Basildon BC has been awarded the lowest possible social housing grade after an inspection uncovered very serious failings in how the council manages its stock.
The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) gave the council a C4 rating after it discovered significant weaknesses in health and safety data, poor recording of hazards in tenants' homes and inadequate oversight of its repairs contractor.
Inspectors also identified serious shortcomings in tenant engagement, with residents given insufficient opportunity to scrutinise landlord services.
The council was further criticised for failing to self-refer to RSH after an external review in March 2025 identified problems with its consumer standards compliance — a failure the regulator described as very serious itself.
RSH chief of regulatory engagement, Kate Dodsworth, said the regulator was working intensively with the council to address the highest-risk issues.
According to the RSH, the council has been engaging constructively with inspectors, but it still needed to ‘develop a full understanding of current risks to tenants and the root causes of the failings'.
