Improving safety and quality in council homes
Councillors on the Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee are discussing progress to improve council housing in the city following the critical report from the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) published in August 2024.
The Regulator of Social Housing’s (RSH) findings, part of enhanced consumer regulation introduced post-Grenfell, highlighted critical areas for improvement, including fire safety, water safety, electrical safety, smoke detection and the backlog in routine repairs.
We are committed to providing safe, good quality homes, and the scrutiny report outlines the progress made in addressing RSH’s concerns.
Improving building safety
In response to the RSH judgement, we have strengthened our work programmes by investing in skilled teams, improving data systems, and increasing contractor capacity to work alongside council teams.
Key achievements include:
- Electrical safety: A dedicated Electrical Testing & Compliance Team is driving improvements, with over 4,200 domestic tests completed in 2024. All high-rise blocks are fully certified, and we remain on track to achieve full compliance by December 2026, prioritising properties based on risk.
- Water safety: New contractors have been mobilised to accelerate water risk assessments, with high-risk blocks scheduled for completion this month.
- Smoke Detection compliance: A comprehensive programme of checks and installations is underway to make sure all council homes have working smoke detectors, with 94% of homes completed as of November 2024.
We are compliant across gas safety, asbestos management, carbon monoxide detection, and lift safety.
Fire safety
Fire safety is a cornerstone of our compliance programme, with over 8,000 remediation actions identified from the latest round of comprehensive Fire Risk Assessments (FRAs).
While the scale of work is significant, more than 80% of these actions are either best practice recommendations or low-risk items, allowing resources to focus on the highest priorities.
A dedicated Fire Safety Team has been strengthened, supported by enhanced data systems for better oversight and streamlined processes.
Fire safety work on the 8 Large Panel System (LPS) blocks is on track for completion in the next few weeks, and work across the wider portfolio is progressing, with all actions scheduled for completion by December 2026.
We have also set up additional contractors and subcontractors to keep the fire safety remedial work on track.
Repairs backlog
We are committed to addressing the routine repairs backlog and improving service delivery for tenants.
The Housing Repairs & Maintenance team completes an average of more than 3,000 repairs each month. However, a steady flow of new requests has meant progress on clearing the backlog has proved slower than anticipated, with figures in November 2024 showing we had 6,578 jobs open for more than 28 days.
We’re taking action by increasing contractor capacity, improving efficiency through first-time fixes, and focusing on better communication with tenants so we can identify and address systemic issues.
Feedback from tenants has been vital in shaping these efforts, with concerns about delays and multiple visits being listened to and addressed as priorities. Vulnerable residents remain a focus, with additional support provided to ensure their repair needs are met.
While challenges remain, the council is committed to reducing the backlog and building a more responsive and tenant-focused repairs service.
Delivering safe high-quality homes
Councillor Gill Williams, the Cabinet member for Housing and New Homes who is presenting the report, said: “While we’ve made progress since the Regulator of Social Housing’s judgement, we recognise there is still more to do to meet tenant expectations.
“Like many councils with a largely ageing housing stock, we do face challenges in modernising our homes. We have set up a range of improvement projects across the city’s council housing over the last 18 months.
“We know the pace of change can feel frustrating, but we are listening to tenants and using the feedback to shape how we work.
“Our goal is to be a great landlord, providing homes our tenants are proud to live in This recovery work is about more than meeting compliance - it’s about delivering safe, high-quality homes, rebuilding trust, and setting the standard for housing services.”
You can read the RSH report and further information on the actions we are taking on our Regulator of Social Housing webpages.
