Judgement of the Regulator of Social Housing

Condition of Homes

The Regulator raised concerns about whether the Council has the information and investment programmes in our stock to ensure all properties meet the government’s Decent Homes Standard for social housing.  We have provided this information in a question and answer format for ease, as not all homes have the same programme of inspections. 

Question: Is Runnymede keeping my home safe? 
Answer: Yes. Runnymede Council has a list of health and safety checks that are required for each home that it manages, and these are all carried out.  

Question: How will I know what those checks are? 
Answer: These are called the compliance checks and are for: gas, electrical, lifts, water hygiene, asbestos, smoke alarms, CO (Carbon Monoxide) detection and fire safety.  Some of these only relate to specific properties. 

Question: How do I know if a check is needed?
Answer: The Council or a contractor will contact you to make an appointment. You will have the previous certificate and can diarise when the next one is due for your own information, if you are going to be away you can reschedule. For gas and electrical, we contact tenants two months in advance.  If you have gas appliances in your home you will have been given a copy of the certificate by the contractor. From May 2026 you should also be provided with a copy of the electrical certificate although this may not be on the same day.  

Question: What are the checks for every home?  
Answer: An annual gas safety check and boiler service, and - if you have an electric boiler - this is also annual and is carried out by the same contractor.  Legally there must be an electrical test before a tenancy starts and then every five years during your tenancy. We are 100% compliant with these checks and when you have an electrical test the contractor is authorised to immediately carry out any remedial works to ensure your home meets the required electrical regulations. 

Your gas and electrical test will also check that you have a CO (Carbon Monoxide) alarm and the required smoke detectors, and a heat detector in your kitchen hard wired into your home.   When you have any work carried out to your home that disturbs the structure (such as a new kitchen or bathroom, ceilings, and certain types of flooring, for example) we will have a relevant asbestos survey completed, and if removal is required this will be completed by a specialist company. 

Question: If I live in a flat, should additional safety inspections be undertaken?
Answer: In addition to the checks inside your home, if you live in a flat and have a shared communal area you may have more checks:

  • Checks on communal lighting and emergency lighting if this is present.
  • Regular asbestos survey of communal area  
  • Fire Risk Assessment of the communal area carried out by a specialist contractor
  • Communal (shared) water tank testing and cleaning 
  •  If you live in Independent Retirement Living, we carry out additional checks on showers and water in the communal areas. 
  • If your block has a passenger lift, regular safety inspections are carried out as well as servicing and maintenance. 

Question: What are water checks?
Answer: As your landlord, Runnymede is required to clean and disinfect communal cold water storage tanks annually. This does not apply to properties that have their own water tank.

We carry out regular water management checks where a shared water tank serves multiple properties. This is only: Surrey Towers, Southam House, Audley House, Beomonds, Floral House, Grove Court and Heatherfields

The regularity is determined by the Legionella Risk Assessment. This applies to the following sites:

  • IRL sites (monthly)
  • Surrey Towers (monthly)
  • Audley House (six monthly)
  • Southam House (six monthly)

In addition, as a precaution and in line with good practice, Runnymede also carries out monthly water monitoring checks at Council properties which are classed as Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO). This is where individual rooms are let and occupants share a common water facility.

All these checks are carried out by external contractors who report back to the Council on any further works that are required. 

Question: How does the Council decide when things in my home should be renewed or upgraded?
Answer: The Council keeps a database of the main elements within your home. This records the age of some of the key parts of your home, such as your kitchen, bathroom, roof and heating system. As well as this, we should carry out a survey of your home every five years to check on its condition. This is known as a stock condition survey. The survey looks at the internal and external areas of your home to ensure the information we hold is correct. We carried out a stock condition survey of our homes from the end of 2018 to the end of 2021 and used the information collected to understand which homes needed upgrades and when. 

As a result of this, since 2021 we have spent £24m on boilers and central heating, kitchens and bathrooms, windows and doors, electrical rewiring, roof repairs or replacement. These programmes are continuing with £10m approved for the programme in the next financial year. A contract with an independent company for a new stock condition survey started in March 2025 and by the end of March 2026, we hope to have completed all homes. This work is important and helps us improve your homes. 

Once that survey is completed the latest information collected will be used to decide the work we need to complete in your homes for the next 10 years. We will tell you if there is upgrade work needed in your home and when this is planned. The current survey will identify any health and safety hazards identified in your home. If your home has any health and safety issues, we will contact you as soon as possible and arrange for these to be rectified. 

