The Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee were scheduled to discuss the Regulator of Social Housing's inspection report, the council's approach to damp and mould, and housing management complaints. Also on the agenda was the Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee's outturn report for 2024/25, the Wandsworth Corporate Plan actions, and the committee's work programme.

Regulator of Social Housing Inspection Report

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the inspection report and regulatory judgement by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). The report summarised Wandsworth Council's grading from the RSH inspection in November 2024, and outlined the measures in place to ensure that all consumer standards would be met.

The report stated that delivering the highest quality service to council tenants remained an absolute priority for the council, with the aim to provide strong and efficient landlord services to the 17,000 managed homes.

The RSH introduced a series of revised consumer standards in April 2024. The four standards and their respective areas of focus are as follows:

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

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 highlighted failings in two areas: stock quality and electrical safety testing.

The report stated that 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. It was 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. Starting from spring 2025, 20 per cent of the council's stock would be surveyed every year, for the next five years to bring the total stock surveyed to 100 per cent, at a cost of approximately £900,000.

Under the health and safety standard, the Regulator identified an additional serious failing regarding electrical safety inspections. The regulatory judgement noted 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. Since the inspection, significant progress had been made with 96 per cent of communal areas and 74 per cent of homes now having electrical tests completed.

The Regulator also highlighted that 1,800 fire remedial actions were overdue at the time of inspection. Work was ongoing to reduce these actions and just over 900 non-serious actions remained overdue.

The Regulator confirmed that the council was compliant on the Neighbourhood and Community standard, and was satisfied that Wandsworth meets the requirements for ensuring that complaints are addressed fairly, effectively and promptly. The Regulator was also satisfied that the council is meeting all of the requirements as set out in the Tenancy Standard.

Since the council's grade was awarded, a series of monthly meetings have been scheduled with the Regulator. To supplement these meetings, an improvement tracker has been developed with monthly updates across a range of areas.

The Cabinet Member for Housing will establish and convene a cross-party working group to explore the areas of focus as highlighted in the regulatory judgement and scrutinise information that is being provided to the Regulator.

Damp and Mould

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the council's response to damp and mould and work to prepare for implementation of Awaab's Law.

Since a full review was undertaken in early 2023, 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 and then follow up with the tenants
• Officers ensure that the vulnerability of tenants and their families are fully considered when responding to reports of damp and mould. This approach is being 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 pro-actively 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 1 April 2025, 96.61% of mould removal requests undertaken by the mould removal team have been completed within target (7 days). Satisfaction surveys indicate that 95% of tenants were very satisfied with the service provided by the mould removal team.

Awaab's Law 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 below table sets out the requirements of Awaab's Law being introduced in October 2025.

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 and record the actions to be taken.

Housing Management Complaints

The committee was scheduled to receive the annual report on housing management complaints. The report stated that the council is dedicated to promptly addressing complaints and delivering quality services. Residents are encouraged to provide feedback, submit complaints, and offer suggestions through various channels and online platforms.

The Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) requires all landlords to produce an annual complaints performance report which must be presented to the landlord's governing body, and published on the section of its website relating to complaints by 30 June 2025. Landlords must also carry out an annual self-assessment of its complaints handling mechanisms.

In 2024-25, the Housing Directorate completed 329 complaint responses at stages 1 and 2. 221 (67%) were completed at stage 1, and 108 (33%) were escalated to stage 2. In terms of timeliness, 156 (71%) of stage 1 complaints were completed on time this year. At stage 2, 75 (69.44%) of stage 2 complaints were completed on time.

In Housing Management, the common topics complaints have been about are summarised as dissatisfaction with the quality of repairs and time taken to make repairs, communication issues with both contractors and council staff, issues such as leaks, ingress, damp and mould, dissatisfaction with Major Works schemes timeframes and quality, contractor conduct and finally the handling of anti-social behaviour cases.

Two resident focus groups were held in March 2025, looking at repairs and complaints satisfaction. For complaints, six actions were agreed with residents which include more frequency and clearer communications with residents who have raised a complaint; closer working with third parties (such as contractors) and increasing awareness of the complaints process and improving transparency.

