RSH warns ‘landlords must take responsibilities seriously’ after review of consumer regulation work

“We assessed each of these referrals, and where appropriate, we signposted tenants to the Housing Ombudsman to have their individual complaint addressed. We investigated 217 referrals and found nine landlords not meeting the consumer standards,” it said.

The RSH said the report demonstrated several “important points” for landlords where they must meet all health and safety requirements to keep tenants safe, know the condition of tenants’ homes and have accurate, up-to-date data on them, and have an effective complaints-handling process in place.

This is alongside engaging effectively with tenants and treating them with fairness and respect, plus referring themselves to the RSH when they find a material issue, or a potential material issue, so it can be resolved promptly if required.

It comes after the regulator published its first judgements on the new consumer standards.

Bristol City Council, Guildford Borough Council, Octavia Housing and Sheffield City Council were each given a non-compliant C3 consumer rating, which means there are “serious failings” and they must make “significant improvements”.

Under the new post-Grenfell system, housing associations and councils will be inspected every four years over the newly revised consumer standards, which cover the condition of homes and how they treat tenants.

This will replace the current in-depth assessment programme and result in a ‘C’ grading.

It will be similar to the scale used in the RSH’s Governance and Financial Viability Standard, with ratings ranging from C1 to C4.

Councils will be given a C grade, but not a governance or viability grade. Housing associations will be given C, V and G grades. Around 400 landlords will face inspections.

The regulator said that although the review covered the period before the new regime was in place, the findings were “still highly relevant and all landlords should read and learn from this report”.

The review highlighted several landlords that failed to meet standards, including Lewisham Council, Adur District Council, Dudley Council, Harrow Council, Wigan Council, Kirklees Council, Woking Borough Council, Camden Council, and Birmingham City Council. 

The regulator also praised Norwich City Council for how it engaged following a breach of the Home Standard in 2021.

The report said: “The council engaged positively and constructively with us and provided us with regular and comprehensive updates which allowed us to monitor actions and progress.

“At the end of the process, the council sought external assurance around the effectiveness of the improvements made.

“As a result of this positive engagement, the detailed improvement plans and reporting, strengthened governance arrangements, and independent oversight, the council was able to demonstrate that it had resolved the issues and was meeting the required outcomes of the standards. We removed the regulatory notice in December 2023.”

Fiona MacGregor, chief executive of the RSH, said: “Landlords must take their responsibilities seriously and provide safe and decent homes for their tenants, and treat them with fairness and respect.

“As the cases in this review show, some landlords have failed to do this.

“We have now started our proactive regulation of the consumer standards, including our programme of inspections, which will help to drive landlords to deliver long-term improvements.

“All landlords should consider the important lessons in this report as part of their ongoing work to improve tenants’ homes and services.”

The RSH found four social landlords to be non-compliant under the new consumer standards last week.