Adur District Council has apologised to its tenants and leaseholders and said it will work with the national social housing regulator to tackle health and safety issues with its homes.
They contacted the Regulator of Social Housing in February after carrying out a review that identified health and safety issues in some of its properties.
The review highlighted that not all of its homes had up-to-date fire, electrical and asbestos safety checks, and that some did not have smoke alarms. It also did not have the data to confirm its properties met the Decent Homes Standard.
The Council referred itself to the regulator and suggested that because of these issues, it believed it could be in breach of the national Home Standard.
The regulator has now written to the Council to confirm that it is indeed in breach.
The Council understands the work it needs to do and has created a new programme of health and safety checks and property surveys. Staff from the regulator will now work with the Council as it tackles the identified problems.
The regulator has today published a notice on its engagement with the Council, as happens with all such cases of this kind.
Cllr Carson Albury, Adur’s Cabinet Member for Adur Homes and Customer Services, said:
“Everyone living in our properties deserves to have a good, safe and secure home and we are committed to working with the regulator and our residents to make this a reality.
“I’m grateful to the regulator for the speed with which it has reviewed our referral and we welcome its scrutiny as we work to resolve our issues.
“We have been, and will continue to be, open and transparent with the regulator about the challenges that have developed in our social housing.”
Much of the housing managed by the Council was built more than 50 years ago and needs a lot of investment to bring it up to standard. However, years of rent restrictions imposed by the government means there has been, and continues to be, insufficient funding to pay for the work required in Adur.
The Council accepts that this has meant it has not invested and improved homes in the way it should have done for a number of years.
They say they will continue to carry out repairs and improvement work on their properties, focusing on prioritising health and safety issues. It has written to all of its tenants and leaseholders explaining the situation, apologising for not having always provided a good service and committing to working hard to do better.
Man Charged After Throwing Brick Through Brighton Restaurant Window
Peacehaven Man Disqualified Over High-Speed A27 Pursuit Near Brighton
Appeal After PCSO Assaulted In Uckfield
Man Charged With Rape Of Teenage Girl In Newhaven
Overnight Closures For A22 Forest Row Road Improvements
Brighton Defence Manufacturer's Controversial Planning Application Likely To Be Heard
Over £2.4m Approved For Worthing School Support Centre
Section Of M25 To Close Again Tonight - As Drivers Warned Not To Get Complacent
Plans For 800 New Horsham Homes Refused
Over 200 Co-Living Flats Approved For Brighton