Latest news with #RegulatorofSocialHousing
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'Serious failings' in council homes say inspectors
A judgement on a council's social housing has said there are "serious failings" in standards and "significant improvement" is needed. Swindon Borough Council - which owns and manages more than 10,000 social and affordable rent homes - self-referred to the social housing regulator. Leader of the council Jim Robbins said he wanted to "work really positively with the regulator" and it had not raised any issues they were not already aware of. Problems included fire safety, electrical safety and the repair service. "We knew there were some challenges in our housing departments and we didn't think there had been enough investment" said Mr Robbins, who explained they already had plans to sort all the issues. He said that the council has already planned to spend £250m on its homes. "We are committed to doing everything we can to sort that out as quickly as possible. We also want to build new council housing to get down the amount of people on our waiting list" he added. More news stories for Wiltshire Listen to the latest news for Wiltshire Maggie Hathaway-Mills has lived in a sheltered housing tower block in Swindon for 13 years which has lots of communal facilities and likes it: "I wouldn't leave. You would have to drag me out." There are wardens, which she said were "fantastic" and she had "no complaints" about council workers. However, she was concerned about repairs and felt there was not the same level of checks in place that there used to be. "There is no real oversight and that's what causing problems." Recently, her bathroom was being re-done and she was left without a toilet. She was told to use one several floors down, when she uses a walking frame. Ms Hathaway-Mills said: "It's the system that's got hiccups. They've always had hiccups but the hiccups are getting bigger." Mr Robbins put the lack of investment in the housing down to low local authority funding over time. "It's a really tricky situation. I think there haven't been the right levels of investment in the past. We are doing everything we can." He said they had already been working on the fire safety issues and had hired new management in the housing department. Mr Robbins has asked residents to come along to the council's engagement sessions. Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Council to spend £250m on improving housing Regulator of Social Housing - Swindon Borough Council Swindon Borough Council
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Improvement needed over housing complaint backlog
A council has been told improvement is needed to deal with a backlog of housing repairs and complaints from tenants. A watchdog found "some weaknesses" in the social housing services provided by Gateshead Council following an inspection in April. The inspectors said the council had plans in place to ensure all of its properties meet the Decent Homes Standard by 2027, but it had a "backlog of repairs and there are issues with the timeliness of the repair and maintenance of empty homes". The authority said it "fully agreed with the regulator's feedback on areas where we can and must do better", but added the result was "clear evidence we are on the right path". The C2 grading awarded to the council by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) was one level higher than that given to Newcastle City Council earlier this year, where "serious failings" were identified. In the services provided by Gateshead Council, which owns about 18,000 homes, the RSH found that "some weaknesses in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed". Overall, the report found the council was meeting its legal health and safety requirements, as well as establishing a "more proactive" approach to dealing with damp and mould cases. The RSH criticised "poor" responses to complaints made by tenants and said there were often "significant backlogs", but added the council had taken steps to address it with improvement plans. Meanwhile the report praised the council's response to dealing with and deterring anti-social behaviour. The council said it had installed a new complaints handling team to provide faster responses to tenants, would provide better monitoring of damp and mould cases, and promised investment to produce quicker repairs and a faster turnaround of empty homes. Labour councillor Chris Buckley said he was "pleased with the judgement". "We also fully agree with the regulator's feedback on areas where we can and must do better." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Delay on clearing mouldy council homes backlog New housing estates planned near town centre Regulator of Social Housing
BBC News
02-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Gateshead Council housing complaint backlog 'must improve'
A council has been told improvement is needed to deal with a backlog of housing repairs and complaints from tenants.A watchdog found "some weaknesses" in the social housing services provided by Gateshead Council following an inspection in inspectors said the council had plans in place to ensure all of its properties meet the Decent Homes Standard by 2027, but it had a "backlog of repairs and there are issues with the timeliness of the repair and maintenance of empty homes". The authority said it "fully agreed with the regulator's feedback on areas where we can and must do better", but added the result was "clear evidence we are on the right path". The C2 grading awarded to the council by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) was one level higher than that given to Newcastle City Council earlier this year, where "serious failings" were the services provided by Gateshead Council, which owns about 18,000 homes, the RSH found that "some weaknesses in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed". Overall, the report found the council was meeting its legal health and safety requirements, as well as establishing a "more proactive" approach to dealing with damp and mould cases. New complaints team The RSH criticised "poor" responses to complaints made by tenants and said there were often "significant backlogs", but added the council had taken steps to address it with improvement the report praised the council's response to dealing with and deterring anti-social council said it had installed a new complaints handling team to provide faster responses to tenants, would provide better monitoring of damp and mould cases, and promised investment to produce quicker repairs and a faster turnaround of empty councillor Chris Buckley said he was "pleased with the judgement"."We also fully agree with the regulator's feedback on areas where we can and must do better." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
