Ask Mark - "Who is the Regulator of Social Housing, and what do they do?"

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) oversees social landlords, including local councils and housing associations, to ensure they provide good-quality homes and services.

In April 2024, the RSH was given new powers and responsibilities. Previously, they could only intervene in a landlord’s operations if there was a serious and immediate risk, like danger to life. Now, the RSH proactively inspects social landlords to find potential problems. If they find serious issues, they can directly intervene, issue fines, and in extreme cases, transfer homes to another provider.

While the RSH focuses on the landlord as a whole, the Housing Ombudsman Service still helps tenants with individual issues.

The RSH’s goal is to inspect every social landlord with 1,000 or more homes at least once every four years. They do this by checking the landlord against a set of rules called the Consumer Standards. These standards assess several things -

•    Are homes safe and good-quality?
•    Does the landlord keep tenants informed and give them a chance to influence decisions?
•    Does the landlord work with others to improve neighbourhoods?
•    Do they follow good practices for tenancies?

After an inspection, the RSH gives the landlord a grade. A grade of C1 or C2 is a “pass,” while a C3 or C4 means the landlord needs to make improvements.

In the first year, the RSH inspected over 70 landlords. While some received the best grade of C1, a few received the worst. So far, the RSH has given these landlords a chance to improve, while monitoring them closely.

When landlords have not met expectations, it has often been due to issues with safety and quality, such as long repair backlogs or failing to show completed electrical safety checks. 

Hull City Council has not yet been inspected by the RSH and does not have a grade. We haven’t been notified of when our inspection will happen, but it could be anytime in the next three years. In the meantime, we are working hard to ensure we meet all parts of the Consumer Standards so we can provide the high-quality homes our tenants deserve.