Question: Is there anything I need to do to ensure my home is safe and that the Council carries out the relevant surveys and inspections?
Answer: Yes, you can help the Council. When we require access to your home, it is important that you enable that access to happen. We understand people have commitments, and so our contractors should be flexible. You do not have to be present, but you do need to have someone over 18 in the home for appointments. It is also important that we have up to date contact details for you in case we need to rearrange an appointment or contact you about something. Our contractors should give you prior notice of appointments 

Question: How does the Council decide if something like a bathroom needs replacing? 
Answer: As a social housing landlord we have guidance from the government called the Decent Homes Standard. This gives a lifetime for each component (main item) in your home, we then also check their condition when the survey is undertaken. A roof will not be replaced if it is in good condition, but a kitchen or bathroom may need to be replaced earlier if the condition is poor; this is why the surveys are important. The government has been consulting on changes to the Decent Homes Standard, and it may change in future, but these are the current expected lifetimes:

Component lifetimes in years

 

Building components

Houses and Bungalows

All flats in blocks of below six storeys

All flats in blocks of six or more storeys

Roof

50

30

30

Chimney

50

50

N/A

Windows

40

30

30

External doors

40

30

30

Kitchen

30

30

30

Bathrooms

40

40

40

Gas boiler

15

15

15

Heating central heating

40

40

40

Electrical Wiring

30

30

30

A home is also considered not to meet the standard if it lacks three or more of the following facilities:

  • a kitchen which is 20 years old or less
  • a kitchen with adequate space and layout
  • a bathroom which is 30 years old or less
  • an appropriately located bathroom and WC
  • adequate external noise insulation
  • adequate size and layout of common entrance areas for blocks of flats.

On 3 March 2026, 94.74% of our homes met the Decent Homes Standard. There are 69 properties which would fail but the tenants have declined the works and these will be offered again next year. Out of 2835 homes we have 149 homes which require at last one upgrade which are all prioritised in the programme of works.

Question: How does the Council identify hazards in my home?
Answer: Part of the stock condition survey is identification of hazards that have been defined in the Housing Act 2004, housing health and safety rating system (HHSRS) hazard band categorisations. Any Category 1 hazard which is deemed as an emergency, will be reported to the Council within an agreed timescale by the stock condition contractor.  

Hazards

  • Physiological Requirements: (1-10) Damp, Cold, Heat, Asbestos, Biocides, CO, Lead, Radiation, Fuel Gas, VOCs.
  • Psychological Requirements: (11-14) Crowding, Intruder Entry, Lighting, Noise.
  • Protection Against Infection: (15-18) Domestic Hygiene, Food Safety, Sanitation, Water Supply.
  • Protection Against Accidents: (19-29) Falls (Baths, Level, Stairs, Levels), Electrical, Fire, Hot Surfaces, Collision, Explosions, Ergonomics, Structural Collapse. 

A scoring system is used to place the hazard in a band to reflect the seriousness between A and J.  Those hazards which have a band of A to C  will be Category 1 Hazards and are the most serious and require immediate action by local authorities, while Category 2 Hazards are less urgent. 

All these hazards are recorded and managed in our IT system. On 3 March 2026 the Council had 40 homes with a reported Category 1 Hazard which were under investigation or works. 

Current Hazards

 

 

Category 1

Hazard

A

B

C

Damp and mould growth

1

3

14

Asbestos (and MMF)

0

0

1

Carbon monoxide

0

0

1

Crowding and space

1

1

0

Entry by intruders

0

0

0

Domestic hygiene, Pests and Refuse

0

0

1

Personal hygiene, Sanitation and Drainage

1

1

0

Falling on stairs etc

2

2

0

Falling between levels

1

2

1

Electrical hazards

1

1

4

Fire

0

1

0

Flames, hot surfaces etc

0

0

0

Structural collapse and falling elements

8

1

0

Totals

15

12

22

Question: Should my home have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
Answer: The Council is required to provide a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) each time a property is re-let to a new tenant. Once issued, an EPC remains valid for 10 years, and there is no requirement to obtain a new EPC during an ongoing tenancy.  We have made a commitment that all our homes will have an EPC rating of a C banding or above by 2030. To achieve this, we have an investment programme that, by 2027, will have spent over £5m in works to improve thermal efficiency such as solar panels and insulation. 

We will be starting a programme to complete EPCs for all our homes this year. Once each property has received the upgrades such as boilers, loft insulation, windows, and doors, this will impact on the EPC calculations so we will then get new EPCs to identify homes that have had all the standard measures and require further improvements to achieve an EPC C banding.