London council breaches Home Standard over electrical safety failure in thousands of homes

The regulator launched an investigation into the council following a referral from a tenant.  

The council reported to the RSH that 3,500 domestic properties did not have a current electrical condition report. 

“The evidence provided to the regulator also demonstrated that [the London Borough of] Harrow did not have valid water safety risk assessments in place for a number of properties,” according to the regulator.

It ruled that the council “did not have an effective system in place to allow it to meet its statutory health and safety responsibilities across a number of areas”.  

The RSH said that Harrow had demonstrated that it now understood the safety work it needed to do. 

“However, taking into account the seriousness of the issues, brought to our attention via a tenant referral, the duration for which tenants were exposed to risk and the number of tenants potentially affected, the regulator has concluded that [the London Borough of] Harrow has breached the Home Standard and that there was a risk of serious detriment to tenants during this period,” it said. 

In agreement with the regulator, the council has put an “urgent programme” in place to rectify the failures. 

The RSH said it would therefore not take statutory action at this stage, as it has assurance that the breach is being remedied.

In a joint statement, Mina Parmar, Harrow’s cabinet member for housing, and corporate director of place Dipti Patel said the ruling “shows fundamental flaws in the way the council has historically managed electrical inspections” in tenants’ homes and communal water tests. 

“All families deserve to live in well-maintained homes that are safe and warm. 

“We are very sorry that the council has failed to deliver the quality of service that our tenants should expect in their homes.

“We are determined to address this quickly and have already taken action to change this,” they said. 

The council has appointed a contractor to carry out electrical safety checks across council homes without a current Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) certificate.  

It pledged to carry out over 2,000 electrical tests over the next 12 months and the remainder in the following year. 

All outstanding water tests will be completed by May 2023, it said. 

Alongside this, the council will be recruiting a building safety manager and information officer to make sure it complies with all safety regulations.  

It will introduce a new IT system that keeps all health and safety information about council homes in one place, easily accessible by officers and contractors. 

It is investing £4m into its safety works programme over the next year, as well as establishing a resident panel to help monitor health and safety compliance. 

Kate Dodsworth, director of consumer regulation at the RSH, said: “We investigated the London Borough of Harrow after a tenant referred the case to us, and found that the council has breached our standards and put tenants at potential risk. 

“The council needs to address the issues that led to this situation, and we will monitor it closely as it puts things right for tenants.”