The grading system of the Regulator for Social Housing, and its enforcement

[edit] Background context

Over 4 million households in England live in social housing, with tens of thousands on waiting lists for a social housing home. Following the tragic Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, the Government committed to changes to the consumer regulation of social housing to strengthen the accountability of landlords for providing safe homes, quality services and treating residents with respect. After consultation across the social housing sector, including tenants, it set out proposals in Green and White Papers, for how to raise standards, engage tenants and increase transparency and accountability.

The task of regulating registered providers of social housing was transferred from the Homes and Communities Agency in October 2018, and with sponsorship from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Regulator of Social Housing was established on 1 January, 2018. Up until April 2012 the task had been performed by the Tenant Services Authority, sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, with these changes initially stemming from the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008.

[edit] Housing and Regeneration Act 2008

The Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 as amended (HRA 2008) received royal assent on 28 July 2008, it was introduced in 3 parts. Jointly the three parts (schedules 1- 8, schedules 9 and 16 and schedules 10 - 15) restructured many of the bodies related housing, including establishing the Regulator for Social Housing.

In summary it:

• established the Homes and Communities Agency
• abolished the Urban Regeneration Agency and the Commission for the New Towns
• established the Office for Tenants and Social Landlords as the regulator of social housing
• established a system of regulation for social housing
• abolished the Housing Corporation
• made provision for sustainability certificates, landlord and tenant matters, building regulations and mobile homes
• made further provisions for housing and related issues (mainly through Part 3)

The HRA 2008 also set out the statutory framework within which the Regulator for Social Housing must operate, establishing a framework enabling the regulator to register and regulate providers of social housing, known as ‘registered providers’. Only these registered providers are regulated.

[edit] The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023

On the 20th of July 2023 The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, received royal assent in parliament, and was as a result of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committees enquiry, looking into the regulation of social housing. This new Act, effectively proposed as a direct result of the Grenfell Tower tragedy - after repeated fire safety concerns of residents were found to have not been acted on by their landlord - introduced a number of reforms to the housing sector. It also handed new powers to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) and to the Housing Ombudsman.

The resulting regulatory changes, including stronger, more active regulation of RSH consumer standards, became effective from 1st April 2024. On the 29th February the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) published 'Reshaping consumer regulation: Our new approach' outlining many of the changes and outlining the introduction of new standards and assessment methods. The document laid out many new approaches on how the regulator with its new extended powers would proceed, including the introduction of new standards or grades and how these would be reviewed, reported and acted upon.

[edit] What are the new grades for social housing ?

The new grading for social housing providers are described in the table below which appears in the Regulator of Social Housing's (RSH) report 'Reshaping consumer regulation: Our new approach' (29 February 2024).

[edit] Regulatory judgements for ten landlords

On 25 September, 2024, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) published a set of 10 judgements, resulting from its ongoing regulatory activity, including seven programmed inspections as well as the RSH’s first stability check for a for-profit provider.

Part of these found that Harlow District Council failed to meet the new consumer standards. As a result, RSH gave the landlord a C3 grade, which means there are serious failings and it needs to make significant improvements. RSH investigated Harlow Council after reviewing its Tenant Satisfaction Measure (TSM) results.

RSH concluded that the council had:

• Carried out fire risk assessments for only 20% of buildings that it should have done, out of its 9,100 social housing homes.
• Over 500 high risk fire safety remedial actions were overdue, and a further 1,500 medium risk actions were overdue (the majority of which were more than 12 months overdue).

Harlow Council has employed an external consultant to help it to develop a detailed improvement plan as a priority and the RSH will be engaging with the landlord as it addresses these failings The Council is working to complete the outstanding fire risk assessments and resulting actions, starting with the highest risk blocks. RSH continues to scrutinise the Council closely and it must demonstrate that it is reducing risks to tenants as it puts these issues right.

Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, said:

"It is unacceptable that Harlow Council has failed to meet fire safety requirements. Providing safe, decent homes for tenants begins with robust data, and this must include fire risk assessments for every home that needs one. We identified these failings by scrutinising the council’s TSM results. It is the landlord’s responsibility to notify us themselves of material issues. Our new proactive approach and expanded consumer remit is helping to bring issues to the surface earlier. We expect all providers to regularly review and evaluate their services to improve outcomes for tenants."

"Our new proactive approach and expanded consumer remit is helping to bring issues to the surface earlier. We expect all providers to regularly review and evaluate their services to improve outcomes for tenants. The investigation was carried out as part of RSH responsive engagement."

The full table of assessments, and grading changes are outlined in the table below (from the Press release: Regulator of Social Housing publishes regulatory judgements for ten landlords) :

Notes from the RSH: Landlords must meet the outcomes of the economic and consumer standards set by RSH.

Governance and financial viability remain cornerstones of RSH’s regulation of housing associations and other private registered providers (including for-profits). Landlords must manage the risks associated with financial viability and reduced capacity with robust governance in place to meet the outcomes of RSH’s standards.

A C1 grading means that, overall, the landlord is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards, and they identify issues when they occur and put plans in place to remedy them and minimise their recurrence. We expect that, even where a landlord is assessed as C1, it will continue to review, evaluate and improve its services to tenants.

C2 means there are some weaknesses in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards, and it needs to make improvements. For further information and a background to the grading system see the article The grading system of the Regulator for Social Housing.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Achieving net zero in social housing.
• Building a safer future: an implementation plan.
• Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
• Housing associations.
• Housing and Regeneration Act 2008.
• Housing tenure.
• Independent review of the building regulations and fire safety.
• Public v private sector housing.
• Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023.

[edit] External links

Press release: Regulator of Social Housing publishes regulatory judgements for ten landlords

Collection: Regulatory standards for landlords

Collection: How we regulate

Guidance: Guidance for new entrants on applying for registration as a provider of social housing - September 2023

Post Legislative Scrutiny - Memorandum Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 August 2013

Official RSH Report Reshaping consumer regulation: Our new approach

Research and analysis: Fire safety remediation in social housing in England: February 2024