RSH launches consultation on new consumer standards, focusing on safety and quality

The regulator said that when developing the proposed consumer standards, it was guided by three tests it set itself. These are: it must make a meaningful difference to tenants, landlords must be able to deliver its expectations, and the RSH must be able to regulate against it.

 

It said it has taken into account the body’s revised objectives, which now explicitly include safety, transparency and energy efficiency, and the range of commitments set out in the Social Housing White Paper in 2020.

 

The RSH is also consulting on a code of practice it developed to help tenants and landlords understand how compliance may be achieved with the proposed consumer standards. It intends to publish the code alongside the consumer standards ahead of new consumer regulation taking effect in 2024.

 

Bernadette Conroy, chair of the RSH, said: “The draft standards will underpin our approach to consumer regulation. This will see us build on our effective proactive economic regulation when assessing a provider.

 

“This will help to ensure that landlords continue to deliver good-quality homes and services. With the act bringing local authorities within the sphere of our regulatory inspections, all social landlords, if they have not already, should be gearing up by assuring themselves they meet our standards.

 

“This consultation is an important opportunity for stakeholders to consider our proposals and give us their feedback to help ensure we set the right requirements of landlords.”

 

The consultation is open until 17 October.

 

Safety and Quality Standard

 

The RSH said that safety and decency must remain “core” to its consumer regulation so that tenants are safe and can feel secure in their homes.

 

It said the proposed Safety and Quality Standard would replace and strengthen its existing Home Standard and would assist the regulator in meeting its consumer regulation objective, which has been expanded to explicitly include safety.

 

“Providing homes that are safe and of good quality are a fundamental responsibility of a landlord,” the RSH said in its report.

 

“The quality of homes can have significant consequences for the quality of life and health and well-being of tenants, with recent examples of where standards have not been met, highlighting some of the poorest practice in the sector.”

 

Within this standard, the regulator has proposed to require landlords to have the evidence needed to maintain homes to required standards, minimising risks to tenants.

 

It said that RPs must have an “accurate, up-to-date and evidenced understanding of the condition of their homes that reliably informs their provision of good-quality, well-maintained and safe homes for tenants”.

 

The RSH said that RPs need to have an accurate record at an individual property level of the condition of their stock, based on a physical assessment of all homes, and keep this up to date. They will also need to use data from across their records on stock condition to inform their provision of good-quality, well-maintained and safe homes for tenants.

 

This includes compliance with health and safety legal requirements and with the Decent Homes Standard (DHS), as well as the delivery of repairs, maintenance and planned improvements to stock and allocating homes with adaptations appropriately.

 

The regulator said: “There are significant variations in landlords’ understanding of the condition of their homes, and the recent cases of poor quality and disrepair coming to light demonstrate that not all tenants’ homes are being maintained to the safety and quality standards required.

 

“This is unacceptable. Landlords must know the condition of their homes to ensure they comply with all relevant requirements.”

The RSH said its proposed standard continues to require that homes meet the DHS and landlords should have effective systems and processes in place to understand their stock. This is so that homes are maintained to this standard, tackling non-decency where it occurs.

 

The DHS is currently under government review and, dependent on the outcome, the government may consult on a new direction on quality of accommodation before issuing it to the regulator to reflect in the consumer standards.

 

In addition, within the Safety and Quality Standard is the application of the amendment to the Social Housing (Regulation) Act, known as Awaab’s Law, which housing secretary Michael Gove tabled in February. This was to force social landlords to investigate and fix damp and mould in their properties within “strict new time limits”.

 

The regulator has proposed within its standard that RPs must provide an “effective, efficient and timely repairs, maintenance and planned improvements service” for the homes and communal areas for which they are responsible.

 

Providers must also identify and meet all legal requirements that relate to the health and safety of tenants in their homes and communal areas and assist tenants seeking housing adaptations to access appropriate services.

 

Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard

 

Under the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, the regulator proposed that RPs must treat all tenants with fairness and respect and take action to deliver fair access to, and equitable outcomes of, housing and landlord services for all tenants.

 

The RSH also reflected the government’s direction to it when proposing that providers must take tenants’ views into account in their decision-making about how landlord services are delivered.

 

They must communicate with tenants and provide information so tenants can use landlord services, understand what to expect from their landlord, and hold their landlord to account.

 

Under the proposals, RPs must also ensure complaints are addressed fairly, effectively and promptly.

 

Neighbourhood and Community Standard

 

Under the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, the RSH said that RPs must work co-operatively with tenants, other landlords and relevant organisations to contribute to the upkeep and safety of shared spaces associated with their homes.

 

It was proposed that providers need to co-operate with relevant partners to promote social, environmental and economic well-being in the areas where they provide social housing.

 

RPs must work in partnership with appropriate local authority departments, the police and other relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour in the neighbourhoods where they provide social housing, the RSH said.

 

Under the proposals, RPs should also work co-operatively with other agencies tackling domestic abuse and enable tenants to access appropriate support and advice.

 

Tenancy Standard

 

Within the Tenancy Standard, the RSH said that RPs must allocate and let their homes in a fair and transparent way that takes the needs of tenants and prospective tenants into account.

 

Under the proposals, RPs need to support tenants to maintain their tenancy or licence. Where an RP ends a tenancy or licence, they must offer affected tenants advice and assistance.

 

Commenting on the consultation launch, Fiona MacGregor, chief executive of the RSH, said: “All social housing tenants deserve to live in safe and decent homes, and receive good-quality services from their landlords. We’re proposing new requirements to make sure this happens. We encourage tenants, landlords and others in the sector to have their say through our consultation.

 

“We’re gearing up for the biggest change to social housing regulation for a decade. This will include our landlord inspections from next April, as well as stronger powers to make landlords put things right when they breach our standards.”