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(Picture: Handout)A London council has admitted “indefensible errors” were made by failing to ensure thousands of its social homes were safe to live in.
Overdue fire door replacements, outdated electrics reports, missing water safety certificates for residential blocks and incomplete asbestos assessments were identified across Redbridge’s 4,400 council homes.
The town hall made a self-referral to the Regulator of Social Housing earlier this year when it realised it could not prove its homes were safety compliant.
The watchdog warned the council it “did not have an effective system in place” and there was “potential for serious detriment” to tenants.
Redbridge said many of the inspections had been done, but the results had been misplaced due to “poor data management”.
Local Tory leader Linda Huggett said: “I was shocked to learn that Redbridge council has failed its statutory obligations miserably as a social landlord.
“The failures to ensure safety checks were carried out are serious breaches on the council’s part as they potentially place our tenants’ lives at risk.”
Council leader Jas Athwal, who is set to replace Sam Tarry as the Labour MP candidate for Ilford South at the next election, said a centralised system had been set up to “automatically detect“ any missing safety checks.
“We had a pandemic and officers were called off their day jobs to do other jobs, to do pandemic recovery,” he said.
“The council did the right thing in referring themselves to the regulator.
“The underlying weaknesses which led to the referral was poor data management. In many cases health and safety inspections had been undertaken by the contractors and the reports were held in multiple places. Of course, Redbridge Council holds its hands up.
“I’m not going to stand here and defend the indefensible. There were errors made, absolutely there were, and if we can learn lessons from them we will. “
It comes as the state of social housing across the country is under the spotlight following the case of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died after exposure to excessive mould in his family’s flat in Rochdale.
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing that managed the flat in which toddler was killed received more than 100 formal complaints about damp or mould in their properties over the last year.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove has written to every English council leader and all social housing providers saying they have to improve conditions following Awaab’s inquest.
Macy Tyler, 22, who has been housed by Redbridge Council in Basildon on Monday told how she was terrified for her 3-year-old son who has developed asthma after aggressive mould had gone untreated in their home for two years.
A letter from her doctor, seen by LBC, linked her son’s symptoms to the family’s “unacceptable living conditions”.
Redbridge council said the property is owned by an independent contractor and the town hall is exploring legal action.
A spokesman added that the council is “arranging for her home to be cleaned and a dehumidifier provided ahead of remedial work being conducted by the agent this week”.
