The Housing & Regeneration Scrutiny Sub Committee meeting on Tuesday 13 January 2026 reviewed the performance of social housing landlords in Tower Hamlets, discussed the progress of the Your Voice, Our Action regulatory improvement plan and the Big Door Knock resident engagement initiative, and received an update on the council's preparedness for the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Key concerns raised included the high percentage of non-decent homes managed by the council, issues with repairs and safety compliance across various landlords, and the implementation of new private rental sector legislation.

Landlord Performance Report Q2 2025/26

The committee reviewed the performance of registered social housing providers in Tower Hamlets for the second quarter of the 2025/26 financial year. A significant concern was the high percentage of non-decent homes within the council's own housing stock, standing at 26.4%. While the council has a target to reduce this to 18-22% by March 2026, it was noted that most of these non-decent homes were due to aging building elements like windows, roofs, and doors requiring replacement. Several other providers, including Spitalfields Housing Association, Tower Hamlets Community Housing, Providence Row Housing Association, and Poplar HARCA, reported 0% non-decency.

In terms of repairs, Poplar HARCA, Spitalfields Housing Association, and Gateway Housing Association achieved over 90% for both emergency and non-emergency repairs completed on time. However, Clarion Housing Association, London & Quadrant, and EastEndHomes showed lower performance in non-emergency repair timeliness. Notting Hill Genesis had the highest rate of complaints relative to its stock size, while Poplar HARCA and L&Q received the fewest. Safety checks showed varying levels of compliance across providers, with EastEndHomes and Sanctuary reporting below 99% for gas safety, and EastEndHomes also showing lower compliance for fire safety. Riverside and Tower Hamlets Council reported notably lower compliance for asbestos safety. Lift safety also presented challenges, with Tower Hamlets Council, Poplar HARCA, and Tower Hamlets Community Housing showing mid-to-high compliance, while EastEndHomes and Gateway Housing Association were the lowest. Anti-social behaviour (ASB) cases were highest for Tower Hamlets Council and Providence Row. Re-let times varied significantly, with Notting Hill Genesis and Sanctuary reporting the longest standard re-let times. Riverside had the highest percentage of stock unavailable for letting at the end of the period.

Councillor Asma Islam raised concerns about the council's own housing stock, particularly the number of properties not meeting the Decent Homes Standard, and requested a deep dive into the reasons behind this. She also questioned Riverside's development pipeline and investment strategy in relation to meeting decent home standards. Councillor Iqbal Hossain raised concerns about water supply failures on Devon's Estate managed by Poplar HARCA, with reports of an eight-month repair timeline, and questioned the council's role in addressing this.

Your Voice, Our Action & Big Door Knock

The committee received an update on the Your Voice, Our Action regulatory improvement programme, which was developed following the council's self-referral to the Housing Regulator in October 2024 and a subsequent C3 grading in April 2025. The programme aims to address regulatory failings and improve housing management services, ensuring compliance with consumer standards and putting residents' voices at the heart of services. Phase one of the programme, running until March 2026, has 128 deliverables, of which 78 have been completed, 47 are in progress, and 3 have not started. Key achievements include policy updates, streamlined voids processes, a new damp and mould policy, a reduction in the housing application backlog, and improved call centre answer rates.

The Big Door Knock initiative, conducted between June and September 2025, involved council staff visiting 2,004 homes across 76 blocks, engaging in 417 meaningful conversations with residents. The initiative aimed to improve resident perception of the service, engage residents in service design, and create effective channels for identifying and responding to issues. Feedback from residents was largely positive regarding communication and engagement, with 75% rating council communication as average or above. The most frequently raised issues were repairs (22%), ASB (18%), and individual support needs (8%). Lessons learned from the initiative include the need for better preparedness, digital integration for real-time data capture, and improved communication with residents and local councillors about future engagement opportunities.

Councillor Asma Islam provided feedback on the Big Door Knock on the Boundary Estate, noting that some actions appeared superficial and questioned the correlation between the door-knocking exercise and previously reported repairs. Councillor Iqbal Hossain highlighted concerns about anti-social behaviour in Poplar and Lansbury Ward, asking about the council's and Poplar HARCA's awareness and actions. Questions were also raised about the progress of specific deliverables within the Your Voice, Our Action programme, particularly those at risk of slippage, and the availability of staff who speak Bengali and Somali during resident engagement activities.

Renters Rights Act 2025 Update and Council Preparedness

Karen Swift, Director of Housing Strategy, Policy and Regulatory Assurance, provided an update on the council's preparedness for the Renters' Rights Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025 and will see most changes come into effect on 1 May 2026. Key provisions of the Act include the abolition of 'no-fault' evictions (Section 21), the transition to periodic tenancies, restrictions on rent increases to once a year in line with market rates, enhanced property standards for the private rental sector, anti-discrimination measures, a ban on rental bidding wars, and restrictions on upfront rent payments.

A monthly working group, comprising representatives from Legal, Trading Standards, Health and Housing, Housing Options, Homelessness, and Strategy and Policy, has been established to assess the potential impact of the Act and develop mitigation strategies. A risk register and a penalties table for landlord non-compliance have been drafted. The council plans to communicate extensively with landlords, letting agents, and leaseholders to ensure awareness of the new legislation. Trading Standards will monitor rent increases and other consumer-related aspects, while Environmental Health will manage the national landlord database.

Councillor Rahmad al-Kabeer sought clarification on whether the changes to tenancies would affect existing fixed-term tenancies and lifetime tenancies, and was informed that the Act primarily affects private tenants and that landlords have until May 2026 to end tenancies under existing legislation. Councillor Paolo Sen questioned how the council would regulate rental appraisals and control rent increases, and how market rents would be determined. The council indicated that Trading Standards would be involved in monitoring rent increases, and that a mechanism to track rents is being put in place. Questions were also raised about the council's threshold workflow for investigating offences related to the Act and how outcomes would be reported publicly.

The committee welcomed the progress made in preparing for the Renters' Rights Act and stressed the importance of clear communication to residents and landlords.

Other Business

During the Any Other Business section, a question was raised about a new housing asset management strategy, with a leaseholder representative expressing concern that it was being circulated to residents without being presented to the committee first. The Chair noted this and stated they would look into it. A site visit to the Contact Centre was also mentioned, with a discussion about the timing of such visits to accommodate members with day jobs. The final meeting of the municipal year was noted, and attendees were thanked for their contributions.