10-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
Newcastle City Council delay on clearing mouldy homes backlog
Hundreds of households are still waiting for work to address mould and damp, despite a council's pledge to deal with the City Council inherited more than 1,800 damp and mould reports from management organisation Your Homes Newcastle, which was abolished last had pledged to deal with the backlog by this month, but despite appointing extra contractors, 491 reports are still outstanding, the authority confirmed.A spokesman for the council said all affected tenants would be contacted by the end of April to arrange repairs, but added it had been experiencing problems with residents not responding to allow access to their property. The authority, which took over control of about 25,000 properties from Your Homes Newcastle, had pledged to deal with the backlog at a rate of 50 homes per build-up of problems was among the issues cited by the Regulator of Social Housing as it warned of "serious failings" in the city council's housing stock in a judgement earlier this year and ordered the council to make improvements. New rules planned The Labour-run council's cabinet would be asked to sign off a new repairs policy next week, the Local Democracy Reporting Service includes a pledge to respond to emergency housing hazards, including those related to damp and mould, within 24 hours.A Newcastle City Council spokesman said the changes would help "to better meet the needs of our vulnerable residents" and adopt a "more flexible approach".They added: "We've also commissioned an external contractor to complete a stock condition survey to be sure that all of our properties meet the Decent Homes Standard and ensure that we have up to date information about their condition." Follow BBC Newcastle on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Telegraph
29-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Taxpayers to foot bill for translators to help social housing tenants
Taxpayers face a fresh bill for translation services after councils were told they must take into account the 'diverse needs' of social housing tenants. The regulator said in a new equalities statement that landlords are required to 'shape and deliver services', including for those who do not speak English. It came as ministers rejected calls to order the watchdog to step in and kerb the use of translation services by councils and social housing providers. Taxpayers face a growing bill for translation services to help non-English speakers, including social housing tenants and recipients of benefits. The Regulator of Social Housing, a quango sponsored by Angela Rayner's department, quietly updated its 'equality objectives' last week. One of the new clauses is around 'requiring landlords to shape and deliver services that take account of the diverse needs of their tenants'. The watchdog's regulations categorise diverse needs as 'those arising from protected characteristics, language barriers, and additional support needs'. 'Registered providers must ensure that communication with and information for tenants is clear, accessible, relevant, timely and appropriate to the diverse needs of tenants,' they state. Ministers and the regulator insisted that, while councils could provide translation services for tenants, there was no legal requirement to do so. But Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow housing secretary, warned that the watchdog's updated equalities aims risk piling more costs onto taxpayers. He said: 'This will put yet more cost onto local taxpayers, who will have to foot the bill for foreign translations, on top of Labour's national insurance jobs tax hike. No wonder council tax bills are going through the roof under Labour. 'Labour's approach threatens to undermine integration and widen community divisions. Labour are creating the clear impression that British citizens are back of the queue for a council house.' It came as Ms Rayner's deputy dismissed calls by the Tories for her to step in and order councils to scale back their use of translation services. The Conservatives challenged the Deputy Prime Minister to 'issue updated guidance to the regulator' that would help cut costs for taxpayers. Matthew Pennycook, the Housing Minister, replied: 'The government has no plans to issue guidance or a direction to the Regulator of Social Housing on changes to their standards or codes of practice in relation to translation into foreign languages. 'Informing tenants that information can be supplied in different languages on request is one of the examples given for how providers might seek to deliver the outcomes of the standard, but providers are not required to take a particular approach.' Cost of translation services It comes following controversy over the growing cost of providing translation services. Labour-led Westminster Council sparked outrage last December when it advertised a social housing allocation scheme in multiple foreign languages. The council put out a video on social media publicising the new spaces in Arabic, Bengali, Spanish and French, as well as in English. It later took the post down following a backlash. Separate figures emerged last October that showed the cost of translation services for benefits claimants has more than doubled in four years. The statistics, obtained by the MP Rupert Lowe, show the bill to the taxpayer rose from £2.7 million in 2019-20 to £6.9 million in 2023-24. A spokesman for the Regulator of Social Housing said: 'We do not require social landlords to translate information into different languages. 'While some landlords may decide to do this, there are a range of ways to make sure services are clear and accessible for tenants. 'We made some minor amendments to our existing equality objectives this week, to bring the wording into line with the consumer standards that we introduced as a result of the 2023 Social Housing Regulation Act.'
