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Midlands council vows to check entire housing stock amid new regulatory regime
Nottingham City Council will carry out a survey of its entire stock of 26,000 homes over the next year in response to the new regulatory standards facing social housing landlords.
In a report prepared for a council meeting this week, it said there are some “significant tasks” to be tackled to meet the new standards, including a 100% stock condition survey.
Geoff Wharton, the council’s interim strategic director of housing, said at the meeting that there will be “boots on the ground” in the next few months and a full stock condition survey would be done in the next year, the BBC reported.
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A full condition survey had not been done for at least eight years, he reportedly told the meeting.
Last year Nottingham City Council brought management of its homes back in-house as it scrapped its ALMO Nottingham City Homes. It came after an investigation revealed that funds ringfenced for housing were misspent.
In November last year the council effectively declared itself bankrupt, adding to the list of local authorities that are facing severe financial difficulties.
Councils and housing associations are gearing up for inspections from the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), as the agency has taken on new consumer powers this month.
Under the new post-Grenfell regime, landlords will be inspected every four years, with the condition of homes and treatment of tenants being assessed.
Jonathan Walters, deputy chief executive at the RSH, told Inside Housing that he expects most landlords have some “distance to travel” to meet the standards.
He said there are “too many landlords” with out-of-date stock information.
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