'Mixed' progress improving social housing - council

A council has described its progress in improving social housing as a "mixed bag" after a housing regulator identified serious failings last year.

West Northamptonshire Council admitted there were still challenges but said it had made "positive strides" in addressing issues highlighted in a critical report in November 2024.

The review by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) found some council-managed homes failed to meet national safety and quality standards.

Council leader Adam Brown said progress on improving performance by Northamptonshire Partnership Homes (NPH), which manages the council's housing services, was "very much a mixed bag".

"They (NPH) have made very positive strides on the most urgent aspects of their performance, clearing the emergency works within the required deadlines," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Among the concerns in the report was inaccurate data reporting, including overdue fire risk assessments for 180 properties.

However, the local authority confirmed that all outstanding fire safety checks were completed by December 2024.

A spokesperson said that while all properties now have up-to-date fire assessments, the entire programme will be redone by May to ensure full compliance.

Despite this progress, the council reported that 580 properties still required fire safety work, including compartmentation, signage and fire doors.

The outstanding repairs, assigned to contractors in January, will be prioritised based on risk and urgency.

Damp and mould remain persistent issues, with 628 open cases recorded in December, including 103 new reports that month.

The council said that all remedial work was on track to be completed within its 90-day target.

Housing performance indicators were also not met. In December 2024, only seven out of 30 targets were met, though 17 categories showed improvement.

Customer satisfaction scores for repairs, safety, complaint handling and maintenance remained below target, the council said.

Following the report last year, Wendy Randall, leader of the Labour group on the local authority, said: "Lessons need to be learned, priorities rethought, and safeguards put in place to ensure this doesn't happen again."

The council said it continues to meet monthly with the RSH to report on progress and the local authority expects to undergo a full regulatory inspection after receiving a 'serious failings' grading last year, though the timing remains uncertain.

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