An update about how we are meeting national quality and safety standards

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and Northamptonshire Partnership Homes (NPH) have previously written to you in 2024 about some concerns around the number of homes not meeting the Government’s Decent Homes Standard, and the number of overdue Fire Risk Assessments to communal areas and some were not to the required standard. These concerns had led WNC (as your landlord) to self-refer themselves last year to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). Subsequently we decided to complete again all Fire Risk Assessments to provide us with assurance about your safety.

We’ve been making good progress since we last updated you. In summary:

• All overdue Fire Risk Assessments were completed by the end of 2024
• Our programme to revisit all Fire Risk Assessments was completed by the end of May 2025
• Our focus will now be on fixing any issues identified by the Fire Risk Assessments
• We’ve invested in the market leading compliance IT platform to improve our record keeping
• We will prioritise investment in homes that do not meet Decent Homes Standard
• If your home is prioritised for works this financial year we’ll contact you in the summer

The background

The RSH oversees social housing landlords to ensure that properties meet acceptable standards of quality and safety. The Regulator issued the Council with a C3 judgement last year which means that serious failings had been identified and significant improvement was needed. Since that time, WNC have been meeting with the Regulator on a monthly basis to update on progress and provide detailed reports.

Our priority remains ensuring that you are safe in your home, and we’ve been focusing on resolving the issues identified by the review and the Regulator.

NPH’s progress

All the identified overdue Fire Risk Assessments were completed by the end of 2024 as a matter of urgency. In addition, to give residents assurance of their safety, we completed a programme of repeating all Fire Risk Assessments with a new contractor – this was completed by the end of May 2025. We will now focus on fixing any issues identified from this programme of assessments.

We have invested in the market leading IT compliance system and have developed a new set of health and safety policies. This will ensure that our record keeping of essential safety checks is more accurate and that checks are carried out when they are due.

We completed our Stock Condition Survey towards the end of 2024. These surveys help us identify any health and safety issues and understand if homes meet the Decent Homes Standard. The Decent Homes Standard is a UK government policy which sets out the minimum standards for the condition and appearance of social housing.

We will continue to carry out Stock Condition Surveys every year going forward to ensure that we meet the Decent Homes Standard. If your home has improvement work due to be completed in 2025 we will contact you in the summer – we will prioritise improvement works for the homes that need it the most.

WNC who has overall responsibility for your housing, and NPH, which manages and maintains homes on their behalf, have been working together and have implemented more robust governance arrangements to ensure that these improvements continue.

Should you have any concerns or would like more information please do not hesitate to call our Contact Centre on 0300 330 7003.