Housing associations are under pressure to clean up their act on repairs and home improvements or risk losing Council financial support.

Council leaders have met with the four major housing associations in the borough to raise concerns tenants, including families, are being failed on repairs.

At the same time, the borough's two MPs, Sarah Olney and Munira Wilson, have seen a rise in pleas for help over poor maintenance.

Lead member for housing, Councillor Jim Millard, voiced the Council's commitment to ensuring the needs of existing social housing residents are met.

He said: "This council believes investing in the homes of existing social housing residents is just as important as creating new social housing.

"We say that we should now only give Richmond housing grants for new developments to housing associations who engage with our 5-point Richmond Social Housing Improvement Plan."

These include investing in existing homes – tackling disrepair, damp and mould; Investing in improving repairs services.

Associations will be required to improve communal areas with a zero-tolerance approach to disrepair, tackling antisocial behaviour.

There is a demand to ensure residents are consulted on decisions affecting their homes.

And the Council also wants the associations to ensure they retrofit properties, improving insulaltion and double-glazing, to cut energy use and bills.

Cllr Millard said: "The four main housing associations in the borough now report to the Adult Social Care, Health and Housing committee annually and a standard report template has been developed to assist these housing associations in reporting their key performance metrics, service delivery and workstreams, including how they are maintaining their housing stock and the new Tenant Satisfaction Measures, to enable these to be scrutinised by Committee.

"I will now ask the committee to take steps to add to that scrutiny consideration of housing associations' performance in relation to the Richmond Social Housing Improvement Plan and for that to inform committee decisions on whether to award development grant for future projects, assuring residents that Richmond Council grant support for development of new genuinely affordable homes in the borough is directly connected to driving investment in existing homes."