Social housing repairs backlog almost halved as tenant satisfaction rises, report shows

Camden Council says nearly half of its repairs backlog has been dealt with, as it pushes to improve the borough’s housing stock.

A recent report put to the Town Hall’s housing and fire safety panel states that while thousands of actions remain overdue, outstanding repairs in the borough had fallen from over 10,000 in April 2024 to roughly 5,600 by the end of last year.

Tenant satisfaction is also up for all compliance checks carried out for gas and fire, asbestos, and water and lift safety, with the latter showing the most marked improvement.

Lift inspections continue to present some difficulties for the local authority, with servicing delays causing compliance rates to drop by more than 10 per cent from the previous quarter.

However, tenants report feeling safer in the lifts than the last review, after contractors carried inspections on a batch of “high-risk” elevators.

Fire safety work also persists, with over 4,000 actions still overdue and the number of checks having fallen only slightly between the first and second quarter of 2024/25.

Gas safety remains a high priority, and nearly all homes with individual gas boilers have been checked on time, though there are concerns around vacant council properties (voids) where less than two in three boilers have valid gas certificates.

The latest report states that the council has a “detailed” action plan in place to resolve the problem around voids.

Better compliance and higher tenant satisfaction levels will be reassuring for the Labour-run Town Hall, which has faced heavy criticism over social housing conditions and for taking a “defensive” and “dismissive” approach to complaints.

Council chief Richard Olszewski rebuked the leader of the opposition, Tom Simon, at a special council meeting last month, after the Liberal Democrat group called on him to show “humility” in his response to a damning report from the social housing ombudsman released in November.

The council leader has emphasised the work that the local authority is doing to engage with residents through forums, panels and district management committees (DMC).