Islington’s response to Regulator of Social Housing inspection

The council holds itself to the highest standards and strives to ensure that everyone has a safe, decent and affordable place to call home. To help achieve its goal of providing good quality, safe and well managed homes the council welcomes assessments from national bodies like the Regulator of Social Housing. 

Following an inspection in the winter, the Regulator of Social Housing has published a report of our housing services as part of its national programme. The regulator issued a C3 judgement, meaning that despite meeting several of the required standards, the council is not fully meeting all standards and needs to make some improvements.   

Councillor Una O’Halloran, Leader of Islington Council, said: “We take the Regulator of Social Housing’s judgement seriously and fully accept that improvement is needed. The findings highlight weaknesses in how we understand the condition of our homes and how we assure ourselves on safety data, and that is not good enough.  

“This is not about a lack of commitment, but about systems and assurance that must be stronger. We had already begun an improvement programme before the inspection, and we are now accelerating that work, with clear accountability and close engagement with the regulator, to make sure residents have safe, decent and well-maintained homes.” 

Islington council is stepping up the work it is already doing to address the finding. This includes surveying homes more quickly, completing lift repairs more quickly, and improving our systems for holding safety data records and gaining expert appraisals. In response the council will: 

• Speed up the programme to survey homes, so it has evidenced and up to date understanding of their condition and clear records.  

• Strengthen the way that it reports safety and compliance information and look for additional external reviews of this from health and safety experts. 

• Improve oversight of its service and the performance of contractors. 

• Come up with a clear plan to address any outstanding non-critical safety works including lift repairs. 

• Continue to listen to tenants and keep residents informed about what is changing and what it means for them. The council’s focus is on making sure homes are safe, well maintained, and supported by stronger systems in the future. 

Islington council always welcomes independent scrutiny, and this report helps strengthen Islington’s services. The council takes safety matters seriously and will act on them as a priority. It is already taking action to strengthen assurance and oversight. 

These findings are not a reflection of council staff’s work and dedication, but it is important that it recognises the need to strengthen its current stock knowledge and systems, data and assurance.