Lewisham Council commissions inspection to check housing service improvements

Having reviewed the housing service in the first few months of direct management, we established that there were some areas in which we were failing residents.

This included homes in poor condition and a repairs service with a big backlog which was difficult to access. Understandably, many of our residents were not satisfied with the level of service they were receiving.

We have since improved in many areas, but we are also aware that progress has not been fast enough and we are still receiving a lot of complaints.

We are determined to continue improving and be honest and transparent about where we are – so that our residents know about our challenges and what we are doing to overcome them.

Getting an expert opinion on our progress

As part of its new duties, the Regulator of Social Housing has begun inspecting all larger social landlords every four years, starting in April 2024. We do not know when our first inspection will take place, but in June we brought in independent experts to carry out a ‘mock’ inspection of our Housing Service. We wanted to get an independent expert opinion on what’s working well and where improvements are needed.

The inspection looked closely at how well the Housing Service is meeting national standards for social housing, including safety, tenant engagement, quality of homes and neighbourhoods and tenancy services. It is designed to follow the same approach and timeline used by the Regulator.

This mock inspection is part of a wider effort to raise standards across our housing services, on which we provide monthly updates to the Regulator following our self-referral for failing to meet standards in 2023. 

By taking this proactive approach, we aim to deliver better services for residents and ensure we meet the expectations of the Regulator – and the communities we serve.

Next steps

We now have the results of the ‘mock’ inspection and will share more detail with residents once we have confirmed what actions we will be taking. We expect this to be in October/November this year.