Tower Hamlets Council's governance of its social housing stock requires further improvement, according to a report presented to the Audit Committee.
External auditors Ernst & Young (EY) identified a significant weakness
in the council's social housing governance during their review for the year ended 31 March 2026. While acknowledging the council's response to the Regulator of Social Housing's findings and the establishment of governance and improvement arrangements, EY noted that these were not sufficiently embedded during 2025/26 to demonstrate that the underlying weaknesses had been addressed for a sufficient proportion of the year under review.
¹
The report highlighted that the council received a C3 consumer grading from the Regulator of Social Housing in April 2025. This grading indicated serious failings in how the Council is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards, with significant improvement required.
Specifically, concerns were raised regarding the Safety and Quality Standard, as well as weaknesses in the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard and the Neighbourhood and Community Standard.
Despite progress in areas such as reducing outstanding fire remediation actions and strengthening tenant engagement, the council remains subject to the regulatory judgement. The council has acknowledged that it is unlikely to be in a position to seek reassessment against the consumer standards before mid-2027.
To strengthen tenant engagement, the council has launched a new WhatsApp channel, which has attracted 1,750 subscribers. Additionally, a dedicated two-page spread in the borough-wide 'Our East End' publication has been created to share key information with tenants, aiming to improve tenant voice and engagement.
Furthermore, significant revenue overspends in Housing and Regeneration during recent financial years present additional challenges. The department has reported significant overspends in 2024/25, 2025/26, and 2026/27 to date, creating additional financial challenges that may affect the pace and delivery of improvements.
¹ EY noted that while the Council is responding to the Regulator of Social Housing's findings, the governance arrangements were not sufficiently embedded during 2025/26 to demonstrate that underlying weaknesses had been addressed for a sufficient proportion of the year under review.
This indicates that the governance arrangements themselves were not sufficiently embedded to prove the weaknesses were resolved.