The Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Wandsworth Council met on 8 April 2025 to discuss an interim update on the Regulatory Inspection and any declarations of interest. The meeting was scheduled to consider the Council’s grading from the Regulator of Social Housing inspection that took place in November 2024. A more detailed report was expected to be presented to the Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee in June.

Interim Update on the Regulatory Inspection

The Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee were scheduled to discuss a report providing a summary of actions to address the Regulator of Social Housing’s recent regulatory judgement of Wandsworth Council’s landlord services. The report also summarised the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) consultation response to proposed changes to the Local Plan.

The report noted that Wandsworth Council received a C3 grading from the Regulator of Social Housing, indicating some “serious failings” in the delivery of consumer standards, particularly regarding quality and safety. The report stated that the council was found to be compliant with the Neighbourhood and Community Standard and Tenancy Standard, but that there were areas for improvement identified in the Transparency Influence and Accountability Standard, such as informal resident engagement.

The report also raised concerns about stock condition surveys. According to the report, the Regulator noted that full stock condition surveys were only undertaken on a small sample of homes. The report stated that:

It is clear from the regulatory judgement that this is no longer fit for purpose, and steps are being taken to address this. Starting later this month, 20 per cent of the Council’s stock will be surveyed every year, for the next five years to bring the total stock surveyed to 100 per cent.

With regard to electrical safety, the report stated that since 2021, a programme has been in place to undertake electrical safety checks to homes and communal spaces. The report stated that at the time of the inspection, the number of homes completed was lower than hoped, but that since the inspection, significant progress has been made with 88 per cent of communal areas and 70 per cent of homes now having electrical tests completed.

The report also noted that the Regulator highlighted that 1,800 fire remedial actions remained overdue at the time of inspection. The report stated that none of the overdue actions were assessed by the Fire Risk Assessors to be serious or place residents at risk, and that work is ongoing to reduce these actions.

The report stated that the GLA has recently responded to the Council's Regulation 19 consultation on the partial review of its Local Plan¹. The report stated that the Council is aiming to submit its Local Plan this spring, in accordance with its published timetable.