An inspection has found ‘serious failings’ in the way Slough allocates housing and treats its tenants.
The government’s regulator of social housing inspected Slough’s council housing service, which owns 5,940 homes, in April.
Its report, published on 25 June, said that ‘significant improvement’ is needed, especially in the way it manages its tenancies.
It said it had no assurance that Slough Borough Council allocates homes in a ‘fair and transparent way’ and had obtained ‘recent evidence of serious tenancy fraud’.
However it noted that the council had ‘recently put in place more effective controls and oversight for allocations’.
It added that tenants on temporary contracts ‘receive limited information about the expiry of their tenancy, the council’s approach to vulnerability, or how to appeal’.
And it criticised how the council listened to tenants’ views or addressed complaints.
It said: “The inspection identified serious failings in how Slough BC is taking its tenants’ views into account in its decision-making, how landlord services are delivered and in how it is communicating that tenants’ views have been considered.
“Its sole mechanism for tenant engagement is a resident board; we saw limited evidence of meaningful outcomes from its activities, and no reporting of tenant engagement activity.”
It added: “We do not have assurance that Slough BC is ensuring complaints are addressed fairly, effectively, and promptly.
“There are serious failings in Slough BC’s approach to complaint handling, as it is not meeting target complaint response times and there is no evidence of learning from complaints.”
The report did say that Slough Borough Council had a ‘good understanding of the condition of its homes’.
And it added that the council was ‘meeting all legal requirements’ that relate to health and safety of tenants.
However it said the council reported that almost 5% of its own homes did not meet the ‘decent homes standard’.
And it said that hundreds of electrical safety certificates and fire risk assessment remedies were overdue, with ‘limited engagement with tenants around building safety’.
The report was positive about the length of time the council takes to carry out repairs.
It said: “Slough BC provided us with assurance that overall, it is delivering an effective, efficient, and timely repairs service for homes and communal areas.
“We saw evidence of resulting improvements in tenant satisfaction and the timeliness of repairs.”
The regulator awarded Slough Borough Council a C3 grade, which is just one higher than the worst possible grade.
Robert Stedmond, the cllr responsible for housing, said the council would use the inspection to help it improve.
He said: “Our aim is to put our tenants back at the heart of our service, engaging with them and listening to them to do much better and delivering the standards they deserve.
“We have been increasing the capacity and resources within the housing team and we will be using the results of this inspection to reengage with our tenants as we implement plans to improve our services.”
