Housing watchdog asked to lift regulatory notice from Dudley Council after 'millions spent surveying homes'
Dudley Council has asked housing watchdog to lift a Regulatory Notice after spending millions of pounds surveying its homes.
The notice was imposed by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in April 2023 after the authority reported itself when it realised it was failing to meet legal health and safety requirements in some of its homes.
Dudley had not completed gas, fire, electrical and asbestos safety checks for properties that needed one and a large number of fire remedial actions in communal areas of blocks had not been completed.
The council also admitted it could not confirm all of its 21,000 dwellings met the decent homes standard.
A report for Dudley’s Housing and Assets Scrutiny Committee says, after spending £3.25m with property experts Savills to compile a full stock condition survey, the council is asking for the notice to be lifted.
After the notice was imposed, Kathryn Jones, director of housing and communities at Dudley Council, said: “We had already commissioned a 12-month programme of stock condition surveys.
“We realise this may cause concern to residents, but we want to assure them we are taking swift action to carry out compliance checks and address any work needed.”
The report for the committee, which is set to meet on January 15, said: “All costs, including a full stock condition survey, have been met within existing budgets from 2023/24 to 2025/26.”
The report also says the council has completed 82 percent of internal inspections in the stock condition survey and 100 percent of communal area inspections.
The report also says 96.6 percent of the council’s housing stock meets the decent homes standard but the authority is not fully compliant on energy efficiency ratings or decarbonisation plans.
A summary in the council’s own assessment of its compliance with the notice said: “DMBC is currently substantially compliant across most regulatory standards, with strong systems, governance, and resident engagement.
“However, several areas require targeted improvement to achieve full compliance, particularly in Decency, Transparency, and Data Integration.”
The report added: “Following the service of the Regulatory Notice in April 2023 the Housing and Assets Group have worked closely with the RSH to bring about the required improvements.
“We have now written to the RSH formally requesting the lifting of the Regulatory Notice. A decision on this request is expected in mid-January 2026.”
