A review of the consumer regulation activity done by the Regulator of Social Housing between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022 was published today (14 July 2022).
Thousands of tenants in England were protected in 2021–2022, thanks to the regulator’s consumer regulation casework, which exposed shortcomings among social housing landlords and persuaded those responsible to make things right.
RSH received referrals regarding its requirements on houses, neighbourhoods, and communities, as well as tenancy or tenant empowerment and involvement, from tenants, registered providers of social housing, and other sources.
RSH discovered standards violations with the potential to seriously injure renters in eight of these cases.
All eight of the infractions involved shortcomings in terms of health and safety.
The evaluation offers helpful guidance for all landlords who wish to improve the service they offer to their tenants, as well as clear lessons for providers who do not meet the regulator’s criteria.
This emphasizes how crucial it is for organizational leaders to have precise control over data that is accurate and current.
The significance of self-referral, whereby local authorities and privately registered providers proactively notify the regulator if they suspect a problem, is also emphasized.
The paper contends that landlords who properly communicate with tenants today will be better prepared for the impending changes given that the process to adopt proactive consumer legislation is currently under way in parliament.
The study outlines how the regulator would hold providers accountable and enforce its requirements to force them to offer safe and high-quality homes for their tenants and bring them back into compliance.
Director of Consumer Regulation at the Regulator of Social Housing, Kate Dodsworth, stated:
Thousands of tenants of local authorities and housing associations have benefited from an essential safeguard thanks to our efforts on consumer regulation over the past year.
Our examples demonstrate that no social housing landlord can afford to be lax.
The key distinction between landlords who offer good services and safe, quality housing and those who don’t is frequently how attentively they hear their tenants’ concerns.