'Serious' failings in Southampton's social housing system
The city council leader has apologised following a damning report from the regulator
Serious failings have been identified in Southampton City Council’s service as a landlord to thousands of residents.
The Regulator for Social Housing said these shortcomings had a “significant impact” on outcomes for tenants.
The local authority received a consumer standards grade of three, the second lowest, following an inspection by the regulator.
This grading means the council has significant improvements to make to bring its service up to standard.
Cllr Lorna Fielker, leader of the council, said tenants had been let down and she apologised for not providing the service “should expect and deserve.”
A report published by the Regulator for Social Housing on November 27 said: “The inspection has found serious failings in how Southampton CC is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and evidence that this has had a significant impact on service outcomes for tenants.
“Our judgement is based on the scale and breadth of the issues identified during the inspection.”
The council was assessed against four consumer standards, which were the neighbourhood and community standard, tenancy standard, safety and quality standard, and transparency, influence and accountability standard.
The regulator said improvements were needed in the latter two areas.
Issues found by the inspectors included:
The high proportion of homes not meeting the decent homes standard (around 47 per cent)
Limited evidence of an accurate and complete understanding of the council’s homes
Lack of clarity in performance monitoring and oversight for some aspects of health and safety, such as overdue communal asbestos re-inspections
Not delivering an effective, efficient and timely repairs service
No evidence of tenants being meaningfully involved in decision making
Lack of fairness, effectiveness and timeliness in handling complaints
Southampton City Council owns around 18,000 homes, providing predominately general needs accommodation, with some supported or sheltered accommodation.
The regulator said it was engaging with the local authority as it continues to address the problems set out in the judgement.
“Our engagement will be intensive, and we will seek evidence that gives us the assurance that sufficient change and progress is being made, including ongoing monitoring of how it delivers its improvement programme,” the report added.
“Our priority will be that risks to tenants are adequately managed and mitigated.
“We are not proposing to use our enforcement powers at this stage but will keep this under review as Southampton CC seeks to resolve these issues.”
Cllr Fielker said: “On behalf of the council, I would like to apologise to all those tenants who have not received the standard of service they should expect and deserve.
“A good home is the foundation on which happy and healthy lives are built and it is clear that as a landlord, we have let our tenants down.
“I am committed to ensuring the regulator’s findings are addressed and that our improvement plans are delivered as soon as possible.”
The council said an updated housing improvement plan will be presented to the overview and scrutiny management committee and the cabinet in December.
Jamie Brenchley, director of housing, said: “We fully acknowledge and accept the regulator’s findings and are committed to improving the service that we provide to tenants.
“We are making improvements as quickly as we can and welcome the opportunity to work closely with the regulator, and most importantly our tenants, as we deliver our improvement plan.
“Our focus is on putting tenants’ voices at the heart of what we do.
“We must look at how we connect with communities to ensure their views are considered before we make decisions.”
Since the new regulation system was introduced in April, consumer standards grades have been published for 52 private registered providers and local authorities.
Ten have received a top grade of one, with 23 graded at two, 18 at three and a single landlord – the London borough of Newham – receiving the lowest grade of one.