RSH publishes consumer standard judgements for eight landlords

Harlow said it had employed an external consultant to help it to develop an improvement plan and was working to complete the outstanding fire risk assessments and actions, starting with the highest-risk blocks.

The seven other consumer judgements are:

• Havebury Housing Partnership – C1 
• Saxon Weald – C2
• Great Places – C2
• Calico Homes – C2
• Bolton at Home – C2
• Rooftop Housing Group – C2
• Mosscare St Vincent – C2

The regulator also published new governance and financial viability gradings for the seven landlords, as well as for Legal & General Affordable Homes and Islington & Shoreditch Housing Association (ISHA).

Calico Homes and Bolton at Home were regraded to a V2 rating for financial viability.

ISHA was downgraded to a G2 rating for governance after the discovery of collusive fraud between some of its staff and a contractor.

For-profit provider Legal & General Affordable Homes was given a G1/V1 rating.

Kate Dodsworth, chief of regulatory engagement at RSH, said: “It is unacceptable that Harlow Council has failed to meet fire safety requirements.

“Providing safe, decent homes for tenants begins with robust data, and this must include fire risk assessments for every home that needs one.

“We identified these failings by scrutinising the council’s TSM [tenant satisfaction measure] results. It is the landlord’s responsibility to notify us themselves of material issues.

“Our new proactive approach and expanded consumer remit is helping to bring issues to the surface earlier. We expect all providers to regularly review and evaluate their services to improve outcomes for tenants.”

Dan Swords, leader of Harlow Council, said: “On nearly every tenant satisfaction measure, Harlow performed well, although we are taking clear steps to drive improvement across the board. However, on one measure – the number of fire risk assessments that had been carried out in our flat blocks – we performed very badly.

“This historic issue has not been dealt with well or quickly enough by the council. For several years, we have not carried out enough fire risk assessments and that is why this moment will be a very clear turning point.

“We are already working closely with the regulator to make specific improvements against these new requirements, and we are making rapid progress to that effect.

“We will also bring forward an action plan which will be considered by the cabinet at the very first opportunity to ensure we are taking every step necessary to right this historic failure.

“I am absolutely confident that as a result of the actions we have already put in place and those which are to be considered by the cabinet, we will resolve this issue and at the next round of review, the council will not be in a C3 position.”

Mervyn Jones, chair of ISHA, said: “ISHA was deeply saddened to discover it was the victim of collusive fraud between some of its staff and a contractor. Notoriously difficult to spot, this fraud showed a weakness in our management of bulk refuse, which we have now addressed.

“We are confident that the additional controls we have put in place have been effective and we will continue to review and refine them. We look forward to demonstrating as soon as possible that we meet the highest standards of governance, and stewardship of the assets we hold in trust for the communities we serve.

“A forensic examination of service charges has determined there was minimal impact to a limited number of our residents and we are refunding relevant costs in full.”

Steven Dennis, chief executive of Saxon Weald, said: “We are pleased with our regulatory judgement, which reflects our effective governance, sound financial management and customer-focused approach.

“We acknowledge that we have areas for improvement, and have solid plans in place to address these. In many cases, we have made good progress in the short time since our inspection was completed.

“We look forward to continued engagement with the regulator, and aspire to achieving C1 levels of assurance in the near future.”

Andrew Smith, chief executive of Havebury Housing Partnership, said: “We’re delighted that the Regulator of Social Housing has recognised the strength of our governance and financial performance, with our continued investment in our existing homes and our ambitious programme to deliver around 210 new homes a year.

“They also recognised how we engage with our residents, understand their needs and work with them when things go wrong to put it right and learn.”

Alison Dean, chief executive of Great Places, said: “We are pleased to retain our G1/V2 gradings, which are important to our continued growth and for delivering great services to our customers.

“Preparing for the new approach to consumer regulation has given us the opportunity to reflect on where we can make improvements. We have already taken steps towards this by including planned improvements in our recently launched three-year corporate plan.”

Charlie Norman, chief executive of Mosscare St Vincent, said: “The inspection process including new consumer standards is so important in ensuring quality homes and respectful services for social housing customers.   

“We very much welcomed working with the inspection team and the positive feedback we received on customer safety, governance, financial viability, customer voice and meeting so many of the expectations set out within the new consumer standards. It is important to continue to focus on this.

“We are pleased to have retained the G1 and V2 gradings which demonstrate compliant governance and financial stability, and we will continue to work with our customers to design and provide truly inclusive services that meet all regulatory expectations, including the consumer standards.”

Calico Homes, Bolton at Home and Rooftop Housing Group have been approached for comment.