The Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee met to discuss the housing services activity, the performance of housing associations, and the committee's work programme. Councillors heard that homelessness demand has increased sharply, and that the supply of properties is behind forecast. The committee agreed to note the work programme, with the contributions made during the meeting to be noted.

Maysoule Road Fire Update

The committee received a verbal update on the fire at Fox House, with Mr Worth, Interim Executive Director of Housing, stating that it was day 21 since the fire. He said that the council had stood up services quickly and opened a rest centre. He noted that the main task had been to provide temporary accommodation, and that this was the largest such incident he could recall since 2002.

Mr Worth told the committee that accommodation had been provided for 31 or 32 households overnight, but that it had taken longer than the council would have liked. He also stated that the council had moved to prioritise immediate rehousing, and that firm offers had been made to 26 or 27 of the 29 secure tenants¹. A dozen people had already accepted alternative permanent offers.

Mr Worth said that one of the leaseholders had sorted themselves out under their insurance, and the other two were being dealt with under homelessness provisions. The three temporary accommodation residents in the block had been provided with alternative non-hotel accommodation. Accommodation had been booked in travel lodges through to 23 October, in the hope that all or nearly all of the residents would have been resettled by then.

Mr Chadwick, Executive Director of Residence Services, added that there had been a very good cross-directorate effort to get the assistance centre in place, driven by the council's emergency plan and experience of similar large-scale events, such as Grenfell. He said that the humanitarian and financial support offered had been great, including vouchers and school uniform support for children.

Councillor Kate Stock, Councillor for Battersea, thanked staff and the local community for their support. She noted that residents were concerned about why the fire spread so quickly, and what the assessment of that risk was prior to the fire. She also raised concerns about communication and consistency of information.

Mr Worth responded that the fire brigade had not yet been able to get their specialist fire investigation team into the site of the fire, as the building was not safe. He said that every affected family had been allocated a key worker, and that there was a resource pack for those officers.

Councillor Mrs Angela Graham applauded the support given by officers. She asked for further information regarding actions in the future to address the lateness of residents finding accommodation.

Mr Worth responded that the council has an arrangement with the Insurance Companies Accommodation Bureau (ICAB), which can arrange any amount of accommodation at any standard. He said that the tube strike on the night had been a complicating factor, and that the council had mobilised staff to find rooms. He also noted that the large temporary accommodation facility being brought online in Tooting would give the council more resilience around this.

Councillor Ravi Govindia asked about insurances, and what support was available for those who had lost their goods and assets. He also asked whether other buildings in the borough with a similar construction style were being examined for any obvious defects.

Councillor Stock noted that the all-councillor written updates by email had been very useful and informative. She asked for a commitment to seeing the fire brigade's report at the committee as part of the evaluation.

Councillor Dickendom noted that the speed in which offers were being made was commendable, and that this was one of the biggest lessons learned from the Grenfell Inquiry.

Housing Services Activity

The committee received an update on housing services activity from April to July 2025, based on targets and forecasts approved by the cabinet in July 2025. The report (Housing Services Activity Update) covered homelessness, temporary accommodation, rough sleeping, and the supply of properties.

Councillors heard that homelessness demand had increased sharply, with 1,612 new applications taken from April to July 2025, 14% higher than the same period last year. This was attributed to increases in family evictions, domestic abuse, and the end of assured shorthold tenancies².

There had been 478 new placements in temporary accommodation from April to July, an increase of 12.7% from the same time last year. Net admissions had also increased, with 375 this year compared to 287 last year.

The council had achieved 174 successful prevention outcomes, which is 33.8% of the target. In addition to this, further officer interventions meant that 46 cases were concluded and homelessness prevented.

Gazelle Nasser, Assistant Director of Housing Allocation to Provision, told the committee that there were 4,342 households in temporary accommodation, an increase of 325 from the end of March 2025. The year-end forecast is 3,995. She said that full compliance with the bed and breakfast suitability order had been maintained, and that no families had been in bed and breakfast for longer than six weeks. 86% of temporary accommodation being used is self-contained, and 53% is located in the borough.

Ms Nasser also noted that 186 new leased units are being developed in Tooting. There is a pipeline of 18 private sector leases, and 15 renewals of private sector leases versus nine hand backs. Temporary accommodation voids continue to reduce, with 134 in July 2025 compared to 155 in July 2024.

