The government's official social housing watchdog has found there was “no systemic failure” by a housing association which left residents to live in sub standard conditions for a number of decades.
It comes after Clarion Housing were exposed by ITV for the squalid conditions that families have been forced to live in despite a number of complaints.
As previously reported, families living on Eastfields Estate have been left to live with severe damp, leaks, rodents and other maintenance issues for many years.
The conditions which have been dubbed as "inhumane" and "not fit for animals" left viewers shocked across the UK.
MORE: Clarion exposed for squalid housing on Eastfields Estate
Following the report which was aired on June 16, the Regulator of Social Housing launched an investigation into whether Clarion had breached its consumer standards.
It has since been confirmed that the housing association was cleared by the regulator despite 514 repair jobs being carried out on the estate since the appalling conditions aired on TV, said ITV.
Rats, leaks, collapsed ceilings. What we found on this estate led to an inquiry by the Social Housing Regulator.
— Daniel Hewitt (@DanielHewittITV) August 16, 2021
That inquiry has cleared Clarion, finding no evidence of “organisational failure.”
We’ve now learned not a single tenant was spoken to as part of the inquiry. Not 1. https://t.co/IK1P3TlQwh
The broadcaster has since learned that the regulator didn't speak to a single resident about the conditions on the estate.
Mike Amesbury, Labour's Shadow Minister for Housing, told ITV News: “The government are absent in this case.
"We have no referee on the pitch with effective powers and there’s a common thread here, from the government, and that’s ‘leave it to the marketplace’. This is a hands-off approach which just doesn’t wash.”
MORE: 'Disturbing' - Merton urges Clarion to take action over unfit housing
On Tuesday ( August 17 ), the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “The conditions in the homes highlighted in this case were appalling and we have been clear this is unacceptable.
"Clarion have acknowledged this and have committed to take action immediately to resolve any issues and the regulator will monitor their progress.
“Our Charter for Social Housing Residents will strengthen regulation of social housing, improve the quality and standard of social homes and transform the tenant and landlord relationship to ensure complaints are dealt with fairly.”
MORE: Residents living in 'hell' for 'decades' as rats and mould take over housing estate
A spokesperson for the Regulator of Social Housing told ITV News: "The evidence available to us: from Clarion and verified by third parties; and from our own records; did not indicate that tenants were unable to raise their requests for repairs, nor that Clarion’s repairs and maintenance service, overall, was failing to respond to the needs of tenants.
"It was on this basis that we concluded the matters were not systemic, and therefore was not a breach of the current standards.
"While we did not find evidence of systemic failure which would be a breach of the standards, the evidence did show that there were individual issues in tenants’ homes and tenants who were living in poor quality accommodation. This is not acceptable."
When interviewed by ITV News Political Correspondent Daniel Hewitt, the CEO of Clarion, Clare Miller said: “The regulator has a remit that is established by Parliament and its legislation dictates what it is able to do and the settlement we have at the moment for social housing is that the regulator is focused on organisational effectiveness…
"So they expect us to have the primary dialogue with our residents, so when they're investigating us one of the things they’re most interested in is the dialogue we have had with residents.”
When asked if she would welcome a regulator that could speak to tenants, Ms Miller replied, “I would”.
But when asked if that could have changed the outcome of the Mitcham estate case, Ms Miller said: “I don’t know because it depends on the individual settlement, and you have to operate within the rules that you are given.
"It certainly doesn’t feel cushy, in your terms, this is a regulator that holds us to some pretty serious standards about our organisational effectiveness, our financial viability, our governance arrangements, and they are very proactive in that respect.”
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