Newcastle could have highest rate of hazardous council properties

A report shows that 3495 council homes may contain category 1 hazards, which is double the amount of homes reported than London.

Transcript

00:00Government data shows that 3,495 council homes in Newcastle may contain Category 1 hazards,

00:07as defined by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System.

00:11The vast majority of the cases stem from a particular design floor and staircase,

00:15ranch-style banisters with horizontal railings that are now banned under modern safety regulations

00:20due to the risk of children climbing them and potentially falling or becoming trapped.

00:24While the number appears alarming, Newcastle City Council has stressed that the figures are likely inflated

00:29due to precautionary reporting approach.

00:32The council confirmed that these hazards were flagged as part of a broad stock review

00:36where any home with a ranch-style staircase was automatically logged until full inspections could take place.

00:42The council added that none of the staircases flagged have yet been formally deemed to be Category 1 hazards,

00:47and all affected homes are being assessed through an ongoing stock conditions survey.

00:52Inspections are being carried out either when homes are re-let

00:55or when the council regains access to occupied properties.

00:58Council leader Karen Kilgower addressed the issue at a Cabinet meeting on Monday night,

01:03highlighting the progress being made in improving local housing

01:06since the authorities scrapped Your Homes Newcastle in 2023

01:09and brought management of 25,000 council homes back in-house.

01:13Since then, the council has reduced a major backlog of 1,800 damp and mould complaints

01:18to fewer than 500 cases still awaiting repairs,

01:21following a warning from the regulator of social housing earlier this year about serious failings in housing conditions.

01:27This week, council has approved a new policy requiring the council to respond to all emergency hazards,

01:32including damp and mould within 24 hours.

01:35A new domestic abuse housing policy was also passed, committing to trained staff to spot signs of abuse

01:40and help victims find safe, stable accommodation.

01:44and notwithstanding staff to ensure that the staff were previously contracted in the United States in the United States in the United States

01:47to be approved by any of the first in the state affairs

01:48that we faceer the students in the United States in the United States.

01:50The National Center of Public Health

01:51is the staff for having a Рussell of the City,

01:53and the school staff who serve a very concentrated work.

01:54So we can create a new policy for a whole project

01:56to ensure that it is 15,000 people will affect us to the health of the state

01:58and the Cara's public health system.

02:00And it is 15,000 people will affect us,

02:01and this morning, we can create a new policy where it does not work.