Between April and July 2025, 375 properties became available, representing 27% of forecast resources. The council is 91 properties behind forecast at the end of July. The majority of that shortfall was from the council stock, primarily due to a shortfall of the development supply.

Chantel Kondeshora, Head of Service, told the committee that 116 individuals have been accommodated off the street in the last 12 months, and 50 individuals have been moved into long-term accommodation. Between April and July 2025, there has been a 25% reduction in street homelessness compared to the same period in 2024, and 23 individuals have been accommodated off the street.

Ms Kondeshora also updated the committee on the new street homelessness assessment hub, which will follow a safe and beyond barriers model. She said that the service will foster stronger collaboration between teams, and that clients will be referred to as community members. The service will be trauma-informed and peer-led.

The current forecast for quarter one is that direct homelessness costs are showing an overspend of £901,000. Ms Kondeshora said that this highlights areas for significant potential worsening of the situation in future months, and that there is significant work going on across boroughs to try and pool ideas for potential solutions and to lobby the government for greater assistance.

Councillor Stock asked for more detail on the top three demands and reasons why residents are making applications for temporary accommodations.

Ms Kondeshora responded that the top three reasons are family evictions, domestic abuse, and end of assured shorthold tenancy. She gave the following figures:

• Abuse: 322 cases in 2024, 429 in 2025, an increase of 33.2%.
• End of AST: 404 in 2024, 543 in 2025, an increase of 34.4%.
• Family evictions: 625 in 2024, 728 in 2025, an increase of 16.5%.

Councillor Maurice McLeod asked how the council links up with other services to ensure that people are not being put into further harm when trying to avoid homelessness due to family disputes or domestic violence.

Ms Kondeshora responded that risk assessment tools are used for victims of domestic abuse, and that cases are passed on to multi-agency referral meetings. She said that the council also safeguards and refers to children's services and adult social care.

Councillor Matthew Corner asked what actions the council is going to take in order to meet targets, particularly on preventions.

Mr Worth responded that the council is on target with its prevention performance. He said that demand is spiking at the moment, but that the council is doing pretty well against the individual target set. He referenced the scheme at Tooting, and the digital online temporary accommodation occupancy checker.

Councillor Dickendom said that the 1,000 Homes Programme is bolstering the supply of council housing, and that regeneration programmes are allowing for transfers of overcrowded local families to move through the system. She said that the council actively campaigns for rent control and an end to section 21³.

Councillor Corner said that the temporary accommodation in Tooting is not going to make a dent on the numbers, and that the council needs to be much more ambitious. He asked when the Lavender Hill Homeless Hub will be open.

Mr Worth responded that the loss of an assured shorthold tenancy through no fault evictions is the second highest cause of homelessness, and that the Renters (Reform) Bill will make a big impact. He also said that the legislation places a positive duty on the local authority to provide accommodation within its own district as far as it's practicable.

Councillor Daniel Hamilton said that the document was slightly frustrating, and that it would have been useful to have a bit more information in advance to allow councillors to prepare questions. He asked for information on the particular wards where homelessness is at its greatest, where people are coming from outside the borough, and what the pooled ideas and mitigations are that are being worked on across boroughs.

Councillor Govindia said that the money that the council contributes to London councils to tackle issues like homelessness is one of the highest amounts that any council in London gives to London councils, yet the council gets disproportionately less back from London councils.

Councillor Sarmila Varatharaj asked what impact the Renters' Rights Bill will have on homelessness numbers.

Mr Worth responded that the grounds for possession will be amended to where the landlord wants to sell the property, reoccupy the property, or for a family member. He said that there is a sanction in the legislation that if the landlord tells the court that and evicts and then doesn't sell it or occupy it, there are financial penalties that can be applied on application.

Councillor Stock welcomed the approach to the homelessness hub and the co-location of services. She asked about the strategies being used to decrease the proportion of nightly paid accommodation.

Ms Kondeshora responded that the council is developing sites like the one in Tooting and looking for block booking so that it can get the right size, furniture, Wi-Fi, and storage. She said that the council is also trying to look at its landlord offer, and is working more flexibly with landlords.

Councillor Govindia said that the slide presentation was difficult to follow, and that data and figures came out which were not in the paper. He asked what the cause of the delay in delivery of the 91 council housing units was, and what the forecast was for the £901,000 overspend.

