We have reiterated our commitment to providing high-quality housing for all following a report which highlighted some areas are in need of urgent improvement.
The Regulator of Social Housing has published a report into our role as a landlord for social housing in the city.
That report highlighted several areas in which we have not historically been meeting expected standards in terms of safety and quality of homes.
We have made improving the standard of local housing one of our key priorities and following the publication of the report we are introducing a string of urgent measures to build on the positive work already begun during the last 12 months.
These include:
Tenants will be contacted to outline improvements and summarise the findings of the report and we will also provide updates on the progress being made against the areas highlighted for improvement – with firm details as to when these improvements will be made.
Councillor Gill Williams, Cabinet member for Housing and New Homes, said: "The findings of this report are extremely serious, and we do not take them lightly.
“We have already introduced new measures to improve our work in each of the areas of concern identified by the Regulator of Social Housing.
“Clearly, however, there is still much work to be done and this council will not shy away from either the criticism within this report, or the urgent hard work needed to improve our services."
Councillor Williams continued: “Like many councils with a largely ageing housing stock, we do face challenges in modernising our homes, and are absolutely committed to doing so. Even so, this report shows there are areas where even allowing for those challenges, we owe it to our residents to be performing better. Our promise now is that we will.
“Everyone deserves to live in safe, secure, affordable and high-quality housing and should expect nothing less. This council has not met that expectation. We deeply apologise to all those who have been affected.
"This report is a moment for our administration to make the essential changes required to meet the needs of our residents. We take this responsibility seriously and will continue to improve the social housing in our city."
As part of our on-going commitment to increasing its supply of social housing, we have been buying back properties previously sold under the Right to Buy scheme at a rate of more than one a week and identifying additional modern homes available on recently completed housing developments in the city.
We are also carrying out further structural surveys on high-rise blocks in Brighton & Hove to identify which are in need of modernising and what steps can be taken to improve the buildings.
Councillor Williams added: “Our focus is not only on making sure all our homes are safe and that we are meeting expected standards as a landlord, but on exceeding these expectations and delivering a Brighton & Hove where everyone has a home which they can be proud of.”
Read the full Regulator of Social Housing Brighton & Hove City Council report on www.gov.uk
