The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has launched a consultation on a set of standards for all social landlords, designed to protect tenants and improve the service they receive.
Social landlords, including councils and housing associations, must comply with standards set by RSH.
The new requirements will be stronger and give tenants greater power to hold their landlord to account.
The proposed standards protect tenants by strengthening the safety requirements that all social landlords need to meet, requiring landlords to be open and accountable to their tenants, and treat them with fairness and respect.
It will also require landlords to know more about the condition of their tenants’ homes and the individual needs of the people living in them, and also aims to make sure landlords listen to tenants’ complaints and respond quickly.
RSH asked for a wide range of views on the proposed standards, including speaking directly to tenants and encouraging them to take part in the consultation.
RSH was given stronger powers by the Government to scrutinise landlords’ performance from April next year.
This will include regular inspections of landlords to help assess whether they meet the new requirements, as well as new powers to take action if they do not.
The consultation on the consumer standards is running for 12 weeks, finishing on Tuesday 17th October 2023, and people have been invited to have their say via RSH’s website.
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.”
