A landlord law expert has criticised four social housing providers after they avoided substantial financial penalties for serious housing failings that would see private landlords being “fined out of existence”. 

Phil Turtle, director of compliance services at Landlord Licensing & Defence, reacted to regulatory judgements published by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) for Brighton and Hove City Council, London Borough of Hackney, South Derbyshire District Council, and Ashford Borough Council. 

All four received a C3 grading, indicating severe shortcomings and a need for significant improvement. RSH investigations unveiled alarming safety breaches:

· Brighton and Hove City Council failed to ensure electrical safety for around 3,600 homes and lacked fire safety measures in 1,700 properties.  

· London Borough of Hackney's failings included more than 15,000 homes without valid electrical safety certificates and nearly 9,000 without smoke detectors.

· South Derbyshire District Council fell short on fire risk assessments, electrical safety and had more than 100 homes needing repairs due to unsatisfactory certificates. 

· Ashford Borough Council displayed severe health and safety lapses, including overdue electrical checks, and missing smoke/carbon monoxide detectors in 4,800 homes.

Turtle said: “Yet again councils get let off with a slapped wrist for housing failures for which the very same council would fine a private landlord out of existence.”