London council ends contractor’s repairs deal one year into five-year contract

According to the report, the council wants to “effect rapid and sustainable improvement in the responsive housing repairs service to deliver the service that residents expect”.

Housing cabinet member Lisa Homan said at the meeting she was disappointed but that United Living “has not been doing very well in terms of what our residents perceive”.

She added that many repairs services across London were struggling.

“It’s a combination of a shortage of skilled labour supply and Brexit, together with just general catch-up from COVID,” she said.

Council leader Stephen Cowan added that Brexit and COVID have had “profound and detrimental effects” on the building industry.

“That said, we demand very high standards for our residents and are always dismayed when they’re not met.

“Repairs is one of the areas that we see as a basic of getting it right. It wasn’t right, what we had,” he said.

ULPS is a subsidiary of the £254m-turnover United Living Group, which provides housebuilding and repairs services. It carries out 50,000 repairs each year in London and the South East, and its long-term contracts include one with Lewisham Homes, an ALMO. Hammersmith and Fulham Council currently uses three contractors for repairs in north, central and southern regions of the borough.

Construction engineering firm Morgan Sindall, which holds the repairs contract for the north, is set to take over from United Living “on or before” 29 October.

The company, also the borough-wide gas contractor, is “committed to a long-term partnership” with Hammersmith and Fulham, according to the report.

The council’s housing revenue account (HRA) has budgeted to take £7.2m from the general fund to cover any extra costs that will result from ending its contract with ULPS.

It also estimates that, in a “worst-case scenario”, unfinished repair jobs from United Living could cost £200,000.

“These are currently around 1,500 works orders. If these are not completed by the end of the contract the cost of completing each work order by the reserve contractor will be higher,” according to the report.

Ms Homan told Inside Housing that the council is aiming to “improve and expand” its network of contractors to “create a service that residents can be proud of”.

“In addition, we’re investing more than £600m over 12 years to refurbish our existing housing stock – with a large proportion being spent to adapt our homes to make them climate neutral,” she said.

Inside Housing has contacted United Living for comment.