‘Rogue councils’ slammed for their ‘serious failings’ in housing management

A leading landlord law expert has condemned two ‘rogue councils’ after the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) issued scathing reports detailing ‘serious failings’ in their management of social housing stock.

Newcastle City Council, which voluntarily referred itself to the RSH, faced severe criticism for a range of issues, including more than 1,800 overdue repair requests.

The council was also criticised for more than 1,000 outstanding damp and mould problems, a significant backlog of fire safety remedial work and a lack of up-to-date property condition assessments.

The regulator also warned of insufficient data on tenant needs and an absence of a domestic abuse policy.

Nottingham was also criticised

Nottingham City Council also came under fire from the RSH, with the regulator identifying deficiencies in data accuracy concerning property quality and decency.

The council also has nearly 1,000 unresolved disrepair cases.

The regulator has also criticised Nottingham for data integrity problems, weaknesses in gas safety procedures and inadequate tenant participation in decision-making processes.

‘Hell-bent on squeezing private landlords’

Phil Turtle, a director at Landlord Licensing & Defence, said: “These councils, hell-bent on squeezing private landlords, have proven themselves utterly incapable of managing their own properties.

“Private landlords would face crippling fines for these breaches, yet councils escape with little consequence.”

Mr Turtle highlighted the stark disparity in treatment: “Imagine the fines levied on a private landlord for 3,800 property offences – potentially that’s a fine of £72 million!

“Yet, councils responsible for thousands of tenants suffer minimal repercussions.”

‘Councils must be held accountable’

He concluded: “This system is broken. Councils must be held accountable for their failures; just as private landlords are.

“Only then will we see a genuine improvement in social housing standards and a fairer playing field for all.”

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