10 Aug Setting the Standard: everything you need to know
What is Setting the Standard?
Setting the Standard (STS) is a pan-London temporary accommodation inspection service which aims to ensure that all nightly paid bed & breakfast and studio flats used by local authorities as temporary accommodation meet the required minimum quality standard. The service will inspect properties on an annual rolling programme to ensure that quality is maintained.
Launched in September 2020, STS was commissioned by the London Housing Directors’ Group with the support of London Councils, and is designed and delivered by the Commissioning Alliance (hosted by LB Ealing) in collaboration with the London boroughs. This represents the first time that boroughs are collaborating through a shared service focused on standards in London’s emergency accommodation sector, with 31 of London’s 33 local authorities currently participating.
Background to the STS Project
According to the government’s most recent figures, around 4,000 homeless households across London are living in nightly-paid B&B or studio accommodation. This number increased considerably in 2020 due to the government’s ‘Everyone-In’ policy for rough sleepers during the pandemic.
Currently, most of these households are adult/single adult households. There is growing concern however, that the continuing economic impact of COVID-19 could result in more applications from families in the coming months, and therefore more families being placed in emergency B&B or studio accommodation.
In the face of these pressures, STS was established to ensure bed & breakfasts and studio flats used by local authorities for nightly paid temporary accommodation meet a decent level of quality and management standards. So far 31 boroughs have signed up to the STS service.
The service and IT system were set up with a grant of £186,000 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and £50,000 from the Greater London Authority (GLA). The running costs of the service are funded by borough subscription on a cost-recovery basis.
How STS works
STS comprises a dedicated central inspections team and a new purpose-built IT system that shares robust and transparent inspections data across the participating boroughs for the first time. Inspections records are shared between participating authorities to ensure confidence in the quality of accommodation being procured and to improve efficiencies. Further inspections will be undertaken if necessary when complaints or follow works are raised.
Since its launch in September 2020, over 60% of B&B and studio accommodation providers have registered with the service and have added some or all of their property portfolios to the system ready for inspection.
The STS inspections team, made up of experienced Environmental Housing officers, inspect and grade the properties on a scale of A to E using a purpose-built app. Grades A-C are a pass, Grades D and E are a fail. Grade D is generally given when a property is missing legally required documents and certificates (gas and electrical safety certificates, Fire Alarm Test certificates, and/or Energy Performance Certificates). The worst grade, Grade E, is given where serious Category 1 hazards are identified. When inspectors designate a property Grade E, the system sends out an automatic notification to the host borough’s Environmental Health Service, and notifies all placing boroughs that the property should not be used until the issues have been remedied. The gradings for all inspected properties are visible to participating boroughs via the IT system so that they can check the property is a grade C or above before placing vulnerable households.
Property inspections commenced in late April 2021 as COVID restrictions were lifted. 11% of in-scope properties have been inspected since then, and the aim is to complete the first round of annual inspections by summer 2022. So far the majority of properties have passed the standard (achieving A-C grades), but a significant number failed to submit the legally required documentation, resulting in a grade D being awarded until the relevant documents are produced.
Find out more about STS or for any specific inquiries, please contact Rachel Ormerod, Head of Housing and STS Inspections Service, OrmerodR@ealing.gov.uk.