Help us to improve the quality of social housing
Here we will provide you with the latest updates and some of the key areas of changes to social housing and how you can get involved.
Introduction
Following the tragic Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, the Government committed to changes to the consumer regulation of social housing to strengthen the accountability of landlords for providing safe homes, quality services and treating residents with respect.
New changes to how we are regulated on our social housing
From 1 April 2024 there is a new approach to how we, as a social landlord, are regulated on our social housing. Until now we have been subject to a series of standards including customer involvement, repairs, Decent Homes and Anti-Social Behaviour.
The approach taken has changed and the Regulator of Social Housing will take a proactive interest in how we meet these standards. This will include us reporting on our performance on the Tenant Satisfaction Measures, and the Regulator conducting inspections, probably every four years. In addition, the standards have been updated to cover a stronger emphasis on customer voice, taking account of individual needs and repairs. Following an inspection, we will be awarded a grading, on a 1 – 4 basis, of how well we meet these standards.
As a social housing provider, we will be subject to four yearly inspections by the Regulator, who will grade us based on how well we are meeting the requirements of the new consumer standards.
The new standards ensure we will continue to:
- ensure our customers are safe in their homes
- listen to our customers’ complaints and respond promptly to put things right
- be accountable to our customers and treat them with fairness and respect
- know more about the condition of every home and the needs of the people who live in them
- collect and use data effectively across a range of areas, including repairs
Social Housing (Regulation) Act
From 1 April 2024, there are five new consumer standards that will set the requirements all registered providers must meet:
- The Safety and Quality Standard – requires landlords to provide safe and good quality homes and landlord services to customers.
- The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard – requires landlords to be open with customers and treat them with fairness and respect so that customers can access services, raise complaints when necessary, influence decision-making and hold their landlord to account.
- The Neighbourhood and Community Standard – requires landlords to engage with other relevant parties so that customers can live in safe and well-maintained neighbourhoods and feel safe in their homes.
- The Tenancy Standard – sets requirements for the fair allocation and letting of homes and for how those tenancies are managed and ended by landlords.
- Tenant Satisfaction Methods (TSMs) – requires landlords to provide certain information to the Regulator of Social Housing based on customer feedback, such as repairs, safety checks and complaints.
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