RSH hikes fees by over 70% per social home to deliver expanded role

Organisations will also be charged £3,000 when they apply to become registered social landlords, instead of the current approach where landlords pay fees after they have successfully registered.

The RSH revealed the fee hikes on 8 May as it published the outcome of its consultation on the changes. 

The regulator said feedback to the consultation was “supportive of RSH’s overall approach”.

It said the higher fees will ensure that it has the “resources, skills and capacity” to deliver its wider regulatory role, which began in April.

The RSH is aiming to implement sweeping reforms to the regulation of social housing that were first proposed more than six years ago in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.

The Social Housing (Regulation) Act, which became law in July 2023, gave the RSH stronger powers to scrutinise landlords’ performance and new fee-charging powers.

The RSH said that a new programme of inspections for all social landlords that own more than 1,000 homes was under way, as well as its ongoing regulation of private registered providers’ financial viability and governance.

The news followed an announcement by the government that social landlords will need to pay for the full costs of their regulation, similar to other regulated sectors.

Fiona MacGregor, chief executive of the RSH, said: “The changes to our fee principles will give us the resources we need to deliver our new regulatory role, which will help to drive long-term improvement in social landlords for the benefit of tenants.

“We are grateful for the feedback we received during the consultation, which we carefully considered in reaching the final outcome.

“We recognise the importance of providing value for money for fee payers and we will continue to focus on regulating in an effective and efficient way.”