Wandsworth Council is set to invest £6.8 million in housing improvements across the borough, focusing on building safety, electrical upgrades, and fire safety measures. The investment, approved as part of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) capital budget variations, aims to enhance the safety and quality of existing council homes.

The decision was made ahead of consideration by the cabinet at its next meeting on 3 November, and follows discussions at the Borough Residents' Forum on 29 October 2025, where the HRA Business Plan Update was a key agenda item. The HRA is a ringfenced account, separate from the council's general fund, containing income and expenditure relating to the management and maintenance of Wandsworth's housing stock. The Borough Residents' Forum also discussed the impact of new regulatory requirements around building and fire safety, and damp and mould (Awaab's Law) on HRA expenditure.

One of the biggest pressures on repairs budgets, both across capital and revenue, is the cost of bringing void properties back into use. Additional revenue budget provision was added to the repairs base budget in 2023/24 which then still significantly overspent, and which then continued again into 2024/25. Early indications contained within the current year forecast show that this is again continuing into 2025/26. The HRA business plan assumes expenditure levels on voids reduces in the short term in line with the return to lower turnover levels although it does need to be recognised that these activity targets are on the low side due to the development of new properties and the 'churn' that creates when moving existing tenants to appropriately sized properties.

The capital budget variations include:

  • Building Safety Act Contingency: £1.6 million has been allocated as a contingency for new requirements for capital projects on higher-risk buildings, arising from the Building Safety Act. This contingency will cover increased consultant fees, as they now become the Principal Designer and take on far greater responsibility. It will also address increased tendered contractor costs, due to additional information management requirements, including gateway building control approval application documentation and golden thread information obligations.
  • Fairfield Court Window Renewal: An additional £0.4 million will address higher-than-expected tendered costs for the window renewal project.
  • Electrical Rewires and Boiler Upgrades: A significant portion, £2.8 million, is earmarked for boiler upgrades, and £1.5 million for electrical rewires.
  • Fire Safety Works: Following a fire at Fox House on the Wynter Street Estate, £0.5 million will fund the installation of a compartmentation system in the roof space of five blocks on the Wynter Street Estate. Surveys confirmed that the configuration of the five sister blocks was the same as Fox House, and therefore there was a risk to residents should another fire break out. The compartmentation system will resolve the compartmentation issues and negate the need for the ongoing waking watch 24-hour patrol that is currently in place.

The total approved HRA capital programme currently stands at £514.620 million.

For the first time a full new stock condition survey is underway with 100% of individual tenanted properties to be inspected over a five-year period. Early financial modelling is underway based on the sample of surveys completed so far (approximately 1,700 properties surveyed to date and a target of having 3,000 completed by the end of the financial year).

The outcome of these surveys will form the basis of more accurate capital investment requirements in future updates of the business plan once available. However, in advance of a fully costed plan, and in recognition of this expected increase, the provision made within the business plan model has been initially increased to approximately £45m per annum which is available for the capital bids round to be reported within the HRA Rents and Budget Setting report in January 2026. This overall total includes £3m per annum to fund wider improvements which are in addition to stock decency in order to enhance existing estates further.