Regulator’s inspection finds electrical safety failings, more than 900 overdue repairs and poor data management across Essex council’s housing stock
Southend-on-Sea City Council has failed to meet the outcomes of the consumer standards, the Regulator of Social Housing said in a judgement today.
The council, which owns 6,000 homes managed through its arms-length management organisation South Essex Homes, has been told it needs to make “significant improvements” following an RSH inspection. The council was awarded the second lowest “C3” consumer grade.
The RSH found the council had not completed electrical safety tests for all communal areas and homes that required them. It also had more than 900 overdue repairs cases.
The judgement said that at the time of inspection between 21% and 49% of communal areas and 16% to 26% of homes did not have a valid electrical installation condition report undertaken within the local authority’s five-year programme. The council has since stepped up its testing with 91.5% compliance in domestic and communal electrical safety at the end of August 2025.
The judgement said the council is working to deliver the actions in its repairs service improvement plan.
RSH also found the council did not have accurate information about the condition of its homes and that it needs to make improvements to its systems to improve the accuracy of health and safety data.
It said: “Southend-on-Sea City Council does not have up to date information on the condition of most of its homes, with around 40% of homes having been surveyed within the last five years, 20% between 5 and 10 years and 40% surveyed more than 10 years ago.” It added that a full, physical stock condition survey is underway and due to be completed in March 2027.
RSH also found weaknesses in Southend’s complaints handling and in its monitoring and reporting of anti-social behaviour and hate incidents. It said there were also weaknesses in Southend’s performance against the transparency, influence and accountability standard, which requires landlords to be open with tenants and treat them with fairness and respect.
RSH said its engagement with the council will be “intensive”.
It said: “Southend-on-Sea City Council has been engaging constructively with us. It understands the issues it needs to address and is taking action to rectify the failures identified.
”These include work to complete outstanding health and safety checks and arising remedial actions, gain a better understanding of the condition of its homes, new systems and validation of data, improvements to its repairs service and improvements to complaints handling processes.”
Daniel Cowan, leader of Southend-on-Sea City Council, said: ”I am confident that the work we have done, and the progress made since the regulator visited would see us achieve a better outcome if we were reinspected. We know what we’re good at and what we need to improve, this inspection has helped us to focus in on [our] next steps.”
Kate Dodsworth, chief of regulatory engagement at RSH, said:“It is crucial that social landlords have accurate, up-to-date data about tenants’ homes. They must use this information to identify issues, and put things right promptly when needed.”
RSH in total published 10 judgements today (see table below). Railway Housing Association was upgraded from G2 to G1, the highest grade for governance.
Latest regulatory judgements from RSH
| Landlord | Consumer grade | Governance Grade | Viability Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| B3 Living | C1 | G1 | V1 |
| Bournemouth Churches Housing Association | C2 | G1 | V2 |
| Bournville Village Trust | C1 | G1 | V2 |
| Coastline Housing | C1 | G1 | V2 |
| Habinteg Housing Association | C2 | G1 | V2 |
| Karbon Homes | C2 | G1 | V1 |
| One Manchester | C1 | G1 | V2 |
| Paragon Asra Housing | C2 | G1 | V2 |
| Railway Housing Association and Benefit Fund | C2 | G1 | V2 |
| Southend on Sea City Council | C3 | - | - |
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