In 2024-25 the HOS made contact with the council 298 times regarding 95 individual cases. This included enquiries regarding 67 new cases as well as ongoing investigations. The HOS made determinations on 25 cases which resulted in 108 orders and decided not to investigate an additional 8 cases. Wandsworth accepted all the 25 HOS determinations this year.

Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee Outturn Report 2024/25

The committee was scheduled to discuss the outturn against revenue budgets for the services falling within its terms of reference.

The headline position for the committee was a General Fund overspend of £5.1m, an improvement on the £6.1m overspend forecast at Q3. The main driver of the overspend is continuing significant pressures relating to the council's statutory homelessness responsibilities.

Also presented was the outturn position on the Housing Revenue Account¹ (HRA) framework, where reserves reduced by £38.9m to £153.3m, £24.5m more than the budgeted reduction of £14.4m and closing position of £177.8m. The main driver of this is the addition of the one-off costs relating to the revised arrangements for delivery of the Winstanley and York Rd regeneration scheme alongside continued and significant pressures on revenue repairs and maintenance.

The summary outturn position for General Fund revenue for services under the committee's terms of reference is shown below.

The main driver of the overall committee overspend has been the ongoing pressures relating to the council's statutory duty to prevent and relieve homelessness, within the Housing Services section.

HRA reserves at year-end stood at £153.273m and were lower than the budgeted level by a net total of £24.510m. Revenue expenditure in the HRA shows an overspend of £24.510m in 2024/25, notably a £16.261m overspend across revenue repairs and maintenance budgets. The most significant area of overspend was across general repairs which in total showed an overspend of £8.461m.

Wandsworth Corporate Plan Actions and KPIs

The committee was scheduled to receive an end-year (Q4) progress update on the delivery of agreed Wandsworth Corporate Plan (WCP) actions during 2024/25 and results for the agreed WCP key performance indicators (KPI) related to the remit of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC).

The Wandsworth Corporate Plan was developed to ensure delivery of the priorities for the council. It sets out how Wandsworth Council will deliver a fairer, compassionate, and more sustainable Wandsworth. The Plan comprises of 4-year objectives to be delivered by March 2026, supported by one-year actions that are refreshed each year and key performance indicators (KPIs) that are directional and benchmarkable in order to monitor the impact of the actions delivered.

Some of the actions that were scheduled to be discussed were:

