“Serious failings” have been found at a London council where a third of homes do not meet decent standards, the Government has revealed.
Kensington and Chelsea, the borough which contains Grenfell Tower, has been handed the second lowest grade by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) over the state of its homes.
In a report published on Wednesday, the RSH said its judgement was “that there are serious failings in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and significant improvement is needed”.
The town hall was found to follow health and safety compliance and was judged as good at engaging with social tenants.
However, 33% of the council’s properties do not meet “decent homes standards” and only 40% had surveys carried out within the last five years.
In its report, the RSH said: “We have concluded that there is a serious failing in Kensington and Chelsea’s delivery of one of the outcomes of the consumer standards and significant improvement is needed, specifically in relation to the stock quality and decency elements of the Safety and Quality Standard.
“This is the basis of our C3 grade for Kensington and Chelsea. The inspection found Kensington and Chelsea to be delivering the other requirements in the safety and quality standard, including in relation to health and safety requirements.”
Kensington and Bayswater MP Joe Powell said: “Eight years after the Grenfell tragedy, it’s shocking that the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is still neglecting so many residents in council housing.
“The serious failings outlined by the Regulator are yet another wake-up call for the council but will sadly come as no surprise to many tenants.
“I urge [the council] to focus on the urgent improvements that I have repeatedly raised with them since being elected last year. All our residents deserve a safe and healthy home”
Kensington and Chelsea Council has taken steps to “mitigate any risks to tenants” and is aiming to achieve full decent homes standards compliance by 2030, the RSH added.
Conservative leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, Elizabeth Campbell, said: “We are making progress towards our ambition to be the best council for our communities.
“Our children’s and adults’ social care services are rated outstanding, and I want to see the same in housing. I know we are not there yet.
“Since the Grenfell tragedy we have made safety works in our housing our number one priority, so it is reassuring that the regulator recognises that we are meeting all their safety standards.
“We knew that completing building safety works first would impact how quickly we would meet the decent homes standards, but we have a plan to better understand the condition of all our housing by next year and to bring all our residents’ homes up to the housing regulator’s standard for decent homes by 2030.”
