A local authority was found to have more than 3,000 overdue remedial actions relating to fire safety during an inspection by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).

As a result, Nottinghamshire-based Broxtowe Borough Council has received a C3 grading by the regulator after failing to meet the outcomes set out in the Consumer Standards.

During the inspection, RSH found:

• More than 3,000 overdue remedial fire safety actions
• A lack of accurate and up to date information on tenants’ homes, including potential hazards
• A lack of understanding of the diverse needs of all its tenants
• Improvements were needed in its engagement with tenants.

According to the regulator, Broxtowe BC has been engaging constructively and has demonstrated an understanding of the issues and a willingness to resolve them.

In a statement, Councillor Vanessa Smith, Portfolio Holder for Housing at Broxtowe Borough Council, said: “We welcome the regulator’s report and the feedback provided. When new legislation was introduced in 2023 as part of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, the council established a Housing Improvement Board to identify and deliver improvements to ensure we are able to meet the new regulations.

“Following the inspection, the regulator’s findings will now enable us to build upon this work. Their report highlighted our constructive engagement and assurance that there is a commitment to improving outcomes for our residents. Our focus remains on delivering safe, high-quality homes for our residents, and we are committed to learning from the inspection and demonstrating progress.

“We will continue to work closely with the regulator as we continue to implement our improvement plans over the coming months.”

Meanwhile, Manchester City Council received a C2 grading following an inspection, meaning there are some weaknesses in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed.

According to the regulator, Manchester CC is implementing plans to address the weaknesses identified, including low tenant satisfaction with repairs and anti-social behaviour. Though it has achieved a good understanding of the condition of its homes and is dealing effectively with health and safety issues, there are some gaps in the information it holds for tenants.

RSH also published annual stability check outcomes for nine landlords. Following responsive engagement, Livin was regraded from V2 to V1, while Vico was regraded from V1 to V2. Together Housing was upgraded from C2 to C1.

The rest retained their previous governance and viability gradings.

Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, said: “Our programme of inspections, which hits the halfway point of its four-year cycle in April, is continuing to identify gaps in landlords’ information on homes and tenants.

“Landlords can improve services for tenants by taking a proactive approach to tackling these gaps. Without accurate, up-to-date information, it is impossible to make the right decisions or demonstrate that homes are safe, warm and decent.”

The full list of judgements published today is provided in the table below:

Landlord	Consumer	Governance	Viability	Engagement Process
Broxtowe Borough Council	C3 (first grading)	–	–	Inspection
Fairhive Homes Limited	–	G1	V2	Stability Check
Freebridge Community Housing Limited	–	G1	V2	Stability Check
Livin Housing Limited	C2 (based on previous assessment)	G1	V1 (regrade from V2)	Stability Check and Responsive Engagement
Manchester City Council	C2 (first grading)	–	–	Inspection
Nottingham Community Housing Association Limited	C1 (based on previous assessment)	G1	V1	Stability Check
Poplar Housing And Regeneration Community Association Limited	C1 (based on previous assessment)	G1	V2	Stability Check
Together Housing Group Limited	C1 (upgrade)	G1	V2	Stability Check and Responsive Engagement
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Limited	–	G2	V2	Stability Check
Vico Homes Limited	–	G1	V2 (regrade from V1)	Stability Check and Responsive Engagement
Walsall Housing Group Limited	C1 (based on previous assessment)	G1	V1	Stability Check