Industry News Record number of


‘serious detriment’ cases among social landlords in 2019/20


England’s social housing regulator has said it identified the potential for serious harm to tenants in a record number of 15 cases in 2019/20, up from six in the previous year. In its latest annual consumer regulation


review setting out themes and lessons from the cases, the regulator said this “significant” increase was driven by referrals relating to local authority landlords. As well as being clear on health and safety


requirements, it said social landlords should focus on treating tenants fairly and take into account their diverse needs, responding to complaints effectively including those from shared owners, and maintaining robust governance arrangements supported by good quality data. Reports to the regulator of possible


consumer standards breaches at councils were up more than three-quarters on the previous year and the regulator found there was a “serious detriment” in seven cases. In the previous four years between 2015/16 and 2018/19, only two councils breached the regulator’s consumer standards and met the serious detriment test. “We attribute this to an increased level of


communication with the sector, particularly the level of engagement with local authorities about the importance of complying with the consumer standards,” the report said. “We consider this to be a material change in


the way local authorities monitor and report their compliance to the regulator and is key in explaining the higher numbers of cases where we found a breach of the consumer standards and serious detriment this year.” The regulator received a total of 597


consumer regulation referrals in 2019/20, up 19 per cent from the previous year. Of these, 274 were within its remit. It investigated 143 of these for potential standards breaches, leading to the 15 “serious detriment” conclusions. The proportion of self-referrals from social


landlords rose from 31 to 38 per cent, while the proportion from tenants fell from 47 to 37 per cent. The report said several Home Standard breaches arose in 2019/20 in cases where HAs or councils “have failed to understand what is required of them to ensure tenants are safe in their homes”. It warned this is particularly a risk for


landlords where housing management services are delivered by a third-party, such as with lease-based housing associations or councils using ALMOs.


Mayor wanted rents frozen to avert mass evictions in London


capital and to stave off a huge rise in evictions. The capital has 2.2 million renters and research


L


from the Greater London Authority and YouGov estimated that a quarter of them had fallen behind on payments, or say they were likely to do so as a direct result of the pandemic. Mayor Khan warned that half a million


Londoners could face eviction because of arrears built up during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mayor’s advisors cite a five-year rent freeze in Berlin, although that was part of a plan to slow down controversial gentrification of the German capital. But representatives of private landlords attacked


the power grab by the mayor saying such a move would be counter-productive and that instead, the mayor should focus his efforts on getting more affordable housing built. Chris Norris, Policy Director for the National


Residential Landlords Association, said: “Rent controls would be a disaster for anyone looking for somewhere to rent. As history and experience elsewhere tells us, all they would do is drive landlords out of the market exacerbating an already serious shortage of homes available. “Rather than driving a wedge between landlords


and tenants the Mayor should focus on using the powers he already has to boost the supply of available housing, including for private rent. Only then will he make any discernible impact on improving the affordability of housing across the capital.”


6 | HMM October/November 2020 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


ondon mayor Sadiq Khan asked the Government for new powers allowing him to impose a two-year rents freeze in the


The capital has 2.2 million renters and research from the Greater London Authority and YouGov estimated that a quarter of them had fallen behind on payments, or say they were likely to do so as a direct result of the pandemic.


Khan made his request just days before the


courts restarted hearing eviction proceedings in late September, after they were put on hold during the lockdown. Tenants living in lockdown areas continue to be protected from eviction. “Without an operational vaccine, the economic


fallout of COVID-19 will continue for months into the future,” said Khan. “A rent freeze is only one part of a package of measures renters urgently need from the Government to ensure no one is forced out onto the streets as a result of this pandemic.” Khan said: “At every stage of this pandemic,


renters have been treated as an afterthought by the Government, with protection measures only ever rushed out at the last minute. This uncertainty is causing unnecessary anxiety and stress. If Berlin can freeze rents for five years, there’s no reason why London shouldn’t be able to freeze rents for two years in these extraordinary times.”


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