Council housing failures in Newham “impacted the safety, dignity and trust of our residents”, a senior councillor has admitted.
The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) hit Newham Council with its lowest possible C4 grading after an inspection in October 2024.
The inspection found “very serious failings” including thousands of overdue fire safety remedial actions and repairs.
Speaking at a council meeting on Monday, Cllr Blossom Young, cabinet member for council housing improvements, said the Town Hall was “right to apologise”.
Cllr Young said: “These weren’t just technical failings. They were failures that impacted the safety, dignity and trust of our residents.”
She added: “But apologies alone don’t rebuild trust – action does.”
Cllr Young said the council had launched an improvement plan in May aimed at “fundamentally changing” how the council’s housing service works.
The plan included promises to carry out electrical condition tests on homes that hadn’t had one for 10 years, put new safety measures in place, improve how damp and mould cases are managed, and set up a new resident challenge board.
Cllr Young told the meeting that the council was “already making progress.”
She said: “Tenant satisfaction has jumped from 59 per cent to 71 per cent. Electrical safety checks are up from 60 per cent at the time of the inspection to 92 per cent and the 2,700 overdue repairs identified by the regulator are now reduced to fewer than 10.”
Cllr Young added: “This improvement journey will take time but we’re turning a corner and we are going to complete it.”
