Wandsworth Council has created a dedicated Housing Directorate to run its landlord services, appointing Bob Granville as interim Executive Director while it begins the search for a permanent boss.
The new directorate will oversee more than 32,000 council homes, with a brief to give tenants and leaseholders a stronger voice, improve building safety, speed up repairs, make service charges more transparent and prevent homelessness.
The move follows a February 2025 ruling by the Regulator of Social Housing, which found failings in the way the council managed its housing stock — a judgement that has forced a fundamental rethink of how landlord services are run.
It also comes as the cost of temporary accommodation has soared by around 700 per cent since 2020, as the council struggles to find settled homes for homeless households in a brutal London housing market.
Council leader Robert Morritt said the directorate marked a fresh start for housing in the borough, putting residents at the heart of services and driving up standards across Wandsworth’s estates. He said every tenant deserved a safe, well-maintained home and a landlord that listens.
Granville takes the helm on an interim basis and will lead the directorate while the council recruits a permanent Executive Director.
What is a housing directorate?
A housing directorate is a dedicated senior management structure within a council, focused solely on landlord and homelessness services. By separating housing from other council departments, the aim is to give it clearer leadership, sharper accountability and a louder voice at the top table.
Wandsworth’s version brings together council housing management, repairs, building safety, service charges and homelessness prevention under one roof — areas that were previously spread across different parts of the organisation.
The watchdog ruling
The Regulator of Social Housing oversees social landlords in England, setting standards on safety, transparency and tenant engagement. Its judgements carry real weight — a critical ruling can damage a council’s reputation, trigger closer scrutiny and force it to produce an improvement plan.
For Wandsworth, the February 2025 ruling was the catalyst for change. Rather than simply patching up the failings identified, the council has chosen to rebuild its housing leadership from the ground up.
The challenges in numbers
- 32,000+: council homes now overseen by the new directorate
- 700%: rise in temporary accommodation spending since 2020
- February 2025: the Regulator of Social Housing ruling that triggered the shake-up
- 1: new interim Executive Director, Bob Granville, while permanent recruitment begins
Why temporary accommodation costs have exploded
Temporary accommodation — from hostels to bed-and-breakfasts to nightly-paid flats — is one of the biggest pressures on council budgets across London. When a council cannot find a settled home for a homeless household, it has a legal duty to place them in temporary housing, often at high cost to the taxpayer.
With private rents in the capital at a record £2,825 a month and London’s 558,000-home building target falling short, finding affordable settled homes has become harder — pushing more households into expensive temporary placements for longer.
Building safety and the tenant voice
The directorate will also be responsible for building safety, an area under intense scrutiny since the Grenfell Tower fire. Councils must now ensure blocks meet strict safety regimes, with named accountable persons and clear safety information for residents.
Giving tenants “a stronger voice” is likely to mean more resident panels, estate walkabouts and closer scrutiny of repairs performance — the kind of measures the regulator has been pushing social landlords to adopt across the country.
The borough has a long-standing staff-sharing arrangement with neighbouring Richmond, although the new directorate is specific to Wandsworth’s housing services.
What happens next
The immediate priority is recruitment: finding a permanent Executive Director to lead the directorate for the long term. In the meantime, Granville will begin the work of bringing housing teams together and setting out an improvement plan.
The move comes as the council’s finances face wider scrutiny, with calls for a referendum on council tax rises in Wandsworth. How the directorate performs — on repairs, safety and tenant satisfaction — will be one of the key tests of the administration.