Councillor Graham said that she would like nuts and bolts information on the street homelessness service. She asked how the Lavender Hill hub will be managed, how many officers there will be, whether there will be different boroughs, and who is going to pay.

Ms Kondeshora responded that the services will be located at the hub, including clinicians, outreach services, St Mungo's⁴, and Citizens Advice. She said that there will be a dedicated hub assessment manager and a deputy manager who will run the hub on a daily basis. There will be 11 beds and four safe seats, and options for couples and people who are wheelchair dependent.

Housing Associations

Marcus Shukra, Head of Housing Policy and Performance, introduced a report on a proposed audit of the four main housing associations in Wandsworth (Annual Performance and Audit Report for HAs). He said that the audit is based on the Regulator of Social Housing's framework, and that it will evaluate performance across all of the standards that the providers are required to deliver against. The audit will include a summary of delivery, highlight areas of good practice, and identify areas requiring improvements.

The audit will analyse performance across the tenant satisfaction measures that were introduced in 2023, and will benchmark against the G15 benchmark, regionally, and against the council's own performance as a landlord. It will also undertake year-on-year comparisons to see if performance has worsened or improved.

The four housing associations in scope are Wandle, L&Q, Peabody, and Southern. Mr Shukra said that the main priorities for housing associations include investing in existing stock, stock condition and building safety, damp and mould, and resident and customer services.

Councillor Varatharaj asked if there will be other mechanisms in place to monitor the other smaller providers.

Mr Shukra responded that the council will take that away and give it due consideration.

Councillor Corner asked if there have been any statutory investigations putting housing associations on the spot for any failings.

Councillor Dickendom responded that the council does not have statutory powers in that sense, and that the approach has been to rapidly increase the amount of contact with housing associations. She said that the council has informed full council of the round tables where it invites housing associations to talk specifically about maintenance repairs issues with contractors, and that the council escalates things and uses its influence and power to try and address the problems that tenants raise.

Councillor Govindia asked if the report will be based on already known information and data, or if the council will be doing some spot checks of its own. He also asked if leaseholders will be covered in the report, and if there will be some insight into the nature of the stock holding, particularly supported housing.

Councillor Dickendom responded that the council tries to get Wandsworth-specific data from housing associations, but that this is one of the challenges it faces when engaging with them. She said that the council has a political position around housing associations selling off old street property stock, and that it tries to stop that.

Mr Shukra said that the council will explore what kind of information it can get as a landlord, and that it will look to request an average energy efficiency rating for each of the landlords.

Councillor Corner said that the council needs to be really ambitious about how it does this to drive up standards in housing association properties. He asked if the council can design an accountability framework that it would take errant housing associations through, and what powers can be used.

Housing OSC Work Programme

Councillor Stock, chair of the Social Housing Improvement Task and Finish Group, provided an update on the group's work. She said that the group had met a couple of weeks ago and discussed the terms of reference, clarified the scope, and clarified the ambition in terms of improvements in grading.

The group had also received an update on the Maysoule Road fire, and an update on the council's work with the regulator, the ombudsman, and the building safety regulator. The officers are now having monthly engagement meetings with the regulator, and there has been a meeting with the ombudsman in terms of their investigation.

Councillor Corner said that the committee needs significantly more papers added to the work program, and that he would welcome a meeting to gather ideas from colleagues and then add them to the work program. He also said that he would like to see a paper on the resident services merger, and a paper on the work of the deputy cabinet member.

Councillor Govindia said that the paper was a cut out from some sort of textbook on what a scrutiny committee could do, should do, and would do. He said that the paper does not seem to be rooted in what the members' wishes are, and that it misses out the key component that the people the committee is here to represent also have a dog in this race.

Councillor Dickendom said that key decisions are going through cabinet, and that those are public and the papers are online. She said that the process allows for policies to emerge from the task and finish groups that the council didn't think of, and that there is impact that opposition councillors will have.

Mr Chadwick said that his experience of the new approach for Wandsworth has been reasonably good, and that where it's worked best it's been about policy development. He said that the meetings have genuinely informed the cabinet's view and have then generally informed the cabinet decision.

Councillor Graham said that she has concerns as to why the actual residents forum was cancelled, and that she feels that they hold a very important role as regards to information.