The Borough Residents' Forum was scheduled to meet on 11 June 2025, to discuss the Regulator of Social Housing inspection report, and the council's approach to damp and mould.

Regulator of Social Housing Inspection Report

The forum was scheduled to receive an update on the inspection report and regulatory judgement by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). The report before the forum provided a summary of the council's grading from the November 2024 inspection, and outlined measures in place to ensure that all consumer standards would be met, as well as providing an update on follow-up meetings with the Regulator.

The report noted that in April 2024, the RSH introduced a series of revised consumer standards. These standards inform the Regulator's approach to inspections, and their questions and areas of focus are based around the required outcomes within each of the four standards:

• Neighbourhood and community standard
• Safety and quality standard
• Tenancy standard
• Transparency, Influence and Accountability standard

The gradings issued by the Regulator range from C1 to C4. Wandsworth received a C3 grading, meaning some serious failings were found in the delivery of the consumer standards, namely in relation to the Safety and Quality Standard.

The Regulator identified serious failings in two areas: stock quality and electrical safety testing. A key expectation of the Regulator is for local authorities to have an accurate, up to date and evidenced understanding of the condition of their homes. The Regulator noted that full stock condition surveys were only undertaken on a small sample of homes which did not provide assurance that the Council was meeting the required outcome of the Safety and Quality standard. The council planned to survey 20% of its stock every year, for the next five years to bring the total stock surveyed to 100%, at a cost of approximately £900,000.

Under the Safety and Quality standard, the Regulator identified an additional serious failing regarding electrical safety inspections, noting that at the time of the inspection, almost 80 per cent of communal areas and around 40 per cent of homes did not have an up-to-date electrical safety test. A programme has been in place to undertake electrical safety checks to homes and communal areas since 2021, and since the inspection, significant progress has been made with 96% of communal areas and 74% of homes now having electrical tests completed.

The Regulator also highlighted that 1,800 fire remedial actions were overdue at the time of inspection, but none of the overdue actions were assessed by the Fire Risk Assessors to be serious or place residents at risk.

The Regulator confirmed that the council was compliant with the Neighbourhood and Community standard, and was satisfied with information provided regarding local co-operation. The council was able to share its Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Policy and outline the work of a range of inhouse services, as well as an overview of ongoing efforts to tackle domestic abuse.

As part of the assessment of the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, the Regulator considered how the council engages with its tenants and listens to their views. Although Wandsworth's well-established methods of formal participation and engagement routes were acknowledged, the judgement stated that more needs to be done to improve informal routes of participation.

The Regulator was satisfied that Wandsworth meets the requirements for ensuring that complaints are addressed fairly, effectively and promptly.

The Regulator was satisfied that the council is meeting all of the requirements as set out in the Tenancy Standard, including assurance that Wandsworth's homes are let in accordance with its Tenancy Policy.

Since the Council's grade was awarded, a series of monthly meetings have been scheduled with the Regulator, designed to provide assurance that areas of focus highlighted in the regulatory judgement are being addressed.

Damp and Mould

The forum was also scheduled to receive an update on the council's response to damp and mould, and work to prepare for the implementation of Awaab's Law¹.

Following the circumstances surrounding Awaab Ishak's death, the council undertook a full review in early 2023 as to how it deals with reports of mould and damp, and since that review the following changes have been implemented:

• An update of the council's webpages relating to damp and mould
• Regular features in the council's quarterly housing newsletter (Homelife) on damp and mould.
• Officers now periodically review data to identify blocks where reports of mould growth are more common
• Officers ensure that the vulnerability of tenants and their families are fully considered when responding to reports of damp and mould, reinforced by the new Vulnerable Residents policy and ongoing staff training.
• The housing management system was amended to ensure that mandatory post inspections are completed by a housing officer once mould removal has been completed.
• All front-line housing officers have completed additional training in relation to damp and mould.
• A dedicated mould removal team was created in March 2023 to promptly remove the immediate threat to health that mould can pose.
• An automated text message is sent to tenants six months after mould has been removed to proactively follow up with the request that they contact the Council if they continue to have any issues with damp and mould.

In Autumn 2024 the mould removal team was expanded to a team of six mould removal officers and one administrative officer. Since the mould removal team was created in March 2023 they have completed over 1,600 requests. Since the expansion of the mould removal team in September 2024, 22 mould removal requests are now being completed per week compared with 10 in January 2024. Since 1 April 2025, 96.61% of mould removal requests undertaken by the mould removal team have been completed within target (7 days), and satisfaction surveys indicate that 95% of tenants were very satisfied with the service provided by the mould removal team.

The report also provided an update on Awaab's Law, which obliges landlords to investigate and fix reported hazards in their homes within a specified time frame or rehouse tenants where a home cannot be made safe. The requirements of Awaab's Law being introduced in October 2025 are:

The council's current approach ensures that an initial investigation into reports of damp and mould is completed within 14 days. The council have recently purchased the NEC Go Mobile application which will allow officers to use an iPad to complete a summary of the outcome of the inspection on site (including photos) and record the actions to be taken.

The report also noted that in 2026 the above requirements will expand and apply to a wider range of hazards beyond damp and mould which include excess cold and excess heat; falls; structural collapse; fire, electrical and explosions; and hygiene hazards.