London council leader apologises after more than half of homes found without smoke alarms

Among the RSH’s findings, it said Southwark Council had failed to self-refer over the lack of smoke alarms despite “over 50%” of its homes not having a device.

Regulations came into force in October 2022 requiring all social landlords to have smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in homes. 

The regulator also found the local authority had nearly 2,000 overdue fire safety remedial actions, of which almost 100 were categorised as “high risk”. 

Southwark Council had also failed to do a stock condition survey since 2010, the RSH said. The authority also told the regulator that around 30% of its homes do not meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard.

More than half of its homes had not had an electrical condition test for over five years, the judgement said. 

The council self-referred over electrical safety in June, with Inside Housing revealing details of overdue tests. 

There was also evidence of a “failure to allocate homes, especially empty homes, in a fair and transparent way that takes the needs of tenants and prospective tenants into account”, the RSH said. 

Mr Williams said the council is investing around £250m over the next three years to make its homes “safe and decent”.

He added: “We’re improving our repairs, complaints and housing allocations services and establishing a new housing management board – with tenants round the table – so you can hold us to account.”

The council said it is working to tackle all overdue electrical safety checks and install smoke alarms in all homes by March 2026.

On fire safety, Southwark Council said it had spent £20m over the past three years and plans to spend another £10m, or more if needed.

Elsewhere, Southampton City Council and West Northamptonshire Council were also given C3 ratings for “serious failings”.

At Southampton Council, the RSH found that nearly half (47%) of its 18,000 homes did not meet the Decent Homes Standard. A poor performance on routine repairs and “weaknesses around asbestos safety” were also among the problems.

Lorna Fielker, leader of Southampton Council, said: “On behalf of the council, I would like to apologise to all those tenants who have not received the standard of service they should expect and deserve.”

She added: “A good home is the foundation on which happy and healthy lives are built, and it is clear that, as a landlord, we have let our tenants down. I am committed to ensuring the regulator’s findings are addressed and that our improvement plans are delivered as soon as possible.” 

At West Northamptonshire Council, which owns 11,517 social homes, the regulator found a lack of assurance over safety checks for fire, electrical, water and asbestos. There was also limited evidence that remedial actions were being completed within appropriate timescales. 

The authority had self-referred to the RSH in September. 

Adam Brown, leader of West Northamptonshire Council, said: “Everyone deserves safe, high-quality housing and we recognise that this is not being delivered to some of our tenants. This is simply not good enough and we are sorry that standards have fallen short of what the council and tenants should expect.” 

He said the council has taken “immediate action” by prioritising safety concerns and working closely with Northamptonshire Partnership Homes, which manages the properties. 

Kate Dodsworth, chief of regulatory engagement at RSH, said: “We… expect all landlords to take the health and safety of tenants in their homes extremely seriously.

“They must listen to tenants’ concerns, acting swiftly to resolve any issues and this cannot be achieved without accurate, up-to-date data.”

She added: “We are engaging intensively with the landlords in each of these cases as they work to put things right for tenants. A self-referral is a positive sign that a landlord is taking accountability and understands their responsibilities.” 

In other judgements, Lambeth Council, Medway Council, Chesterfield Borough Council and Stevenage Borough Council all received a C2 grade following inspections.