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Social housing standards in Central Bedfordshire have been slammed in a new report.

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The inspection, completed in February 2025, was the first since the introduction of the new consumer standards in April 2024. All social landlords are given a grading following an inspection, ranging from C1, the highest achievable, and C4, the lowest. The Regulator of Social Housing has issued a C3 grading to us.

We were aware improvements were required to meet the outcomes required by the new standards and had made a self-referral to the Regulator of Social Housing in November 2024. We have started developing a Housing Regulatory Improvement Plan and are already working to make changes to our services.

The regulator identified health and safety compliance, the delivery of timely repairs, and tenant engagement as key areas for improvement and the recommendations from the report are being incorporated into our improvement plan.

Councillor Steve Watkins, Executive Member for Assets, Business and Housing said:

This is a disappointing outcome but not an unexpected one. We had made a self-referral to the Regulator in November 2024.

We are treating these issues with the utmost seriousness and taking swift and decisive action to improve and will continue collaborating with the regulator and tenants until we meet their expectations.

All tenants deserve to live in safe, high-quality and well-maintained homes, and we are fully committed to making the necessary improvements as quickly as possible.

The regulator recognised that:

Central Bedfordshire Council has engaged constructively, understands the issues it needs to address, and is taking action to rectify the failures identified.

We are working closely with the regulator and will continue to provide updates on progress.

The full report can be access by visiting the Regulator of Social Housing.

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Bedfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable Trevor Rodenhurst have urged Central Bedfordshire Council to rethink their budget cut proposals as 10 safer neighbourhood officers would be lost if plans go ahead.