in the move.

The transfer of services was completed in July. According to the report, “closer management of housing services has unearthed some compliance issues”, much of which is related to the safety and quality standard.

The council has reviewed its performance against the new consumer standards. It identified that in “some areas such as anti-social behaviour and supporting residents to maintain their tenancies… we are performing well against the standards”.

“However, we have identified 16 material gaps against the standards, many in areas that [the] RSH would consider critical to achieving a compliant grade,” a document published alongside the main report said.

According to the document, the council expects to be handed a non-compliant consumer grade by the regulator.

“Compliance with the safety and quality standard will form a significant part of [the] RSH assessing our compliance, and our performance in this standard of itself is likely to be sufficient to justify a non-compliant grading.

“Significant gaps also exist across some areas of the tenancy standard, and the transparency, influence and accountability standard,” according to the report.

The gaps include:

• Lack of an up-to-date stock condition survey

• Lack of an asset strategy

• Outdated long-term Housing Revenue Account (HRA) business plan

• Lack of assurance on landlord compliance and Decent Homes Standard data quality  

• Lack of timely and right first-time resolution of repairs

• Failure to fully understand current adapted stock

• Allocations policy is out of date

• Lack of up-to-date housing strategy

• Lack of up-to-date strategy to support communities and neighbourhoods

• Lack of up-to-date resident engagement strategy

• Outdated domestic abuse policy and poor recording of domestic violence-related data

• Tenant data is not up to date and does not capture all of the required information

• New housing governance to take account of stock having come back in-house to be embedded

• Lack of council housing delivery plan to set out commitments to residents, improvement plans and accountability mechanisms

• Complaint-handling process not fully embedded

• Failure to fully apply the Rent Standard in the affordable housing portfolio

The council has set out its plans, as well as a target timeline, to address the gaps.

It aims to complete a stock condition survey by June 2027, write an asset strategy by summer 2025, and update its long-term HRA plan by April 2025.

A new domestic-abuse policy should be in place by March 2025.

The council aims to address areas of non-compliance, including a backlog of damp and mould cases and ranch-style staircases, by March 2026. The plan on how to tackle the damp and mould backlog should be developed by January 2025, according to the report.

A new allocations policy is expected to be in place by April 2025, while a new repairs policy is due this month.

A review of the effectiveness of the council’s resident engagement strategy is due in March. The local authority aims to publish a “high level” plan on the delivery of council homes this autumn.

It aims to resolve the issues of “potential overcharging of residents” and put in place clear governance around rent-setting by March 2025.

“In summary, whilst it is a matter for [the] RSH to determine our grading, it seems unlikely that they would assess our performance at either a C1, or C2.

“As we have a strong recovery plan we would hope that this would mean that [the] RSH did not feel it necessary to grade us as C4 or to use its powers in order to make interventions.

“Therefore, it is more likely that [the] RSH would grade us as C3.”

The council said in the report that it intends its recovery plan to move it from a C3 to C2.

“As we progress through this process we will also develop our C2 to C1 plan, so that we can continually improve our performance in all areas,” the report said.

In a statement to Inside Housing, Newcastle said that, after the transfer, it had started a “visioning exercise” to inform the city’s council housing plan, which identified the gaps.

It said the council was working to resolve the issues “quickly and effectively”, working “closely” with the regulator throughout the process.

After the report is presented to the cabinet and once the recovery plan is agreed, the council will make a formal self-assessment to the regulator against the consumer standards.

It said it was implementing procedures to ensure that any issues over the potential overcharging of residents are resolved, which includes clear governance around rent-setting.

The council will be working with an external specialist to complete an assurance exercise to carry out a specialist rent review, as well as an internal audit.

It has also commissioned an external contractor to carry out its planned stock condition survey.

A spokesperson for Newcastle City Council said: “The housing transfer is an opportunity to make our homes and housing services better than ever and ensure that we are compliant with all regulation requirements. We know change can’t and won’t happen overnight, but it is an important part of our plan for housing in Newcastle.

“We are committed to creating an environment where we don’t just talk to residents, but where we listen to what they say and make sure their voices are heard. We want to be knowledgeable about their homes as well as their needs. This valuable feedback will help us to shape our services to meet the needs of our residents.

“Our plan has been created to ensure that we tackle any compliance issues quickly. We are arranging regular drop-in sessions, attending community events and holding walkabouts in different areas of the city to get to know our residents more and to find out what they think so we can prioritise any necessary improvements.

“Together, we will make a difference to council housing in the city.”

So far, 11 councils and one housing association have been handed a non-compliant C3 grade following reactive engagement with the regulator.