London’s largest landlords call for ‘sufficient time’ to comply with new tenant information rights

In its response, the G15 expressed its commitment to ensuring residents have access to the information that matters to them.

The group said: “We support the government’s aim of enhancing transparency and accountability in social housing to strengthen the relationship between social landlords and their residents.

“While we welcome these objectives, we’re concerned that the current proposals lack the clarity and detail needed for successful implementation. To best serve residents, G15 members require clear guidance, realistic timeframes and consideration of our current capacity.”

Requests can be made for any information landlords hold about health and safety breaches in their properties and the outcomes of any inspections. On top of that, tenants could take further action through the Housing Ombudsman if their landlord is not making the repairs it is required to.

Under new rules brought in by the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, landlords will have to make emergency repairs within 24 hours of a problem being identified. Tenants will be able to see how often their landlord is meeting this target, and challenge them through the courts or take them to the Housing Ombudsman if they do not.

Housing associations will also be forced to publish information about their performance.

Landlords will have to provide the information unless it is “reasonable not to”, with clear expectations on how landlords should respond to requests. The G15 made a number of recommendations, including ensuring the proposals provide the necessary clarity and detail for effective planning.

Without clear guidelines, the landlords described it as “challenging to understand the requirements and their implications, making it difficult to plan and budget accordingly”.

Highlighting the five-year preparation period granted to comply with the Freedom of Information Act, the G15 said “social landlords should be afforded sufficient time to adapt to new regulations”.

This will ensure a smoother transition and more effective implementation.

“We remain committed to working with the government to develop balanced regulations that address residents’ concerns, promote cultural change and enable residents to exercise their rights effectively,” the group added.

The consultation closed in July. When it launched, Baroness Scott, minister for social housing at the time, said: “We are creating a culture of openness and transparency among social landlords and tenants, giving residents the tools they need to hold their landlords to account so they can raise standards to the high level they rightly expect.

“This is part of the biggest government reforms to affect social housing in a decade, which will be crucial in addressing systemic issues relating to safety, quality and tenant-landlord relationships that were identified after the Grenfell Tower fire.”