The Regulator of Social Housing has published the annual review of its consumer regulation work for the past year

On the 17th July 2024 The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) published the annual review of its consumer regulation work for the past year (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024).

The report provides important learnings for all social landlords which they can use to strengthen their approach to delivering the outcomes in RSH’s consumer standards.

The report reinforces several important points for landlords who 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
  • have an effective complaints handling process in place
  • engage effectively with tenants and treat them with fairness and respect
  • refer themselves to the RSH when they find a material issue, or a potential material issue, so it can be resolved promptly if required.

The report covers the year before the RSH began its new regulatory approach and relates to its previous consumer standards. However, the findings and learnings are still highly relevant in the context of the new standards.  

Fiona MacGregor, Chief Executive at 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”.

Note: On 1 April 2024, RSH introduced new consumer standards and started a proactive inspection programme for landlords with over 1,000 homes. It also continues to review landlords’ information regularly and investigate cases that are referred by tenants and other stakeholders. More information about RSH’s regulation is available on its website.

posted 24 July 2024