Gosport Borough Council receives worst C4 consumer grading from RSH after fire safety and electrical failures discovered

Gosport Borough Council has been handed the lowest C4 consumer grading by the Regulator of Social Housing.

The grading means the local authority, which manages nearly 3,000 in Hampshire near Portsmouth, must make fundamental changes to fix ‘very serious failings’ in its delivery against the outcomes of the standards.

In its judgement, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) found more than 900 overdue fire safety remediation actions, with some overdue since 2012. It also discovered more than 300 overdue electrical safety checks and more than 100 category 2 electrical safety remedial actions, some of which have been outstanding for up to seven years.

It said Gosport has a lack of accurate and up-to-date information on tenants’ homes, with a third of properties having no survey on record. The council did not use the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) to assess potential hazards in tenants’ homes and has had no planned improvement programme in place since 2023.

RSH found serious failings in the council’s understanding of the diverse needs of its tenants and provided no assurance on the handling of complaints by its repairs contractor. There were also serious failings in how the council works to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents.

In its judgement RSH said: “The very serious failings identified include a lack of assurance that the council is meeting legal health and safety requirements including completing all necessary checks and remedial actions, and a lack of accurate and up to date information on the quality of tenants’ homes, including any potential hazards in homes.

“Gosport has demonstrated a willingness to resolve these issues, but we found limited evidence that it fully understands the scale and breadth of the issues and limited evidence that it has the capability to effectively address them. Fundamental changes are required to the service to improve outcomes for tenants.”

RSH said that since its inspection, Gosport has been “engaging constructively” but “needs to urgently develop a full understanding of current risks to tenants and the root causes of the failings identified.” RSH said its engagement with the borough will be “intensive”.

Gosport becomes the fifth council handed a C4 grade, following Arun District Council, Castle Point Borough Council, Newham Council and Tandridge District Council.

Gosport Borough Council has been approached for comment.

>> See also: Regulator seeks views on proposed updates to consumer standards

In other judgements today Sparrow Shared Ownership, a 3,000-home for-profit provider, received the highest grades for consumer (C1), viability (V1) and governance (G1). Sparrow is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SHGL, a Jersey-based Real Estate Investment Trust.

RSH removed regulatory notices for Eldonian Community Based Housing Association, Haringey Council and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, meaning the three landlords have addressed concerns previously identified by the regulator.

RSH also published annual ‘stability check’ results for 52 further landlords (see full table below.)

Latest regulatory judgements