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Association failed to complete more than 100 high-risk fire risk assessment actions, says regulator

A Kent-based housing association has been hit with a regulatory notice by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) after leaving more than 100 high-risk fire safety actions outstanding for months.

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Housing association failed to complete more than 100 high-risk FRA actions, says @RSHEngland #ukhousing

.@RSHEngland hits Kent-based housing association with regulatory notice over fire and electrical safety failings #ukhousing

A Kent-based housing association has become the latest social landlord to breach @RSHEngland standards on safety grounds #ukhousing

Golding Homes, which owns around 7,000 homes, has been deemed in breach of the RSH’s Home Standard over fire and electrical safety failings.

The landlord self-referred to the regulator after a recent internal audit found that its health and safety compliance was “poor” and that it was unable to “fully validate the compliance position due to a lack of reliable data”, the notice said.

It had failed to complete more than 100 high-risk actions arising from fire risk assessments (FRAs), with the work left undone “for a number of months”, the RSH added.

Golding has also identified “a large number” of “potentially dangerous” overdue actions arising from electrical safety checks, the notice said.


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The RSH concluded that the issues had the potential to cause serious detriment to Golding’s tenants and so constitute a breach of the Home Standard, which requires social landlords “to meet all applicable statutory requirements which provide for the health and safety of tenants in their homes”.

It said in the notice: “Fire and electrical safety are self-evidently important because of the potential for serious harm.

“In this case, the regulator has concluded that the risk of serious harm is demonstrated because of the large number of tenants potentially exposed to danger from fire or faulty electrical installations over a significant period of time.”

Golding’s regulatory grading for governance is under review following the breach. It currently sits at ‘G1’, the highest possible rating.

The association has commissioned external help to deal with the issues and is putting extra resources into its plan to resolve them, including data weaknesses. It appointed a new director of operations in December.

“We have assurance that Golding is taking effective action to address these outstanding actions, and is taking a risk-based approach to mitigate any ongoing risks to tenants,” the regulatory notice said.

The RSH said it “will therefore not take further action at this stage” and will work with Golding to address the problems.

Golding becomes the latest in a series of social landlords to have drawn the ire of the English regulator on safety grounds in recent months.

Since August, Bespoke Supportive Tenancies; Connexus Housing; Cheshire Peaks & Plains Housing Trust; and Thanet, Dover, Canterbury, Folkestone & Hythe, Runnymede and Lambeth councils have been issued regulatory notices for breaching the Home Standard.

Chris Cheeseman, chair of Golding Homes, said: “Golding Homes takes the safety of our residents extremely seriously and we have acted quickly to put this right, engaging with the regulator and getting independent expert advice on the work needed to ensure our homes remain compliant in all areas.

“We have also invested in resources to deliver this work in a timely manner, led by new operations director, Annemarie Roberts.

“We wish to apologise to our residents and reassure them that their safety remains our top priority, now and always and we will be working to deliver on our action plan as swiftly as possible.”

Update: at 9.45am a comment from Golding Homes was added to the story.

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