Brent pledges rapid improvement following housing regulator's report

Rapid and sustained improvements in the way Brent manages housing services have been promised by the council, following a judgement published by the Regulator of Social Housing.

The judgement, published today (28 May 2025), found that the council has not met all of its responsibilities as a landlord in delivering against the outcomes of the Safety and Quality Standard, saying ‘significant improvement is needed’.

The council voluntarily referred itself to the Regulator last month, after its Housing Improvement Plan highlighted concerns with how building safety risk assessment actions had previously been managed. The regulator has said the council has ‘engaged positively with us since making its self-referral and has plans in place to understand the wider impact of its current position.’

While all required safety checks had been completed across its housing estates, the council identified weaknesses in how follow-up actions were managed and recorded.

As soon as concerns were identified, the council notified tenants to explain what is being done and the council has committed to working closely with the Regulator to ensure rapid and lasting improvements for tenants. It has appointed and is working closely with health and safety specialists and is developing a robust recovery plan which will see internal processes and accountability strengthened in order to improve safety compliance. In addition, the council is appointing more contractors to address overdue actions and is committing to keeping tenants informed throughout the process.

Councillor Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, Cabinet Member for Housing and Resident Services, said:

“We take our responsibilities as a landlord very seriously and the council accepts that we have let tenants down in the areas outlined by the Regulator and for this we apologise unreservedly. In this instance, we have fallen short of our responsibilities as a landlord and failed to meet the expectations of our tenants.

“The council is determined to improve the quality of council homes. We have made real progress in recent months – from launching a new damp and mould squad to action days where teams blitz through repairs that are needed on council estates - but we know there is still much more to do.

"We will continue to work proactively, positively and in an open and transparent way with our residents and with the Regulator to fix the issues identified. Council tenants are at the heart of this improvement work through the new Housing Management Advisory Board. By listening to their experiences and ideas, we can make better decisions and build a housing service that residents can trust.”

The Regulator’s inspection found failings in how the council was delivering key outcomes of the Safety and Quality Standard, including:

• A lack of evidence to confirm whether the actions identified through legally required safety checks and assessments had been carried out
• Inconsistent records for fire safety, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, asbestos and water safety

Despite these findings, the Regulator acknowledged Brent’s proactive response and commitment to improvement, stating:

“The London Borough of Brent has engaged positively with us since making its self-referral and has plans in place to understand the wider impact of its current position. Those actions include work to understand the root cause of the presenting issues, reviewing the completion of all closed fire safety remedial actions through a risk-based approach, and working to develop a suitable action plan to resolve the issues.”

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