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English regulator launches second consumer inspection pilot with four new landlords
Four landlords have signed up to take part in the Regulator of Social Housing’s second consumer inspection pilot.
Today, the English regulator said the new wave marks an important step in preparing for new consumer regulation, which will be fully active by April 2024, providing the required legislation completes its passage through parliament.
The new regime will include inspecting all large social landlords, both housing associations and local authorities, against the new consumer standards every four years.
The aim of the pilot is to enable the RSH to test and refine its approach to inspections, before rolling them out next year.
The landlords involved in the second wave are Aster Group, Leeds Federated Housing Association, Accent, and Wythenshawe Community Housing Group.
This follows the pilot earlier in the year with seven landlords, which has now concluded.
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Plans for a new consumer regulation regime were first proposed in a green paper that was commissioned by the government in the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire.
But a series of delays slowed its implementation, with the new schedule meaning it would be seven years after the fire before it becomes fully operational.
The reforms represent the most fundamental changes to social housing regulation since the early 2010s, when the regulator was reformed and focused solely on economic factors in order to ensure the sector remained attractive to private lenders.
The RSH will set new expectations on the services that landlords need to provide for their tenants, introduce regular consumer inspections of social landlords and it will be given stronger powers to hold landlords to account.
The broad themes of the new standards for consumer services will include safety, quality, neighbourhood, transparency, engagement and accountability, and tenancy. A consultation is due to be launched on their precise details.
Fiona MacGregor, chief executive of RSH, said: “We are gearing up for new consumer regulation, which is now less than one year away. Inspections will be a cornerstone of this new framework, and the pilots are an important way for us to test and develop our approach.
“Tenants deserve quality services from their landlords and homes that are safe and of a decent standard. Our message to all social landlords is clear: don’t wait for us to inspect you. Act now to put things right if there are issues in your organisation.”
Alongside implementing the new pilot scheme to prepare for new consumer regulation, the RSH said it has already made significant progress in getting ready for new consumer regulation, including the introduction of Tenant Satisfaction Measures at the start of this month.
All social landlords now need to start collecting data from their tenants about the quality of their services, including repairs and complaint-handling, and large landlords with more than 1,000 homes will need to submit the results to the regulator every year.
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