Industry News
The return of landlord inspections forms centrepiece of new consumer regulation for social housing
A
ll social landlords with at least 1,000 homes – housing associations and councils – can expect to be inspected against the new
consumer standards at least once every four years, starting in Spring 2024. Te inspections programme forms the
centrepiece of a new and wider system of consumer regulation, designed to give greater protection to tenants and raise the standard of homes and services across the social housing sector. Te biggest changes in the oversight of social
housing in almost two decades were initially prompted by the Grenfell Tower fire, but have been given added impetus by a series of more recent high profile service failures, including the death of two year old Awaab Ishak in Rochdale. A pilot inspections programme early this year
will test out much of the draſt methodology, but it is clear the initial focus will mainly be on the condition and safety of tenants’ homes (compliance with the decent homes standard will be key), the energy efficiency of homes and how much influence tenants have on service delivery. Te seven landlords included in the pilot
programme are Bernicia Homes, Brunelcare, Cheshire Peaks and Plains, Eastbourne Borough Council, Folkestone and Hythe Borough Council, Guinness Housing Association and Torus. Te regulator of social housing has set out
its next steps for overhauling the regulation of landlords in an implementation plan, with its legal basis due to be confirmed when the Social Housing Regulation Bill completes its passage through Parliament during 2023. Te new framework represents a significant
challenge to social landlords, but also to the regulator as an enhanced set of powers will make additional demands on its skills and resources. Although the system is still being described as co-regulation, it is clear the regulator will be moving from a reactive to a more pro-active body.
GET READY MESSAGE FOR LANDLORDS All social landlords have already been urged to start collecting the new Tenant Satisfaction Measures (mandatory from April) and it is possible the results of these, along with feedback from the Housing Ombudsman, will play a critical part in determining the priority of who gets inspected and when. Recruitment of new regulatory staff is already
underway and among the next steps to be carried out over the coming year, are: • Consulting with tenants, landlords and
Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on
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other stakeholders on the consumer standards. RSH plans to launch the consultation by Summer 2023.
• Developing the new approach for landlord inspections, including carrying out further engagement with tenants, landlords and other stakeholders.
Fiona MacGregor, chief executive of RSH, said: “We are making significant progress in gearing up for new consumer regulation, which will empower tenants and give us stronger powers to hold landlords to account.” “It is vital that landlords get ready now.
Tenants deserve quality services from their landlords, and homes that are safe and of a decent standard. Where there are issues, landlords should act to put things right – before we start carrying out our consumer inspections”. Te inspections will build on the regulator’s
experience in carrying out in-depth assessments for the economic regulation of HAs. However, there are quite a few details still to be ironed out and agreed, including: • How the outcomes of inspections will be reported – such as will there be a scoring or star rating system, of the type previously used by the Audit Commission;
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• How much of an impact the new regulatory system will have on the fees which landlords are charged;
• How influential will tenants be in triggering an inspection;
• How the scope of inspections will be determined – will they look at the whole of a landlord service, or just elements of it;
• How much notice landlords and their tenants will receive of an inspection taking place; and
• What the rewards or penalties will be for a good, or poor outcome from an inspection.
Legislation is giving the regulator new powers requiring performance improvement plans, backed up by enforcement notices and penalties for landlords that do not deliver changes to sub-standard services. Social landlords with fewer than 1,000 homes
will not be subject to inspection and while councils will be covered by the new system of consumer regulation, they will not be subject to the existing economic regulation. A series of consultation events and exercises will be undertaken over the next 12 months and these are likely to shape some of the detail, but not the overall direction of the regulatory regime.
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