Council fails to meet social housing standards

Rugby Borough Council has been criticised by a regulator for failing to meet social housing standards.

An inspection found "serious failings" at the local authority with significant improvement needed to comply. The criticism focused on the completeness of the data held by the council and missing smoke alarms.

Rugby Borough Council had self-referred to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) after a third-party assessment highlighted issues relating to the accuracy of repairs information.

Councillor Claire Edwards said: "We welcome the Regulator's assessment and see it as an important part of our improvement journey."

A report by RSH found that the council failed to meet the Safety and Quality Standard and Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, giving it a C3 grading.

It showed the council commissioned stock condition surveys for 86% of its homes but it only held partial data so it could not fully analyse the results.

It reported that 99.54% of homes met the Decent Homes Standard, though this had not been verified against the survey information.

The council also identified 800 homes with Electrical Installation Condition Reports over five years old, and 600 homes without a smoke alarm.

Edwards said: "The regulator's findings set a clear benchmark for the standards our tenants should expect, and work is already under way to ensure those changes make a tangible difference."

Runnymede Borough Council and City of London Corporation also failed to meet the same social housing standards.

The report added that each of the local authorities was engaging constructively with RSH to address the failings and weaknesses identified.

Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, Kate Dodsworth, said: "We will continue to hold landlords to account, and drive continuous improvement, to ensure tenants live in good quality homes and receive effective services."

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