£2.4m to be spent inspecting Sandwell council houses after damning report reveals ‘serious failings’

Sandwell Council is set to award a £1.5million contract to survey 14,000 homes after a damning inspection revealed the authority only had up-to-date records for just five per cent of its properties.

The council awarded a £855,000 contract to consultants Ridge and Partners in August to carry out surveys – checking for damp, mould, asbestos, structural issues and other hazards – on 9,000 council houses by December 2025.

The Labour-run authority is now set to award another £1.5m contract to the same firm when cabinet meets on December 4.

The remaining 14,000 homes in Sandwell would have to be surveyed by the end of 2026 as part of the deal.

The cabinet report, which will be discussed on December 4, said: “As [Ridge and Partners] are already engaged in surveying 9,000 properties, they are familiar with the council’s stock, have been integrated into our systems, and have developed a customised survey form that is in use. 

“This will significantly reduce start-up time and mitigate risks associated with tight deadlines. The cost of individual surveys, estimated to be circa £100 per property, also represents good value.”

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) slapped the council with a C3 grade in October for failing to meet health and safety standards, with the council’s poor record-keeping being particularly scorned.

The inspection by the RSH found the council was facing a huge backlog of 14,000 repairs – with more than 90 per cent still to be assigned.

Accurate and up-to-date information was only available for just five per cent of the council’s homes, the RSH said, and asbestos surveys and re-inspections had been carried out on only two per cent of homes. 

Sandwell Council had made “serious failings” and “significant improvements” were needed, the regulator said. It is the first time the local authority has been graded following the introduction of the new consumer standard regulations in April.

When asked, the council only had up-to-date information on the condition of just five per cent of its homes and could not even say how many of its homes met a ‘decent homes’ standard. The social housing regulator said it “could not be assured” that Sandwell Council was providing decent quality homes to its tenants.

The state of Sandwell’s council houses was discussed by cabinet more than two years ago with the council’s struggle to keep track of the condition of its properties then described as “challenging” and “significantly compromised.”

Property consultant Savills had earlier been asked by the council for its performance to be reviewed against the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) standards. 

At the time, it was recommended that half of Sandwell’s council houses were surveyed to provide more accurate information and to help plan for the future. It was also acknowledged that all of the borough’s council houses would eventually have to be surveyed as RSH rules were set to change. The previous system for updating records, using the council’s internal IT system, had proven to be “subobptimal” according to the 2022 cabinet report.

The surveys were expected to have been completed by December 2024 and cost around £2m.

The lowly rating from the RSH came months after another damning review revealed a catalogue of errors that meant nearly £18m extra will have to be spent refurbishing some of the borough’s tower blocks.

The critical report found there was “inadequate” management of the major refurbishment projects by Sandwell Council, avoidable delays, as well as “significant additional costs” brought on by ever-changing contracts. 

The refurbishment budget was ‘inadequate from the beginning’ according to the report and many of the flats did not even meet national social housing standards. 

The delays have been so bad that in some cases, contractors are making loss and expense compensation claims.

As much as £55 million has already been spent on refurbishing the 350-strong social housing in the low and high-rises at the Darley House estate and The Lakes in Oldbury, as well as Alfred Gunn House in Langley and Thorn Close in Wednesbury.