Council targets housing overhaul after damning report

Nottingham City Council has vowed to transform its housing services ‘within six months to a year’ after a scathing assessment by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) exposed critical shortcomings.

That led to the council being handed a near-bottom rating.

The pledge comes as the Labour council grapples with longstanding issues in its 24,500 properties, spotlighted during a rigorous inspection last October.

‘Good position to be reassessed’

At a housing committee meeting, local media reports that councillors were told by the consultant director for housing, Geoff Wharton, that ‘in six months to one year you will be in a good position to be reassessed and hopefully we’ll get to C2’.

Labour councillor David Mellen, a former council leader, raised concerns about ‘complacency and arrogance’ and highlighted that Nottingham still has ‘Landlord of the Year’ posters on display from 2018

He added that not everything ‘is terrible’ among Nottingham’s housing stock but called for realism about what needs to be improved – and show tenants that the council understands the issues.

The council will struggle

Nottingham landlord and Property118 contributor Mick Roberts, who is the city’s largest landlord of tenants on benefits, says the council will struggle to achieve its target.

Mr Roberts told Property118: “I have a tenant whose house has got rats coming into it from a Nottingham City Council house next door.

“The problem is not being resolved by the council – and tenants are struggling with the problem.”

He adds: “I don’t understand why private landlords pay for selective licensing in Nottingham while the council pays nothing for its properties and it’s their houses that cause problems for those private landlords that pay for licensing.

“Selective licensing expects us to inspect our private rented houses every six months and ‘would like’ us to do them every four months so they leave us alone.

“The idea that Nottingham will deliver better housing in six months to a year is a stretch – I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Strict social housing benchmarks

The RSH, tasked with ensuring councils meet stringent social housing benchmarks introduced in April 2023, delivered its verdict in January.

It gave Nottingham a C3 grade – second only to the dire C4 level.

The C3 rating reflects ‘serious failings’ and a pressing need for substantial progress, according to the regulator’s findings.

The probe revealed outdated records on housing quality, with nearly 40% of council homes not being inspected for more than a decade.

The last major review was eight years ago under Nottingham City Homes (NCH) – an arm’s length landlord created by the council.

However, it was dissolved after it was discovered that millions in tenants’ rent were improperly siphoned to bolster other council services.

Launched a stock condition survey

Now with the homes under direct control, the authority launched a £4m stock condition survey last summer covering all properties.

So far, 3,877 surveys have been completed, which is more than the initial goal of 3,678.

Repairs emerged as another sore point, with almost 1,000 unresolved cases flagged by the RSH.

The council has trimmed this backlog to 974, while annual corrective work orders, though declining, hover around 100,000.

In response, a comprehensive improvement strategy was unveiled, spotlighted during a March scrutiny meeting.

This includes boosting tenant involvement through surveys, consultations and community ‘roadshows’ to address prior criticism of resident disengagement.

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