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Two associations breach regulatory standard after failing to do safety checks
Two housing associations have been found to have breached a regulatory standard after they failed to carry out safety checks on a number of their properties.
The Regulator of Social Housing concluded Vivid and Raven Housing Trust had breached its Home Standard, but both associations have kept their top governance rating despite the issues uncovered.
In 2015 Raven Housing Trust found out that electrical safety checks had not been completed on a number of its properties, some of which were overdue for several years, but failed to inform the regulator at the time.
The regulator said the overdue work that had not been completed was considered to be “potentially dangerous” and required “urgent remedial action”.
Raven only recently reported the electrical safety issue to the regulator alongside a second issue it had uncovered relating to water safety. Hundreds of its properties were not subject to water testing to check for signs of Legionella in water tanks because of issues with a newly procured contract, potentially affecting a large number of tenants.
The regulator issued the notice because it requires housing associations to have adequate risk assessments in place.
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Despite Raven failing to inform the regulator of the electrical safety issue back in 2015, it has kept its top rating for governance. The regulator said the new leadership at the association had “overseen a comprehensive programme to rectify the underlying causes of these failures and prevent them arising again”.
A spokesperson for Raven said: “The safety of our residents throughout this process has been our number-one priority. We have co-operated fully with the regulator and have put in place new health and safety systems and a new management team as well as fully auditing and improving our processes to ensure that our systems are as robust as possible going forward.”
They added: “It should be noted that the regulator has kept our governance rating at the highest level (G1) because it recognises that the leadership team has comprehensively addressed the causes of these breaches.
“Raven Housing Trust remains committed to the highest standard of service to its residents and will continue to work to ensure that that they are housed safely and securely.”
Vivid, which manages 30,000 homes, discovered a number of its properties were without gas safety certificates for several years, the regulator revealed.
During the merger of First Wessex and Sentinel Housing Association to form Vivid last year the organisation reported to the regulator that a “low number” of homes had been found without valid gas safety certificates.
Most of these properties had been without certificates for a “considerable period of time” the regulator said, and some for a number of years.
The outstanding gas safety checks have now been completed and Vivid has carried out a review which found that the issue arose because of inaccurate data about the presence of gas appliances in some of its properties. It has developed an action plan to stop this happening in the future.
The regulator concluded Vivid failed to meet its Home Standard and there was the potential for “serious detriment” to its tenants as a result.
No further action will be taken because Vivid has remedied the situation, the regulator said. Vivid has kept its G1 rating for its governance.
Mark Perry, chief executive of VIVID, said:“The safety and wellbeing of our customers is our prime focus and we realise the importance of making sure our homes are safe to live in. Through creating VIVID last year we discovered a number of properties for which there was no current gas safety certificate because of data accuracy issues. Since discovering the underlying issue we’ve taken swift action to put this right and as a result all our properties with a gas supply now have a valid gas safety certificate.
“I’m of course delighted that we’ve maintained our G1 rating, which is recognition of the fact that we’ve dealt with the issue effectively through our governance processes. It’s recognised all-round that we’re a strong and vibrant business, and have taken all the necessary action to sort this out."
Update: at 10.34am, 15.02.18 This story has been updated to include Vivid’s statement.
