Wandsworth Council has come under renewed scrutiny during a meeting to review why it had received a C3 rating from the Regulator of Social Housing, signifying serious failings in its duty to provide safe, well-managed housing.
The rating places Wandsworth near the bottom of the pack among London boroughs — in stark contrast to authorities like Westminster, which earned a C1, the highest possible rating.
Caught off guard, playing catch-up
The regulator’s February report revealed that Wandsworth was still relying on an outdated sampling methodology to assess the condition of its housing stock — using data from just 6.5% of homes. This approach, based on old RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) guidance, is no longer acceptable. Today’s standards require 100% stock condition surveys using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) — something the council has only recently committed to delivering.
In the words of a senior officer at the special Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee, “We argued that the methodology, although it was fit for purpose up until recently, is no longer what they expect… We’ve now acknowledged that and are moving to a full 100% stock survey over five years.”
This admission — along with the fact that the council had only recently begun preparing for such inspections — made it clear to many on the committee that the regulator’s intervention caught the council off guard.
Safety shortcomings and poor satisfaction
The report also exposed glaring issues in fire and electrical safety. At the time of inspection, only 25% of communal areas had been tested for electrical safety, and just 64% of tenanted homes had valid certificates. Since then, these figures have improved to 95% and 76% respectively, but questions remain about why the council was so far behind to begin with.
The council also had 1,800 overdue fire safety actions when the inspection occurred — though none were classed as “serious,” the sheer volume of unresolved issues contributed to the failing grade. Councillors were told these had since been reduced to 1,200, and “many of them relate to things like signage, meter boxes, or fire hatch upgrades.”
However, the failures went beyond bricks and mortar. The council was also judged to be falling short on Resident Engagement and Transparency. While formal tenant engagement structures exist, informal channels are underdeveloped, leaving many residents without meaningful ways to voice concerns.
The tenant satisfaction rate for complaint handling stood at just 16%, a fact that prompted one councillor to ask bluntly: “If this is the level of satisfaction, how can we claim to be listening to tenants?” Officers confirmed that focus groups have been held and early signs of improvement are emerging, with satisfaction now closer to 22%.
“We know it’s still not where we want it to be,” admitted the Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr Aydin Dikerdem. “But we’ve started taking actions based on direct feedback, and we are seeing movement in the right direction.”
Falling Behind Other Boroughs
Wandsworth’s C3 rating places it among the worst-performing boroughs so far inspected under the new regulatory framework. Of the six London councils formally inspected to date, only three — including Wandsworth — have been graded at C3. One borough received a C4, the lowest grade possible, another a C2, and only Westminster achieved the top C1 grade. That means Wandsworth is in the bottom third of inspected councils, with only one faring worse.
Officers attempted to contextualize the result by noting that half of local authorities inspected so far nationally have received a C3, but for many councillors, this did little to soothe concerns.
“It’s not what we hoped for,” one officer acknowledged. “Personally, I felt quite sad about the judgment. But it’s all fixable — and we genuinely believe our residents are safe in their homes.”
A Turning Point?
Despite the damning verdict, there are early signs that the council may be learning from the experience. A detailed action plan is now being drawn up in consultation with the Regulator and is expected to be presented to the June Housing Committee. Monthly monitoring meetings are now in place, and senior staff claim the regulator is “happy with what we’ve done so far.”
Importantly, councillors proposed establishing a cross-party task group to oversee the delivery of this action plan and ensure real accountability. “This isn’t something that should be papered over or ticked off,” said one councillor. “If we’re serious about rebuilding trust, this needs to be transparent and bipartisan.”
Cllr Dikerdem agreed, noting that the report should be a “launch pad” for broader reforms in how Wandsworth delivers housing services: “We have to use the seriousness of this report to challenge the council to bring all our standards up… to get to that C1.”
Residents and housing campaigners will be watching closely — not just to see if the council meets regulatory benchmarks, but whether it genuinely transforms its culture of engagement and accountability.
