First Wessex rapped over 'potential of serious harm' to tenants

The English social housing regulator, the Homes and Communities Agency, is now deciding whether to downgrade the provider’s governance rating to a G2 or G3 level.

First Wessex, which is based in Hampshire and manages around 20,500 affordable homes, currently has the top governance rating of G1.

A regulatory notice - published today after First Wessex was placed on the regulator’s online ‘watch list’ - said that the provider had breached the Home Standard, resulting in the potential for serious detriment to tenants.

The regulator said there was evidence of a significant number of overdue gas servicing certificates, some of which had been expired for a long time. Gas safety checks should be undertaken annually by a gas safe engineer.

The notice says: ‘The provider had been aware of this situation for some time and had been addressing the issues but had not informed the regulator.’

The overdue servicing has now been completed and First Wessex has revised its procedures. The RP has also commissioned independent reviews of compliance with health and safety legislation including gas safety, and internal controls.

Peter Walters, chief executive at First Wessex, said: ‘For a period of time a number of gas servicing certificates for our homes were overdue, which breached gas safety regulations, and which we acknowledge was unacceptable.

‘We’d like to give reassurance that we now have a 100 per cent gas safety check record and have changed our procedures to ensure this situation doesn’t happen again.

‘The safety of residents is our absolute priority and we realise the importance of making sure our homes are safe to live in.

‘The notice also recognises that this situation was being addressed prior to it coming to the attention of the HCA, and that it has been rectified, and revised controls put in place.’