Almost half of all Nottingham council homes have now had condition checks
Council homes in Clifton (LDRS)
By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
Almost half of Nottingham’s council homes have now had vital checks as the authority looks to improve its poorly-rated housing services.
Nottingham City Council began a full stock condition survey on all of its 26,000 properties last summer, shortly before the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) gave the authority the second-lowest possible rating.
The last full check was done more than eight years ago, when the arm’s-length management organisation, Nottingham City Homes (NCH), was in charge of the city’s social housing.
However it is now directly managed by the Labour-run authority, after being wound up upon the revelation millions of pounds in rent payers’ money from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) was unlawfully diverted to the council’s general fund to prop-up other services.
The council says the survey, which is being carried out on the authority’s behalf by property firm Savills, will help it make better decisions and improve standards for tenants.
During a Place, Economy and Infrastructure Scrutiny Committee at Loxley House on Monday (June 16) an update was given on progress against the target to check over all council homes by March next year.
Steve Edlin, assistant director of asset management at the council, said: “We have got two contractors on board to deliver the work.
“As of today, 11,230 surveys were done, so we are just over 45 per cent. We are on target to meet our target of March 2026.
“What we are doing now is we are taking that information to inform us going forward. We are enhancing our co-operation between ourselves, repairs and maintenance teams, taking all the information in and being more proactive rather than reactive.”
The survey began shortly before the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), the independent organisation responsible for checking council homes, conducted its own review of the council and its properties in October last year.
The regulator said it uncovered almost 1,000 live cases of repairs which have proven a “significant driver of complaints”. Further problems included gaps in checks on smoke and carbon monoxide detection measures.
The regulator has been investigating all social landlords after new consumer standards came into force in April 2024.
It can give a landlord one of four consumer standards grades; C1, C2, C3 and C4.
C1 is the highest grade, while C4, the lowest grade, is given when there are very serious failings which the landlord must make “fundamental changes” so improved outcomes are delivered.
The council was given a C3 rating.
Cllr Jay Hayes (Lab), executive member for housing and planning at the council, previously said: “We do not take the RSH’s findings lightly. Clearly there is much work to do, and we will not shy away from doing it.”
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