Harlow Council fails to meet new RSH standards

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has published regulatory judgements for ten social housing landlords.

The judgement found that Harlow District Council failed to meet the new consumer standards. Harlow has received a C3 grade which means that there are serious failings and it needs to make significant improvements.

RSH began an investigation into Harlow Council after reviewing its Tenant Satisfaction Measure results. It was found that the council had carried out fire risk assessments for only 20 per cent of buildings that it should have done.

Over 500 high risk fire safety remedial actions overdue, and a further 1,500 medium risk actions overdue (the majority of which are more than 12 months overdue).

Harlow Council has employed an external consultant to help it to develop a detailed improvement plan as a priority. The council is working to complete the outstanding fire risk assessments and resulting actions, starting with the highest risk blocks.

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 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."

RSH has also published a range of other judgements resulting from its ongoing regulatory activity, including seven programmed inspections as well as RSH’s first stability check for a for-profit provider.