Issued by: Regulator of Social Housing

The Regulator of Social Housing published the annual review of its consumer regulation work for the past year

The Regulator of Social Housing has today (17 July 2024) published the annual review of its consumer regulation work for the past year (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024).

The report(*) provides important learnings for all social landlords – including councils and housing associations – which they can use to strengthen their approach to delivering the outcomes in RSH’s consumer standards.

The report reinforces several important points for landlords. They must:

- Meet all health and safety requirements to keep tenants safe

- Know the condition of tenants’ homes and have accurate, up-to-date data on them

- Have an effective complaints handling process in place

- Engage effectively with tenants and treat them with fairness and respect

- Refer themselves to RSH when they find a material issue, or a potential material issue, so it can be resolved promptly if required

The report covers the year before RSH began its new regulatory approach and relates to its previous consumer standards. However the findings and learnings are still highly relevant in the context of the new standards.

Fiona MacGregor, Chief Executive at RSH, said:

"Landlords must take their responsibilities seriously and provide safe and decent homes for their tenants, and treat them with fairness and respect. As the cases in this review show, some landlords have failed to do this.

"We have now started our proactive regulation of the consumer standards, including our programme of inspections, which will help to drive landlords to deliver long-term improvements. All landlords should consider the important lessons in this report as part of their ongoing work to improve tenants’ homes and services."

Notes to Editors

(*) (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/consumer-regulation-review)

1. On 1 April 2024, RSH introduced new consumer standards and started a proactive inspection programme for landlords with over 1,000 homes. It also continues to review landlords’ information regularly and investigate cases that are referred by tenants and other stakeholders. More information about RSH’s regulation is available on its website (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/how-we-regulate).

2. RSH has published six regulatory judgements under its new regulatory remit, which began on 1 April 2024. This includes four cases where landlords have failed to meet the outcomes in RSH’s new consumer standards. More information is available on RSH’s website (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/five-social-landlords-fail-to-meet-rshs-standards).

3. RSH promotes a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver more and better social homes. It does this by setting standards and carrying out robust regulation focusing on driving improvement in social landlords, including local authorities, and ensuring that housing associations are well-governed, financially viable and offer value for money. It takes appropriate action if the outcomes of the standards are not being delivered.

4. For general enquiries email enquiries@rsh.gov.uk. For media enquiries, please see our Media Enquiries page (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/regulator-of-social-housing/about/media-enquiries).

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