Gas safety issues in council homes now resolved

A government watchdog has said it is satisfied Sheffield Council has taken action after failing to carry out gas safety checks in hundreds of homes.

The council reported itself to the Regulator of Social Housing in November 2022, confirming more than 800 safety checks were overdue.

Annual checks are legally required in council-owned properties and the regulator said there was a "risk of serious detriment" to tenants.

The regulator did not take enforcement action and has now removed a notice relating to gas safety as it is satisfied issues have been resolved. The council said tenant safety was a "top priority".

The council owns and manages more than 38,500 social homes and said it had "strengthened" its housing service and worked alongside the regulator.

The regulator said it had been made aware of a media report highlighting the high number of disrepair cases being managed by Sheffield Council, with more than 90% of them being completed outside of its own target timescales.

It said: "In response to the information, we carried out engagement with Sheffield Council on the disrepair issues included reviewing documents and data with follow up meetings and discussions.

"We found evidence the council was not delivering the safety and quality standard. The council informed us the levels of demand and waiting times for completion for repairs had increased significantly.

"In January 2024, it had over 14,000 work in progress repairs outstanding, although by April 2024 this had reduced to around 10,000. It had also not been meeting its service standards for completing emergency and non-emergency repairs.

"Between January and April 2024, around 75% of planned repairs were completed outside of agreed timescales, and around 50% of routine repairs were overdue.

"The average timescale for completion of planned repairs was more than 120 days which significantly exceeds the service standard of 55 working days. Between January and April 2024, more than 90% of disrepair cases were completed outside of timescales."

The regulator said the council had "engaged constructively" and put in a place a programme to rectify these failures, including a stock condition survey of its homes.

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