The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has published its first C4 grading, indicating very serious failings and that fundamental changes are needed.

During an inspection of the London Borough of Newham, the RSH found over 9,000 overdue fire safety remedial actions, of which over 8,000 were overdue by more than 12 months and more than 4,000 categorised as high risk.

Additionally, 40% of the borough’s 16,000 homes had not had an electrical condition test for more than 11 years, with a lack of evidence that it is meeting the smoke and carbon monoxide alarm requirements for any of its homes.

The RSH also found:

  • A lack of accurate information on stock quality, with 60% of Newham’s homes without a survey within the last five years
  • At least 20% of its homes do not meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard
  • Around 5,400 open repairs, nearly half of which were overdue
  • Tenant Satisfaction Measure (TSM) surveys not completed on time
  • Very limited meaningful opportunities for tenants to influence and scrutinise the landlord’s strategies, policies and services.

The RSH says that although the council has indicated a willingness to address these issues, it had failed to refer itself over key issues and the regulator has not yet seen sufficient evidence to assure it of Newham’s ability to put matters right.

Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement at the RSH, said: “The breadth and scale of these failings, including very serious health and safety issues, pose an unacceptable risk to tenants’ well-being.

“Taking accountability is a critical part of the co-regulatory approach and it is extremely concerning that, despite the gravity of these failings, the landlord failed to refer themselves to us over key issues.

“We are now engaging intensively with LB Newham as they work to resolve these issues. While we are not proposing to use our enforcement powers at this stage, this will be kept under review.

The RSH has awarded 35 consumer grades since its new proactive consumer began in April, including nine C1 grades (the highest grade), 13 C2 grades, 12 C3 grades (of which 10 were self-referrals) and one C4 (the lowest grade).

The regulator is carrying out planned inspections of all large social landlords (those with over 1,000 homes) over a four-year cycle.