Fareham Council calls crisis meeting and refers itself to housing regulator as massive blunder uncovered
A Hampshire council has referred itself to the housing regulator after discovering hundreds of repair jobs have not been completed at social homes.
Staff at Fareham Borough Council called a crisis meeting when a report said 3,799 repairs at leased and affordable homes it looks after had not been completed.
Investigations revealed problems with the use of a new computer system and admin errors meant that most of those repairs had been completed, but some 427 have not – with 1,570 records still being checked.
A report said problems with the IT system had “hugely significant implications”.
The council’s legal services had to get involved with the supplier, and staff were paid overtime to help deal with the issue.
The authority said it was still pushing the housing maintenance system provider to fix IT faults.
Listing work being carried out, the report said: “Continued pressure on the HMS provider to address remaining faults and issues with the system, including legal advice and dispute of invoices as necessary”
Councillors at an overview and scrutiny committee meeting on October 29 were told that council officers could not tell if outstanding records were duplicates in the system or genuinely missed repairs.
As of September two thirds of potentially records – 2,515 – have been reviewed. Some 1,676 of these were actually completed repair jobs.
Director of Housing and Health Robyn Lyons said the matter has been brought to the attention of the Regulator of Social Housing and the referral process could trigger an early inspection by the regulator.
She added local authorities are reviewed every four years, with an inspection next due by March 2028.
Mrs Lyons said all the jobs should have been reviewed by the end of January, with all repairs completed by the end March 26.
The council carries out mroe than 8,000 repairs each year to its housing stock and manages 2,400 affordable homes and over 450 residential leases.
The report said: “Where unclosed/unaddressed repairs are identified, contact was made with the tenant to apologise and book in the repair or visit.”
It said a common cause of incomplete repairs is poor follow up by the council and contractors. Some reasons given were that tenants may not have responded to calls, have missed appointments, or have not provided access.