Canterbury City Council has been issued a C3 grading by the Regulator of Social Housing after inspectors found it had failed to meet key consumer standards.
An inspection by the RSH identified serious weaknesses in several key areas of the council’s housing management. These included significant failings in the completion of health and safety remedial works and major gaps in property data, with only 27.5% of homes surveyed to date.
Inspectors also found that the council currently has no adaptations policy to meet tenants’ needs, leaving a number of adaptation works unfinished. Further concerns were raised over weak monitoring of anti-social behaviour and delays in handling tenant complaints, including poor oversight of issues raised directly with contractors.
Angela Holden, director of Regulatory Engagement at the Regulator of Social Housing at?RSH, said: ‘We will continue to engage with Canterbury City Council as it works to address these issues, including taking steps to mitigate risks to tenants as it delivers its improvement plan.’
Joint Chief Executive Suzi Wakeham commented: ‘Officers are working hard every day to deliver our service improvement action plan and we will keep in close touch with the regulator on our progress.’
