Swindon Borough Council has failed to meet the outcomes in the consumer standards and has been given a C3 grading by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), as part of a range of new regulatory judgements.

An inspection was brought forward after the local authority made a self-referral over health and safety issues and its repairs service.

Following the judgement, the council says it has reaffirmed its determination to improve housing services to tenants.

The RSH’s inspection found that the council:

• Was unable to report accurately on the presence of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors

• Was unable to track or monitor faults from electrical safety checks

• Has more than 800 overdue fire safety actions, the majority of which were overdue by more than a year

• Was not actively tracking, monitoring, or reporting open damp and mould cases, though there was evidence that reports are followed up effectively

• Was unable to demonstrate how tenants’ views have been considered in its decision making, with no evidence of actively encouraging participation from under-represented groups.

Councillor Janine Howarth, Swindon’s Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “We fully accept this judgement and the regulator’s grading of our housing services. It makes clear that we are falling short on our responsibility to consistently deliver a decent standard of housing and comply with national standards that came into force in April 2024.

“Having met with hundreds of tenants and leaseholders since taking on cabinet member responsibility for housing services in May 2023, it quickly became clear that some areas of our housing services were not at the level our tenants should expect.

“That is why we commissioned an independent review of our housing services which led to the council referring itself to the regulator in September 2024. This resulted in the inspection completed in May 2025.

“Today’s judgement acknowledges our strong commitment to improving, recognising the action we are already taking and the progress made.

“Last November, we set up a Housing Improvement Board that brings together tenants, councillors, and officers every month to oversee our improvement plan and scrutinise housing performance data.

“As a member of the board, I am assured that the number of overdue fire safety actions cited in the regulator’s judgement will continue to decrease rapidly, with a 76% reduction already achieved between December 2024 and March 2025.

“More than 1,590 council homes now have new alarms that detect heat, smoke, and carbon monoxide as part of a four-year £10.5m upgrade programme that began last September.

“Around 10% of all council homes benefitting from these new alarms will also receive environmental sensors that measure temperature and humidity levels. These will provide tenants with real-time data and alerts to help them take proactive measures to maintain a safe and healthy living space.

“In March this year, the council’s cabinet approved a five-year, £250m programme of maintenance and major refurbishment work on council homes. This is a 78 per cent increase in planned investment compared to the previous five years and will make a significant contribution to improving the condition of some of our older homes, which have suffered from a lack of investment in roofs, windows and kitchens.

“We are also making a £4.2m capital investment in a new online housing system to make it easier for tenants to manage their tenancy and access services.

“As the regulator has identified, how we engage and involve tenants in our work needs to improve. That is why we have commissioned England’s leading tenant engagement experts, Tpas, to advise on our future approach. Tenants and leaseholders in all of our properties will receive a letter from today inviting them to a series of events next month to hear more about the improvements we’re making, ask questions, and tell us what matters most to them.

“This will build on our ‘Behind Every Door’ programme which over the past seven months has seen housing officers visit 350 individual tenants at their homes, listening to their needs and offering practical support where it’s needed.

“We will publish our full housing improvement plan later this year, informed by tenants’ feedback and the Regulator’s report.”

The RSH says that the council has demonstrated that it understands the issues and is taking action towards rectifying the failures identified.

Separately, housing associations Housing 21, Torus62 and Sovereign Network have all received C2/G1 gradings following inspections, meaning that they meet the governance requirements but there are some weaknesses in their delivery of the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed.

All three housing providers meet the viability requirements, with Housing 21 and Torus62 retaining V1 gradings, and Sovereign Network Group retaining its V2 grading.

While both V1 and V2 landlords meet the viability requirements and have the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios, V2 landlords need to manage material risks to ensure continued compliance.

The RSH also published interim G1/V1 gradings for Bromford Flagship, after Flagship Housing Group became a subsidiary of Bromford Housing Group in February this year.

Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement at the RSH, said: “We take health and safety very seriously and expect all landlords to make sure tenants are not at risk in their homes.

“We also want to see better data management from landlords, to demonstrate they understand their homes and tenants. Self-referrals are a good indicator that a landlord not only understands our requirements, but that they are taking accountability.

“Lastly, our scrutiny of housing associations’ governance and viability remains vital for delivering more and better homes for tenants.”

Provider	Consumer grade	Governance grade	Viability grade	Process
Bromford Flagship Limited	Not assessed yet	G1 (Interim Grading)	V1 (Interim Grading)	Merger Activity
Housing 21	C2	G1	V1	Inspection
Torus62 Limited	C2	G1	V1	Inspection
Sovereign Network Group	C2	G1	V2	Inspection
Swindon Borough Council	C3	–	–	Inspection