Regulatory Notice: London Borough of Harrow (20 April 2023)
Published 20 April 2023
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2023
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RSH Regulatory Notice
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Provider: London Borough of Harrow
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Registration number: 00AQ
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Publication date: 20 April 2023
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Reason for publication: Consumer Standards
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Regulatory route: Reactive Engagement
Other providers included in the judgement
None
Regulatory Findings
The regulator has concluded that:
a) The London Borough of Harrow (LB Harrow) has breached part 1.2 of the Home Standard; and
b) As a consequence of this breach, there was the potential for serious detriment to LB Harrow tenants.
The regulator will work with LB Harrow as it seeks to remedy this breach.
The issue
Following a referral made by a resident of LB Harrow, the regulator has identified a failure to meet statutory health and safety requirements in some of its homes. LB Harrow had not completed electrical safety checks for every property that needed one, and had not completed water risk assessments for every site requiring a re-inspection.
Our investigation
As a registered provider, LB Harrow is required to comply with the consumer standards, including the Home Standard. The Home Standard requires registered providers to meet all applicable statutory requirements that provide for the health and safety of tenants in their homes and to have a cost-effective repairs and maintenance service.
In respect of electrical safety, LB Harrow is required to ensure that electrical installations are in working and safe condition both at the start of any tenancy and throughout that tenancy.[footnote 1] LB Harrow has reported to us that 3,500 domestic properties do not have a current electrical condition report.
The evidence provided to the regulator also demonstrated that LB Harrow did not have valid water safety risk assessments[footnote 2] in place for a number of properties.
The regulator considered the case as a potential breach of part 1.2 of the Home Standard and has concluded that LB Harrow did not have an effective system in place to allow it to meet its statutory health and safety responsibilities across a number of areas, and to demonstrate that it was compliant across these areas.
Complying with statutory health and safety requirements is a fundamental responsibility of all registered providers because of the potential for serious harm to tenants. LB Harrow has demonstrated to the regulator that it now understands the work it needs to undertake to ensure the required statutory checks and relevant safety actions are completed. However, taking into account the seriousness of the issues, brought to our attention via a tenant referral, the duration for which tenants were exposed to risk and the number of tenants potentially affected, the regulator has concluded that LB Harrow has breached the Home Standard and that there was a risk of serious detriment to tenants during this period.
Our engagement
LB Harrow has started to put in place an urgent programme to rectify these failures. The regulator will therefore not take statutory action at this stage as it has assurance that the breach of the standard is being remedied. The regulator will work with LB Harrow as it continues to address the issues that have led to this situation, including ongoing monitoring of how it delivers its health and safety programme. We will continue to keep our use of statutory powers under regular review through our engagement with LB Harrow.
Section 198A of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (as amended) states that the regulator’s regulatory and enforcement powers may be used if a registered provider has failed to meet a consumer standard. In order to use regulatory or enforcement powers, as well as the failure to meet the standard, there should also be reasonable grounds to suspect that the failure has resulted in a serious detriment to the provider’s tenants (or potential tenants) or that there is a significant risk that, if no action is taken by the regulator, the failure will result in a serious detriment to the provider’s tenants (or potential tenants).
About our Regulatory Notices
Regulatory notices are issued in response to an event of regulatory importance (for example, a finding of a breach of the Rent Standard or of a consumer standard that has or may cause serious harm) that, in accordance with its obligation to be transparent, the regulator wishes to make public. More detail about Regulatory notices is set out in Regulating the Standards.