Independent reviews raise concerns over safety at Cornwall Housing
The social housing provider manages 10,500 homes across the Duchy
Two independent reviews have raised concerns over safety standards at Cornwall Housing.
The social housing provider is the largest in the Duchy. It delivers services on behalf of Cornwall Council and is responsible for 10,500 homes.
The first review, by housing consultancy Altair, was commissioned after concerns were raised about a number of operational areas in 2020.
It highlighted 'high priority issues' over how the company is being run, its relationship with Cornwall Council and health and safety compliance.
The recommendations from the report prompted a full audit into health and safety compliance by Cornwall Housing.
This second review, carried out by Pennington, raised concerns over electrical safety, gas safety checks and asbestos.
It found that internal controls for compliance are weak, data management is poor, operational delivery is fragmented and under-resourced, and that a 'back to basics approach' is required for electrical safety, fire safety, asbestos management and water hygiene.
Over 1,000 homes were also found to have out-of-date electrical safety certificates.
Bosses say they are 'acting swiftly' to reassure tenants that they are taking immediate action to address the findings and letters are being sent out.
While the health and safety audit found that Cornwall Housing did not meet the required standard in several areas, bosses say that 'important changes are already being made to address the issues'.
The report identified that some electrical inspections were out of date and that the systems and records for keeping compliance checks needs improvement.
Cornwall Housing says being overdue with compliance checks 'does not necessarily mean homes are not safe' and the teams are working every day to get back on track with the recommended timetable.
“We’re accountable and responsible for the management of 10,500 homes in Cornwall and we take these matters very seriously. We are contacting all our tenants and leaseholders to reassure them that we are rapidly addressing the findings in the report as the safety, health and wellbeing of our residents is our top priority.
“We will make sure we have strong governance from our Board and visible leadership from our managers to resolve the issues in our operations and to improve our performance. Importantly, our main focus is to intervene now to bring us back up to safety standards and deliver high quality homes and housing services to the communities of Cornwall.”
Iain Sim, the newly appointed Interim Managing Director of Cornwall Housing Limited
Cornwall Housing is also producing a long-term action plan to improve performance, and its Board and the Council will assure its effective implementation.
“The Council is responsible to tenants for the services provided by Cornwall Housing on its behalf and the health and welfare of residents is our highest priority.
“The findings of these two independent reviews are concerning and the Council will be making sure that these issues are addressed urgently.”
Olly Monk, Cornwall Council cabinet member for housing
You can read the full Altair report here.
You can read the full report from Pennington here.
Tenants concerned about their homes can contact Cornwall Housing on 01872 323890 or email myviews@cornwallhousing.org.uk