Camden Council has breached consumer standards, the social housing watchdog has found, as more than 9,000 homes in the borough do not have smoke alarms.
More than 9,000 fire safety actions are also overdue in social homes owned by the council, an investigation carried out by the Regulator of Social Housing has revealed.
It also found that around 4,000 homes do not have a carbon monoxide detector fitted.
In a notice publised on Friday, the regulator concluded that the council has breached its consumer standards.
The regulator urged the council to “put things right” and warned that it will be closely scruitinised.
Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement, said: “We found that Camden Council has failed to address thousands of fire safety actions in its tenants’ homes. This is unacceptable and has put tenants at potential risk of harm.
“The council needs to act urgently to put things right, and we will scrutinise it closely as it does this.
“Our findings send a clear message to all social landlords that meeting health and safety requirements is of paramount importance. Tenants deserve to live in safe and decent homes, and we will take action when landlords breach our standards.”
The council is now working with the regulator to return to compliance.
In response to the notice, leader of Camden Council, Councillor Georgia Gould, said: “There is nothing more important than the safety of our residents and we are taking this notice very seriously.
“We are investing more than £200 million in a wide range of safety improvements; we’ve published all fire risk assessments (FRAs) and carried out more than 40,000 individual safety improvements and repairs.
“But we know that there is still more work to be done to complete all remaining higher risk actions, along with all other lower risk actions. A programme of work is in place for delivery this year and next.
“We recognise that many of the remaining actions outlined by the regulator are difficult for residents, such as the removal of security grilles. We will be working alongside residents to complete these.
She added: “We need Government to back us after years of underinvestment nationally in council housing. This includes direct cuts to rental income.”
The council said it has put a number of measures in place following the regulator’s report, including monthly reporting and detailed updates each quarter on progress, but admitted it is still struggling to access up to 40 per cent of homes to apply its smoke detector programme.
The council has pledged to work with residents on accessing homes, such as creating a new universal key system for street property communal areas.
The council said introduced its Fire and Building Safety Charter in July 2021.
The programme of fire safety works includes gas safety checks in more than 13,000 homes, regular electrical testing in 23,000 homes, fire risk assessments in 3,200 buildings, and fire alarm testing and communal area checks four times a year in street properties.
