Housing Quality Magazine July 2022

@housing2022 – Colette Mckune, Group Chief Executive, ForViva

Gove warns building owners against ‘committing a criminal offence’ as Building Safety Act comes into force

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has written to residential managing agents and landlords ahead of the Building Safety Act coming into force tomorrow, warning them that “anyone who chooses to breach the statutory protections will be committing a criminal offence.” He … Read more

‘Back-to-back’ council homes to get warmer

A project in Leeds is looking to make council homes warmer for over 1,000 tenants with better insulation. The Transformation Insulation to Back-to-Back (TIBB) project is part of Leeds City Council’s plans to pour £100m into the decarbonisation of its … Read more

Firefighters tackle tower block fire less than a mile from Grenfell Tower

Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters tackled a flat fire on Queensdale Crescent in Shepherd’s Bush, a tower block just a mile away from Grenfell Tower. The flat on the 12th floor was badly damaged by fire. London Ambulance … Read more

Gove writes to second housing provider over maladministration findings

Housing Secretary, Michael Gove, has written to Housing Plus Group after a maladministration finding due to bedbugs and infestation. The letter follows a similar one he wrote to Clarion Housing Group after its “repeated failures”. In the letter, Gove said: … Read more

Housing Ombudsman finds severe maladministration for complaint involving bedbug infestation 

The Housing Ombudsman found severe maladministration for Stafford and Rural Homes (now Housing Plus Group) when dealing with a resident’s complaint about delayed repairs and a bedbug infestation. There were unacceptable delays in the landlord’s response to the complaint at … Read more

Updates from the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry (6-9 June 2022)

By Danielle Aumord. Expert witnesses analyse Grenfell Tower’s smoke control system Grenfell Tower had a new smoke control system fitted in 2016 – designed by company PSB UK – due to the old one being broken “beyond repair”. But this … Read more

Sector bodies join together to tackle ‘poor quality housing’

The National Housing Federation (NHF) and Chartered Institute for Housing (CIH) will set up an independent panel to make “urgent recommendations for tackling poor quality housing in the sector”. The organisations say it is in response to the investigation from … Read more

Social Housing Regulation Bill formally introduced to parliament

The Government will introduce the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill into parliament today, following on from its inclusion in the Queen’s Speech. Failing social housing landlords could “face unlimited fines and Ofsted-style inspections” under the new plans, and the Regulator of Social Housing will … Read more

Government sets out ‘improvements’ to fire safety guidance and building regulations

New improvements to fire safety guidance and building regulations have been introduced as part of a “wider package of reforms.” All new residential buildings over 11m will now have to include a Secure Information Box that will give fire and rescue … Read more

Updates from the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry 16-26 May 2022

By Danielle Aumord. The governmental department supposed to provide a liaison between central and local government during an emergency failed to realise that the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) was struggling to cope with the immediate aftermath of … Read more

Latest quarterly survey shows record spend on repairs

The Regulator of Social Housing has published the results of its latest quarterly survey of registered providers’ financial health, showing record levels of spending on repairs. Providers’ strong access to finance enabled substantial investment in existing stock. Annual spend on … Read more

Housing Ombudsman finds severe maladministration for Hackney’s damp and mould delays

The Housing Ombudsman found severe maladministration for the London borough of Hackney’s substantial delays in dealing with damp, mould and leaks at a resident’s home. The delays contributed to further deterioration of the issues and had health and safety implications … Read more

Social housing tenants ‘need reassurance’ on decarbonising their homes

New research has shown that social housing tenants do “not realise the impact that their homes have on climate change”. Although most tenants recognise that action is needed, few see the need to act now to limit the carbon footprint … Read more

Government releases Fire Reform White Paper

The government has unveiled how it plans to respond to the Grenfell Tower inquiry recommendations, with a new Fire Reform White Paper. The changes announced include the commencement of the Fire Safety Act 2021 and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations … Read more

Housing’s Next Generation 2022: Top 20 announced

Back for its third year, our Housing’s Next Generation competition attracted entries from all over the sector, from housing associations and local authorities to supply chain partners and housing co-operatives. The judges looked at several criteria when shortlisting, including showing … Read more

Severe maladministration for housing association’s complaint handling failings

The Housing Ombudsman has found severe maladministration for a housing association’s failings in dealing with a complaint from a resident with vulnerabilities. Clarion’s responses didn’t sufficiently acknowledge all the issues raised by the resident in her complaint or the reasons for delays … Read more

Housing figure Steve Douglas CBE has passed away

St Mungo’s has announced the sudden death of its CEO, Steve Douglas CBE. The organisation made the announcement with “deep shock and sadness” after he passed away suddenly at his home on Sunday morning, 8 May. The 57 year old leaves … Read more

MPs call for ‘more detail’ on how social housing impacted by building safety announcements

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee is calling for clarification from government on its recent building safety announcements. In a letter to Secretary of State, Michael Gove, the cross-party group of MPs asks: Will social housing providers be … Read more

New partnership to deliver ‘fresh approach to social housing repairs’

A new partnership is delivering a fresh approach to social housing repairs thanks to the UK’s first smart collection points. GreenSquareAccord has partnered with Jewson Partnership Solutions (JPS) to launch its first smart collection point, giving operatives round-the-clock access to … Read more

Opinion: The end of the Building Safety Manager?

By Debbie Larner, HQN Associate. It is almost four years since Dame Judith Hackitt published her final report Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, where she concluded that the system failure that led to the tragedy at Grenfell in June … Read more

Gove hits out at manufacturers being ‘simply not good enough’ over building safety pledges

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has written to the Construction Products Association over its members failure to pledge to help fix the building safety crisis. He said that a lack of commitment, as shown by developers, “is simply not good enough” and that … Read more

Government has ‘agreed a solution’ with housebuilders over building safety remediation

Government has said that “over 35 of the UK’s biggest homebuilders have pledged to fix all buildings 11 metres+ that they have played a role in developing in the last 30 years”. It follows on from discussions between Housing Secretary … Read more

Private rented housing ‘failing far too often to provide safe and secure homes’, say MPs

A cross-party group of MPs have branded the private rented sector as “failing far too often” and call on government to make a series of changes. In a report, the Public Accounts Committee says it is “too difficult for renters … Read more

Retrofit low-carbon taskforce for London’s commercial buildings

A new taskforce that will look at defining and addressing skills gaps around the construction, retrofit and maintenance of low-carbon commercial buildings in Central London boroughs has been unveiled. The City of London Corporation’s Skills for a Sustainable Skyline Taskforce … Read more

Issues with damp and mould among latest reports as Ombudsman’s online casebook reaches nearly 1,800 decisions

A year on since starting to publish all its decisions, the Housing Ombudsman’s online casebook now contains nearly 1,800 individual investigation reports. The decisions, published every two weeks, show the range of issues the Ombudsman can consider as well as the … Read more

Housing associations ‘will have to adapt’ to meet procurement challenges in 2022/23

Landlords can expect ongoing market instability and procurement challenges that may impact their ability to deliver on a backlog of investment plans, a new report has warned. Procure Plus has released a white paper setting out how the social housing … Read more

Housing provider hit sustainability target 8 years in advance

An extra care and retirement living provider has achieved a major milestone as all of its properties have reached energy performance certificate C status eight years ahead of the government’s target. Housing 21, which manages over 20,000 properties across the … Read more

Severe maladministration finding for council’s repairs issues

A local authority’s “significant and avoidable delays” in dealing with a resident’s repairs has led to a finding of severe maladministration by the Housing Ombudsman. The repairs, including a leaking roof, rotten window frame, blown plaster and damaged artex, had initially been … Read more