London council failed to meet health and safety requirements across thousands of its homes, Regulator of Social Housing finds

The London Borough of Redbridge has been issued with a regulatory notice by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) following a breach of its consumer standards.

The RSH concluded that the council breached part 1.2 of the Home Standard and, as a result, there was potential for "serious detriment" to tenants.

Following a self-referral in June of this year, RSH found that the council failed to meet statutory health and safety requirements across thousands of its homes.

Redbridge had reported it had not completed electrical safety checks for every property which needed one.

The RSH's ensuing investigation found that the council also failed to comply with statutory health and safety requirements regarding fire, asbestos, and water safety.

More than 3,000 remedial actions in relation to fire door replacements were overdue, and 200 communal areas and 2,000 domestic properties did not have a current electrical condition report, according to the regulatory notice.

For asbestos safety, the investigation found that the council had not assessed whether over 450 communal areas required asbestos surveys.

Regarding water safety, the RSH found the council did not have current risk assessments for more than 160 residential blocks.

The RSH decided not to take enforcement action as the council has started to put in place a programme to rectify the issues.

Kate Dodsworth, Director of Consumer Regulation at RSH, said: "We welcome the London Borough of Redbridge's self-referral, which recognises that its failure to meet health and safety requirements has put tenants at potential risk.

"We expect the council to put things right for tenants and return to compliance with our standards, and we will be monitoring them closely as they do this."

Claire Symonds, Chief Executive of Redbridge Council, said: "Redbridge Council is committed to being a responsible landlord, and as part of that commitment, we undertake frequent health and safety checks on our properties.

"During an internal auditing process in June, we discovered we could not verify some of those checks.

"At that point, the council voluntarily referred itself to the Regulator of Social Housing, which agreed with our findings."

She added: "Redbridge Council has designed and implemented a programme of works to rectify those issues identified, and has rapidly made progress since June. The Regulator will continue to monitor our progress until we achieve compliance.

"We apologise for any concern this situation might cause to our residents and want to provide reassurance that we have acted swiftly to put things right."

Adam Carey