Tag: Regulator of Social Housing

The press release issued by the Regulator of Social Housing on 4 September 2024.

Statement from Fiona MacGregor, Chief Executive of RSH.

“The Grenfell Tower fire was a profound tragedy and our thoughts remain with the victims  and survivors, their families, and the local community.

“We welcome the Inquiry’s final report, and it is vital that all social housing landlords read and learn from the findings that apply to them.

“The lessons from the tragedy remain as important today as they were seven years ago. Landlords must ensure tenants are safe in their homes. They must listen to tenants, take their complaints seriously, and treat them with fairness and respect.

“The Social Housing Regulation Act, introduced in response to the Grenfell Tower fire, gives RSH new powers to inspect landlords to make sure they are delivering the outcomes of our revised consumer standards. We will continue with our programme of planned inspections and responsive work and publish gradings for landlords based on our findings.”

The press release issued by the Regulator of Social Housing on 28 March 2023.

In a regulatory notice published today (28 March 2023), the Regulator of Social Housing concluded that Easy Housing Association has breached the governance and financial viability standard.

Following an investigation the regulator found that Easy Housing Association, a provider of supported exempt accommodation, is inadequately governed and that the board has failed to oversee the organisation with an appropriate level of skill and foresight. Easy Housing Association did not provide assurance that its board has appropriate experience or technical competence, and did not show evidence that it was addressing these skills gaps.

Because of these failures in governance, Easy Housing Association also failed to assure the regulator that it complies with the home standard and that tenants are not at risk of harm.

The regulator found that Easy Housing Association’s approach to business planning was inadequate and it did not plan appropriately for the risks associated with its lease arrangements. Its financial forecasting was also weak and it did not carry out appropriate stress testing of its business plan. In addition, Birmingham City Council has stated that one of Easy Housing Association’s properties was established without the required planning permission.

Easy Housing Association has not been able to demonstrate that its homes meet the definition of social housing, or that it complies with the rent standard.

In agreement with the regulator, the provider has put a plan in place to address these issues.

Harold Brown, Senior Assistant Director for Investigation and Enforcement, said:

Easy Housing Association has failed to meet our standards in multiple areas, including significant weaknesses in managing financial risks and in business planning. It also failed to show that it complies with the standards on key issues, including those for health and safety and rents. Its Board needs to take immediate steps to address these failures of governance.

Easy Housing Association and its new Chair have started to address these issues, and we will monitor it closely as it works to return to compliance with our standards.

The press release issued by the Regulator of Social Housing on 6 March 2023.

The Regulator of Social Housing concluded that the local authority breached its consumer standards.

In a regulatory notice published today (6 March 2023), the Regulator of Social Housing concluded that Haringey Council breached the Home Standard and, as a result, there was potential for serious detriment to tenants.

Following a self-referral, RSH confirmed that the council breached health and safety requirements. It had failed to complete a significant number of remedial fire safety actions, including 4,000 that were high risk. In addition, it did not have up-to-date electrical safety reports for thousands of homes.

Through its investigation, the regulator also found that over 100 of the council’s homes had serious hazards (known as ‘category one’ hazards) and nearly 5,000 of its homes did not meet the Decent Homes Standard.

Haringey Council is undertaking a full condition survey of its tenants’ homes and has put a programme in place to rectify these issues.

Kate Dodsworth, Director of Consumer Regulation at RSH, said:

Haringey Council put thousands of tenants at potential risk by failing to meet health and safety requirements for fire and electrical safety. Our investigation has also revealed that a significant number of Haringey Council homes do not meet the decent homes standard.

The council needs to act urgently to put things right for tenants, and we are monitoring it closely as it does this.

The press release issued by the Regulator of Social Housing on 15 December 2022.

The Regulator of Social Housing has found significant failings in the way that Rochdale Boroughwide Housing deals with damp and mould across the organisation.

Following an investigation into Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, the Regulator of Social Housing has found significant failings in the way that RBH deals with damp and mould across the organisation, beyond the specific findings in the coroner’s verdict on the tragic death of Awaab Ishak. As a result, RBH has breached the regulator’s consumer and governance standards. The regulator is taking action to make sure RBH addresses these failings and puts things right for its tenants. The regulator expects all social landlords to learn lessons from the case.

The regulator has found that:

• RBH waited nearly two years after Awaab Ishak’s death to check for damp and mould in other homes on the estate. When they did eventually check, they found hundreds of tenants living with damp and mould. Awaab Ishak’s death should have alerted RBH to the safety risks for its tenants, but it failed to act quickly and protect more tenants from potential harm.
• Wider failings within RBH meant that it gave the regulator inadequate information about damp and mould shortly after Awaab Ishak’s death. The widespread issues in its homes which it later found severely undermine RBH’s credibility and exposes significant failings in the way it treats damp and mould.
• RBH has weaknesses in its IT and internal communications, which led to vital information being missed. The repairs team were unaware of the concerns raised by Awaab Ishak’s healthcare worker, which may have enabled them to identify the risks earlier.
• RBH made incorrect assumptions about the cause of damp and mould in Awaab Ishak’s home and failed to act to resolve the issues. RBH did not treat Awaab Ishak’s family with fairness and respect, and the regulator does not have confidence that RBH is treating other tenants with fairness and respect.

