Failing social housing providers need to raise standards from
today, to ensure all tenants live in decent homes and are treated
with fairness and respect by their landlords.
Landlords will now be routinely inspected and held to account, to
make sure they provide their residents with quality homes and
services. Those who do not abide by these new rules face a range
of potential sanctions, including appointing new management or
unlimited fines.
This represents the most significant change to the regulation of
social housing in a decade and follows the Social Housing
(Regulation) Act, a landmark moment for the social housing
sector. These new powers mean the Regulator can drive up
standards and take action where providers fall short.
The rules now require landlords to:
- Have an accurate record on the condition of every home, based
on checks of properties so landlords can understand any problems
and take action.
- Set clear timelines for the completion of repairs,
maintenance and planned improvements, communicating them clearly
to tenants.
- Give tenants opportunities to influence and scrutinise their
landlord's services such as through meetings with tenant
organisations.
- Provide tenants with information about their rights and how
to make complaints.
- Publish the new tenant satisfaction measures to make it clear
how tenants feel their landlord is performing and hold them to
account.
Minister for Social Housing Baroness Scott said:
“Everyone deserves a decent home and to be treated with fairness
and respect. That's why we are taking strong action to improve
the quality of social housing and the services landlords provide.
If landlords fail their residents, there will be
consequences.
“This is a significant milestone in our work to put right some of
the issues laid bare by the devastating Grenfell Tower tragedy,
and I have huge admiration for the bereaved families, survivors
and community who have campaigned tirelessly for improvements in
the sector.”
Fiona MacGregor, Chief Executive of the Regulator of
Social Housing said:
“We welcome the new powers, which will put our consumer
regulation on an equal footing with our economic role. We
will hold landlords to account for delivering the outcomes of our
new consumer standards and drive improvement across the social
housing sector, for the benefit of tenants.“
Kwajo Tweneboa, Social Housing campaigner said:
“I hope this change in legislation will now mean a more proactive
stance in scrutinising providers. For a long time Social Housing
Providers have evaded accountability for providing substandard
housing to many across the country.
“As someone who has experienced this first hand, I hope this
change in regulation will be enforced with maximum effect and put
an end to the misery so many are going through. The recognition
that a safe and decent home is a necessity to the lives of us all
and isn't exclusive to those living outside of social housing
should - I hope, mean a new era for many millions across the UK.”
The introduction of the new regime is just one of the measures
the Government is taking to drive up the quality of social
housing, having recently consulted on Awaab's Law, which will
introduce new requirements for landlords to fix hazards in social
homes within fixed timeframes. The Government is also consulting
on new competence and conduct requirements, to ensure that social
housing staff have the skills, knowledge and experience to
deliver good quality services.
At the same time, the existing social housing rent settlement
will be rolled over by a further year until April 2026, so annual
rent increases will continue to be capped at Consumer Price Index
(CPI) plus one percentage point for 2025-26. This provides
greater certainty for social housing tenants and landlords about
levels of rent next year in light of the new consumer regulation
regime.
To further hold landlords to account, they are now required by
law to follow the requirements of the Housing Ombudsman Service's
Complaint Handling Code. This means all social landlords will now
have to respond to complaints effectively and within set
timescales, ending the postcode lottery on complaint responses
previously experienced by residents.
Further information