• Continue work to deliver 1,000 new council homes
• Commit to ending rough sleeping by 2030
• Improve conditions for those in Temporary Accommodation
• Achieve Temporary Accommodation targets
• Solidify and promote the Temporary Accommodation Forum
• Continue building relationships of voluntary sector and homelessness team
• Deliver the proxy address pilot
• As PRS eviction activity picks up – review and prioritise early intervention options to prevent homelessness (rent arrears and rent increases must be prioritised).
• Provide Tenancy Sustainment support to rough sleepers to offer practical and holistic support to service users who have been assisted to access settled accommodation, assisting them with establishing the skills necessary to successfully maintain a tenancy and to live independently in the community.
• Undertake comprehensive consultation with relevant stakeholders on proposals for the rollout of both a Boroughwide additional licensing scheme as well selective licensing scheme for Furzedown, Tooting Bec and Tooting wards. Subject to feedback following consultation; approve new licensing regime at committee prior to formal commencement early in 2025.
• Continue to enhance the capacity to take measures to improve conditions for private tenants through the maximum use of legal powers at the Council's disposal to penalise negligent or rogue landlords with penalties and enforcement action
• Council will implement a range of mechanisms within the wider licensing regime to significantly improve conditions for residents and to provide incentives for Landlords to improve standards of accommodation. Stock condition survey information will be utilised to target inspections to consider energy efficiency as well as environmental hazards
• Continue to prepare for the increased regulatory regime in social housing, to include developing building safety cases for all high rise buildings, responding to consultations and preparing to submit new tenant satisfaction measures. Report on progress to committee as required.
• Develop a rolling programme of stock condition surveys, to inspect 100% of external building components, such as roofs and windows over a 3-5 year period, to produce a more accurate assessment of our stock. To use the results of these surveys to continue to inform the major works programme.
• Continue to hold repairs contractors to account including consideration of resident repair panel to review poor performance resulting in improved repairs KPI's.
• In line with the review of damp and mould recruit further officers to the team to build on in-house capacity. To keep this under review throughout the year.
• Housing and Finance to work together to review the transparency of service charges. Make any improvements as required (HRD and Finance)
• Alton Estate
  • Present a place-making proposal for Alton Estate to July 2024 Housing Committee.
  • Public engagement on shortlisted options to take place in late 2024/early 2025.
  • Commence improvement works to Alton Activity Centre and Downshire Fields
  • Submission of planning application for Roehampton Community Hub
• Winstanley York Road Completion of Block 5 as part of WYR regeneration and relocate residents to their new homes (126 homes)
• Deliver the Residents Participation and Consultation Strategy, including a relaunch of the resident participation conference, appointment of a new resident participation manager and undertaking an audit of estate notice boards, replacing where necessary and providing residents with ward councillor and emergency contact details.
• Ensure the borough maintains DAHA (Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance) accreditation when being re-assessed in July 2024.
• Continue to promote the Stay Safe Stay Put scheme to those experiencing domestic abuse, report on numbers assisted through the scheme as part of the Resources and Commitments paper presented to July Housing Committee
• Develop a new Decarbonisation Strategy setting out detailed plans on which buildings will need retrofit and the types of measures that will be required and a pathway for the reduction of carbon emissions.
• Align and integrate decarbonisation work within the Council's emerging Asset Strategy and new Leisure Strategy to ensure this work supports progress to becoming a carbon neutral council by 2030 and a net zero borough by 2043, as well as embedding adaptation and resilience measures (such as cool spaces, green spaces, SuDS etc.)
• Produce a new housing asset management strategy to include how we maintain our housing stock in relation to capital works, fire safety and the green agenda. To report to committee in July 2024.
• Maximise the use of funding sources to deliver decarbonisation projects
• Increase the supply of the Council's energy from renewable and low carbon sources, including continuing to progress PPA for zero carbon electricity, securing long term supply of zero carbon electricity from a named supplier.
• Carry out retrofit works in void properties which have an EPC rating of D or below
• All projects currently in design stages as part of the Homes for Wandsworth programme to be specified to Passive House standards of insulation and air-tightness to maximise energy efficiency.
• Start work on first scheme to receive full Passive House certification. This is a project consisting of seven homes for adults with learning disabilities on Bessborough Road.
• Work with an external consultant to complete feasibility studies on eight of the poorest performing communal heating systems to explore how these could be improved.
• Replace the existing communal boiler at the sheltered block at Holmleigh Court with an air source heat pump (ASHP) with works beginning on site by Apil 2024.
• Report back on pilots relating to an alternative heating technology which uses far infra-red emissions and on the audit of all installations of solar PV throughout housing stock
• Continue to bid for relevant funding to complete retro-fit works to existing stock to include the use of ECO4 funding to carry out works to houses with low EPCs.
• Complete the procurement of the new hybrid/EV estates services fleet.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme

The committee was scheduled to discuss its work programme. The report outlined the proposed changes and enhancements to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) Work Programmes following the decisions made at the March Council meeting. The aim is to provide additional support and structure to the development of the Work Programmes, ensuring that for each OSC they are comprehensive and effective in addressing key areas of concern.

To inform their work programme, the scrutiny committees could access a variety of information sources, including:

• Performance Information
• Finance and Risk Information
• Corporate Complaints Information
• The Forward Plan of Key Decisions
• Reports from Ombudsmen

The objectives for the Wandsworth Overview and Scrutiny Committees through work programming should include:

• Improving Services
• Policy Endorsement
• Pre-decision scrutiny of Cabinet Decisions
• Gaining Insights
• Horizon Scanning

When considering whether an item should be included in the work programme, the scrutiny committee should consider the following questions:

• Benefits of Scrutiny
• Method of Scrutiny
• Desired Outcomes
• Engagement with Decision-Makers

The current work programme included:

• Regulator of Social Housing inspection report update
• Update on the Council's approach to damp and mould
• Housing Complaints
• Q4 Quarterly Budget Monitoring report
• Q4 KPI Corporate Performance report
• Work Programme
• Housing Services Activity Report
• Waste and Recycling on Housing Estates
• Budget Monitoring
• Wandsworth Corporate Plan Performance