The regulator expects RBH to take urgent action to address these failings and will take enforcement action if necessary. In particular, the regulator is pushing RBH to improve the way it is run and to fix its approach to managing damp and mould in tenants’ homes.

The regulator’s findings send a clear message to all social landlords that:

• Housing associations and councils need to ensure their homes are well maintained and of a decent standard.
• Landlords need to have systems in place to ensure their homes are free from hazardous levels of damp and mould, and deal with issues promptly and effectively.
• Social landlords need to listen to their tenants’ concerns, understand their needs, remove barriers to accessing services and respond promptly when they need to put things right.

The regulator wrote to every social landlord on 22 November 2022 to highlight landlords’ responsibility to protect tenants from hazardous damp and mould. Landlords need to submit evidence to the regulator by 19 December to show they are dealing with damp and mould appropriately. If this evidence isn’t provided, the regulator will take appropriate action.

Fiona MacGregor, RSH’s Chief Executive, said:

Our investigation reveals significant failures in the way RBH manages damp and mould in its homes, resulting in harm to tenants. The tragic death of Awaab Ishak should have led to action to establish wider risks, but RBH failed to respond quickly or effectively. This is unacceptable. RBH needs to address the issues we have found and we will take further action if it fails to do so.

Our judgement sends a clear message to social landlords that they must deal with damp and mould as the serious hazards that they are, treat tenants with respect, and take their concerns seriously.

The press release issued by the Regulator of Social Housing on 14 December 2022.

In a regulatory judgement published today (14 December 2022), the Regulator of Social Housing has concluded that Christian Action (Enfield) Housing Association Limited is non-compliant with the governance element of the economic standards, and has downgraded it to G3 status.

CAHA has been unable to provide assurance to the regulator that it is managing its risks and business planning in an effective way. Weaknesses in its financial governance, as well as a lack of effective board oversight and scrutiny, meant that CAHA failed to identify the potential crystallisation of a serious risk in sufficient time. CAHA also failed to inform the regulator of these risks in a timely way, and its communication has fallen below the standard expected by RSH.

In response to the regulator’s reactive investigation, CAHA has started to review its approach to governance and risk management. It is also implementing controls to improve the management of its repairs and maintenance service.

Harold Brown, RSH’s Senior Assistant Director for Investigations and Enforcement, said:

We have found significant weaknesses in Christian Action Housing Association’s governance, which has exposed it to financial risks. We will monitor the provider closely as it works to resolve these failings and return to compliance with our standards.

The press release issued by the Regulator of Social Housing on 28 September 2022.

In a regulatory notice published today (Wednesday 28 September), the Regulator of Social Housing has concluded that the London Borough of Redbridge has breached the Home Standard and, as a result, there was potential for serious detriment to tenants.

Following a self-referral, RSH concluded that the council failed to meet statutory health and safety requirements across thousands of its homes. This included checks for fire, electrical, asbestos and water safety. The council has started to put in place a programme to rectify these issues.

Kate Dodsworth, Director of Consumer Regulation at RSH, said:

We welcome the London Borough of Redbridge’s self-referral, which recognises that its failure to meet health and safety requirements has put tenants at potential risk.

We expect the council to put things right for tenants and return to compliance with our standards, and we will be monitoring them closely as they do this.

More information about our findings in this case are available in RSH’s regulatory notice.

The press release issued by the Regulator of Social Housing on 21 September 2022.

Today (21 September 2022) the Regulator of Social Housing published the outcome of its consultation on tenant satisfaction measures. As a result, from 1 April 2023 all registered providers of social housing will need to collect and publish a range of comparable information on areas such as repairs, safety checks and complaints.

The new TSMs will enable tenants to scrutinise their landlord’s performance, give landlords insight about where they can improve, and provide a source of intelligence to RSH about whether landlords are meeting regulatory standards. They are part of the regulator’s wider programme of work to develop proactive consumer regulation of the social housing sector, following the introduction of draft legislation in Parliament earlier this year.

The TSM consultation received over 1,000 responses, including around 600 from social housing tenants. The majority of respondents across the sector supported the TSM proposals and considered that the measures would provide rounded information about landlord performance in the sector. RSH has refined the TSMs following feedback to improve some of the measures and increase the transparency they will provide about landlords’ performance.

Alongside its decisions RSH has published the technical requirements providers will need to follow on the management information and tenant perception surveys. These requirements aim to strike a balance between ensuring consistency between providers and allowing flexibility to maximise tenant participation in surveys and ensure the measures are deliverable across the wide range of social housing providers.

The new requirements apply to both housing associations and local authorities and will come into force through the new Tenant Satisfaction Measures Standard. All registered providers will need to collect TSM data. Landlords with more than 1,000 homes will have to submit their data to RSH every year. In response to consultation feedback, RSH will carry out a voluntary data submission pilot with smaller providers.

Fiona MacGregor, Chief Executive of RSH, said:

The launch of TSMs is an important step in the move to proactive consumer regulation. The new measures will provide a valuable source of data to help ensure social housing landlords provide safe homes of a decent standard and a quality service to tenants.

Local authorities and housing associations now need to make sure they have the systems and processes in place to start collecting data from April 2023.