Industry News
News Editor Patrick Mooney
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Features Editor Jack Wooler
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Editor’s comment
The pressures on social landlords are not going away anytime soon
Patrick Mooney, News Editor
People working in the social housing sector must be really feeling the heat at the moment and wondering when some respite might arrive. T e demand for their product – relatively low rent properties of a good quality – shows no sign of abating with well over 1 million households on council-run waiting lists and more than 250,000 people living in temporary accommodation. But at the same time the sector is facing a growing list of problems, threats and risks; with no easy answers in sight. Over the past year or two the Housing Ombudsman has been getting ever more vocal in its criticism of landlords who
fail to respond to tenants’ concerns about anything and everything; from long term water leaks to pest infestations, and from ingrained mould and damp to missing fi re doors, or simple repairs which never get attended to despite the repeated promises to send a contractor. With so many repairs getting ordered each year, some errors and mistakes are inevitable but the unbelievable (and unacceptable) tales of service failure are becoming more commonplace. Indeed the Ombudsman has been fi nding that even the relatively simple task of monitoring the progress in responding to
tenants’ complaints is beyond the grasp of some very well resourced landlords. Obtaining compensation for service failures is also proving problematic. So perhaps it was inevitable that the Housing Secretary would start to name and shame those landlords who regularly feature in the Ombudsman’s list of repeat off enders. But Michael Gove hasn’t stopped there – he is also overseeing the introduction of a raſt of changes to the regulation of
social landlords, some of which could have serious consequences for senior executives and board members if the regulator really does take it’s new powers seriously. Last year a new set of performance measures were launched and from April this year, all social landlords with at least 1,000 homes in management will have to monitor and report on how they are doing against these 22 indicators. An early assessment of current performance against the new satisfaction measures by Housemark, the sector’s expert in
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data analysis, has revealed some worrying messages. Overall satisfaction is down by a signifi cant 5%, with many tenants critical of their landlords’ ability or willingness to listen to them, act on what they say and respond to any complaints they raise. If this continues then it’s possible we could be seeing lots of fi nes levied, careers ended, services being moved to other providers and a growth in ‘forced’ mergers or transfers of housing stock. T is is coming at a time when social landlords are being told they have to retrofi t energy effi ciency improvements to
millions of properties, to comply with tougher, new safety requirements, and modernise their housing stock. All of this at the same time as rent rises are capped at levels below the current rate of infl ation. To add to their problems, cost of living pressures are making it more diffi cult for tenants to keep up with their household expenditure and as a result rent arrears are rising. It’s a bit of a cliché but the sector is facing a perfect storm. I wish I had a magical superpower or even a crystal ball and could see a way out of this, but I’m struggling to do so. However, I’m prepared to make a start by identifying some of the obvious things which landlords could do to make a start.
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A meaningful change in the working culture and ways in which services are provided and tenants are treated is needed as a minimum. T is might even require board members, councillors and executives getting personally involved in checking on how services are being delivered. What services are actually being given to tenants on a day-to-day basis and whether they would be happy to receive them. Properly reviewing how complaints are dealt with and responded to would be an interesting exercise for many decision makers! Are they repeating mistakes or learning from them and making changes for the better? Next up, are landlords making intelligent use of new technology to free up staff members time, so they can properly engage with tenants, treating them like they are valued customers rather than an annoying nuisance. T e availability of resources to ensure fl ats and houses are let at a decent standard and are properly repaired and
maintained seems too obvious to mention. Except of course in way too many instances this isn’t the case. Reading case studies published by the Ombudsman is quite an experience and an eye-opener on what is actually happening on a daily basis across the sector right now. When things go badly wrong – such as a damp and mouldy home is allocated and let to a new tenant, fl eeing terrible conditions and uncertainty in their temporary accommodation; then why is no-one at that organisation empowered to put a stop to the situation and ensure that proper and eff ective treatment takes place, before the property is re-let? T e very real prospect of a heavy fi ne and being named and shamed for such failures should be at the forefront of everyone’s mind and ensure such experiences become a thing of the past.
HOUSING MANAGEMENT
& MAINTENANCE FEB/MAR 2023
Return of inspections
Huge fine for sub-letting
Mould guidance to be reviewed
Shocking child homelessness stats
Ombudsman critical of service failures
On the cover... Patrick Mooney HMM0203_2023
Covers.indd 1 23/02/2023 15:03
All social landlords with at least 1,000 homes can expect to be inspected against the new consumer standards at least once every four years. Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on
unsplash.com/@fkaregan
See page 14 4 | HMM February/March 2023 |
www.housingmmonline.co.uk
Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on
Unsplash.com
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