Taking proactive steps to improve standards in council homes
Published: Friday, February 16, 2024
- New laws have come into effect to strengthen how social housing is regulated, ensure standards are met and actions are taken against landlords where these are not.
- The council is already taking proactive steps to improve the quality of council homes in the borough.
- These steps include the expansion of our specialist cleaning team to deal with more cases of damp and mould.
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The Government is currently consulting on new powers for the Social Housing Regulator to ensure good standards are met and taking action against landlords where they are not. It is intended to drive significant change in landlord behaviour.
The Government has introduced new powers for the Social Housing Regulator to ensure good standards are met and taking action against landlords where they are not. It is intended to drive significant change in landlord behaviour.
As a social landlord, we take our responsibilities very seriously and strive to not just maintain but improve conditions in our residents’ homes.
As part of the new powers ‘Awaab’s Law’ proposes to require landlords to investigate and fix reported hazards in homes within a specified time frame, or rehouse tenants where a home cannot be made safe, including damp and mould.
In March 2023, we established an in-house specialist cleaning team. Their role is to attend and remove mould in council tenant’s homes within a target time of 48 hours of it being reported. The team can be contacted via email - mould.removal@wandsworth.gov.uk - and a direct telephone hotline - 020 8871 8887.
Since introducing this role, the team have completed over 360 mould removals.
Following each mould removal, the Estate Manager arranges an inspection to provide advice, and investigate to see what further works may be required to help prevent the mould from returning.
We are now intending to expand the team from two to six, as well as employing a dedicated administration officer. The expanded team will enable us to deal with more cases and to do so more quickly.
It will further reduce our reliance on outside contractors and result in an estimated saving of around £10,000 per year.
Aydin Dikerdem, Cabinet Member for Housing, said:
“We welcome these new laws and powers for the Social Housing Regulator. As a social landlord, we already seek to deliver a good standard of home for our residents, because a decent home is the foundation for a decent life.
“The expansion of our in-house specialist cleaning team is just one example of how we are working to improve conditions in the homes, while also delivering cost savings.”