Inspectors berated the service, and said it had "uncertain prospects for improvement".
Chief inspector Roy Irwin said: "We found the service to be very poor and so the level of change required to move the service to a 'fair' rating is substantial."
Among the inspectors' criticisms was the alarming finding that the council's gas servicing policy failed to comply with legal requirements as it was 'capping-off' gas supplies in certain cases.
More than 10 per cent of the council's 10,400 properties were found to be overdue for their annual gas safety check, although the council said that this is now down to "around 400".
In addition, Sedgefield has an estimated £67.5m repairs backlog, yet in a statement the council said that it thought its properties were in a "relatively good condition".
Graham Scanlon, leader of the council's newly formed service improvement team, said: "We are looking towards procuring maintenance in other ways and outsourcing is definitely something we're looking at for certain services such as gas servicing." He added that once the results of a stock condition survey were known in July, the council would make a decision about its stock options.
It is understood that the council is likely to opt for a voluntary transfer.
Source
Housing Today
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