10,000 GreenSquareAccord homes have never had an electrical inspection 

As publish today (6th October) GreenSquareAccord are at risk of being downgraded again with the Regulatory Of Social Housing concluding that:

Regulatory Finding

The regulator has concluded that:

a) GreenSquareAccord has breached part 1.2 of the Home Standard; and

b) As a consequence of this breach, there was the potential for serious detriment to GreenSquareAccord’s tenants

Yet more concern for GreenSquareAccord residents, the Regulatory Of Social Housing concluded that 10,000 homes maybe at risk of fire due to a procedural failure by GreenSquareAccord to ensure proper checks are carried out across their property portfolio. Another step backwards on the journey to becoming ‘Simply Brilliant’.

As published by the Regulatory Of Social Housing:

As a registered provider, GreenSquareAccord is required to comply with the consumer standards, including the Home Standard. The Home Standard requires registered providers to have a cost-effective repairs and maintenance service and to meet all applicable statutory requirements that provide for the health and safety of tenants in their homes.Our assessment of the information received through a self-referral from GreenSquareAccord is that it has failed to meet statutory health and safety requirements in relation to fire, electrical and asbestos safety.

The evidence available to the regulator shows that the failures arose in the former Accord Housing Association stock. GreenSquareAccord is now responsible for addressing the issues set out in this notice.In respect of fire safety, GreenSquareAccord has a statutory duty [footnote 1] to regularly assess the risk of fire and to take precautions to prevent the risk of fire. The regulator has learned that hundreds of properties do not have a current fire risk assessment (FRA), with a smaller number having never been assessed. GreenSquareAccord noted that some of these had become overdue because of Covid restrictions.GreenSquareAccord is required to ensure that electrical installations are in working and safe condition both at the start of any tenancy and throughout that tenancy. 

GreenSquareAccord has reported to us that more than 10,000 of its properties have never had an electrical inspection. This includes thousands of individual homes and hundreds of housing blocks. For asbestos safety, the evidence provided to the regulator by GreenSquareAccord showed that no asbestos surveys had been carried out in Accord’s communal areas.

For these reasons, the regulator has concluded that GreenSquareAccord has breached the Home Standard, and as consequence, there was the potential for serious detriment to tenants.Since identifying these issues, GreenSquareAccord has undertaken a data cleanse and integration exercise to fully understand its compliance position. It has also implemented a recovery programme to prioritise the work needed to become compliant with its statutory health and safety obligations.

This must be alarming for all residents. Let’s hope GreenSquareAccord can firm up yet another failing procedure to ensure their residents are safe. Updates to follow.