London council self-refers to regulator over potential standards breach

The council took over responsibility for managing and maintaining more than 13,500 homes across the borough in October, following the transfer of staff and services from Lewisham Homes, the ALMO it launched in 2007.

The decision came after a consultation in the summer with tenants and leaseholders found that 71% of respondents backed the proposal to return services in-house.

Just 6% of people consulted opposed the plans, while 23% said they did not know one way or the other, Lewisham said.

A June report drafted by council officers recommended bringing the service in-house to help the authority deal with legislative changes, increased costs and dwindling tenant satisfaction.

In January 2022, Lewisham Homes announced that it had developed a damp and disrepair action plan after a tenant’s poor housing conditions were exposed as part of an ITV News investigation.

A stock-condition survey carried out in 2019 and 2020 established that bringing the council’s properties up to the Decent Homes Standard would probably cost £300m over five years.

In a statement announcing the self-referral, the council said: “The aim of bringing the management of housing back into the council is to improve it for residents by providing a more joined-up service, linking housing and other council services that residents rely on.

“We want to start this new era with openness and transparency so that our residents are aware of our challenges and what we are doing to overcome them.

“Having reviewed housing services, we have established that although many of the homes we manage are in good condition, some are not.

“We are also aware that our repairs service is too often difficult to access, and many of our residents are not satisfied with the level of service they receive.

“We are determined to make improvements and tackle these issues, and as part of this process, in December 2023, we took the decision to refer ourselves to the government’s Regulator of Social Housing for a potential breach of its consumer standards.

“We are specifically asking the regulator to examine whether we are providing decent homes, running an efficient repairs service, and completing fire safety actions within acceptable timescales.”

Since taking over from Lewisham Homes, the council said it had taken steps to improve services and would be publishing a detailed action plan.

It said there had been “persistent issues” with some of its buildings, many of which were built more than 50 years ago and need substantial investment “at a time when local councils – and other housing providers – are facing serious financial challenges”.

The council’s capital programme commits to £321m of investment in the stock over five years.

It said it was modernising its systems for managing and storing information alongside this.