English regulator hands C3 grades to three landlords including large care provider

Ms Dodsworth added: “We can confirm that we have placed Anchor Hanover Group on the gradings under review list. The outcome of the investigation will be confirmed in a regulatory judgement, once completed.” 

 

The London Borough of Wandsworth, Central Bedfordshire Council and Anchor were all given C3 grades with each landlord requiring “significant improvement” according to the judgements.

 

The RSH said it is “engaging intensively” with all three social landlords as they work to address the issues identified in each of the cases.

 

Anchor

 

Anchor, which manages around 40,400 homes, is the largest operator of social housing for older people and the sixth largest residential care home operator in England.

 

The RSH gave Anchor a C3 grade and said that following responsive engagement, it found a “significant” backlog of electrical remedial actions and that over a third of its homes did not have a current satisfactory electrical safety inspection report.

 

The regulator found “incomplete and unreliable information” available on the presence of damp and mould as well as weaknesses across landlord health and safety, including fire safety and water hygiene. 

 

The RSH also placed the landlord on its gradings under review list while investigating matters that may impact whether it continues to meet the governance elements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard. The provider is currently rated G1/V1 from its last assessment from the regulator in December.

 

The regulator said in its judgement: “We are engaging closely with Anchor as we require it to demonstrate that steps are being taken to identify and mitigate risks to tenants as it continues to address this situation.

 

“We expect the landlord to deliver improvement at the pace and scale required and to share progress with tenants. Our ongoing engagement with the landlord will be intensive and we will seek evidence that gives us the assurance that sufficient change and progress is being made.”

 

Anchor said that when self-referring to the regulator, the provider also “immediately implemented” an improvement plan.

 

This included strengthening its management in this area, bringing in new contractors to accelerate the processing of its electrical inspection backlog and “thoroughly overhauling” its damp and mould policies and procedures with the help of external consultants.

 

The landlord also started having weekly meetings of its senior management team to monitor and, where possible, accelerate progress.

 

Sarah Jones, chief executive of Anchor, said: “We are deeply sorry for what has happened, and for the concern that it will raise for residents and their families. We self-referred to the Regulator of Social Housing when our internal control processes identified failings in compliance, and we are subject to intensive engagement as we resolve these issues.

 

“As a provider of older people’s housing, Anchor has a high in-person presence at our locations and resident safety is always at the forefront of our minds, but the process and support for frontline colleagues has let them and residents down.”

 

Christopher Kemball, chair of Anchor, said: “Our board and management take these failings very seriously. We have appointed a specially constituted committee of the board to oversee the implementation of our remediation plans.

 

“These issues are also prioritised at all audit and risk committee and board meetings, and the board receives weekly updates on progress from the executive.

 

“We continue to have the financial strength to allow us to fund all necessary works without adversely impacting other areas of the organisation and will ensure that our culture demonstrates similar resilience.”

London Borough of Wandsworth

 

During a planned inspection of the London Borough of Wandsworth, the regulator found nearly 1,800 overdue fire safety remedial actions, all of which were more than 12 months overdue.

 

It found that around 40 per cent of homes and almost 80 per cent of communal areas had not had an electrical safety test.

 

In addition, the RSH said the council lacked up-to-date information on the condition of its homes, with only 6.5 per cent of its 17,000 total homes having been surveyed in the past 10 years.  

 

The judgement also showed weaknesses in how tenants’ views are taken into account in decision-making.  

 

“LB Wandsworth has been engaging constructively with us and has put in a place a programme to rectify these failures, including work to complete outstanding health and safety checks and actions, improve its understanding of the condition of its homes, and making improvements to its tenant engagement and complaint-handling processes,” the regulator said in its judgement.

 

The London Borough of Wandsworth set out the steps it has been taking to improve. The council said it will be undertaking a full stock condition survey of the homes that it manages, with 20 per cent of its stock to be surveyed each year for the next five years.

 

It said that 75 per cent of communal areas and 70 per cent of homes have now had electrical tests completed. The council added that it has completed more than 38,000 fire safety remedial actions and none of those that are overdue were assessed to be serious, or place residents at risk, by an independent fire risk assessor.

 

Aydin Dikerdem, cabinet member for housing at the London Borough of Wandsworth, said: “Delivering the highest-quality service to our council tenants remains an absolute priority for this council.

 

“Since we took control of the council over two years ago, we have invested significant new resources into our housing management teams and reforming our tenant participation structures.

 

“While it is not what we hoped for, this report will help us in targeting where we need to improve and the areas of the new housing regulatory framework we need to adapt to. We look forward to working with the regulator to make this happen.”

 

Central Bedfordshire Council

 

During an inspection of Central Bedfordshire Council, the RSH found that more than 1,800 overdue repairs orders and more than 300 outstanding fire safety actions arising from fire risk assessments had not been tracked by age or prioritised by urgency. 

 

At the 5,400-home landlord, the regulator found no tracking, monitoring or reporting of the number and duration of damp and mould cases. 

 

The judgement also showed a “limited range” of opportunities for tenants to scrutinise their landlord’s performance and influence how its housing services are delivered.

 

“We are engaging Central Bedfordshire Council as it continues to address the issues set out in this judgement,” the regulator said in its judgement.

 

“Our engagement will be intensive, and we will seek assurance that Central Bedfordshire Council is making sufficient change and progress, including ongoing monitoring of how it delivers its improvement programme.”

 

Central Bedfordshire Council said that it was aware improvements were required to meet the outcomes of the new consumer standards and that it had made a self-referral to the RSH in November 2024.

 

The council said it has started developing a housing regulatory improvement plan and is already working to make changes to its services. The recommendations from the report are being incorporated into this plan, it added.

 

Steve Watkins, executive member for assets, business and housing at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “This is a disappointing outcome but not an unexpected one. We had made a self-referral to the regulator in November 2024.

 

“We are treating these issues with the utmost seriousness and taking swift and decisive action to improve and will continue collaborating with the regulator and tenants until we meet their expectations.

 

“All tenants deserve to live in safe, high-quality and well-maintained homes, and we are fully committed to making the necessary improvements as quickly as possible.”