CWAG Newsletter – December 2023
This Update includes the following
Knowing Our Homes – Local Authority Housing Survey
The Knowing our Homes survey is part of a programme of work developed by the NHF in response to the Better Social Housing Review which aims to establish a shared, standardised approach for gathering and using information about the condition of social homes and about the residents who live in them. This should also help social landlords to meet new requirements emerging through the Consumer Standards which set higher expectations for how landlords gather and use information about their homes and their residents.
Although the Better Social Housing Review was initially focused on the housing association sector, the local authority sector has committed to support the work emerging from the review to make sure there is a shared approach across the whole social housing sector. The Local Government Association (LGA), Association of Retained Council Housing (ARCH), National Federation of ALMOs (NFA), and Councils with ALMOs Group (CWAG) are all working together to achieve this and make sure the whole council housing sector is represented.
A survey was sent out to stock retaining local authorities, and local authorities with ALMOs in October 2023. This is the first stage of the work which identifies how local authorities are currently gathering and using data. 49 local authorities responded to the survey (around 30 per cent of local authorities with housing stock), managing around 599,000 social and affordable local authority homes across England (around 38 per cent of the total stock).
Snapshot of Survey Findings
- Three quarters of respondents to our survey have made significant changes to the way they monitor and work to improve the condition of the homes they manage within the last year. This includes, for example:
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- Reviewing damp and mould policies and procedures, implementing training, creating new teams.
- Changing stock condition programmes, for example moving to a 100% survey, reducing the length of the rolling survey or undertaking a full assessment of stock condition.
- Reviewing and developing asset management strategies.
- Investing in new asset management or property information management systems. Developing processes to cross-reference data sources (e.g. property archetype, repair and cases of damp and mould) to better direct resources and identify issues.
- Reviewing processes for identifying stock condition between surveys, for example adding requirements to the gas servicing contract to identify property condition.
- Increasing staffing resources for quality assurance, stock condition and data management.
- Accessing funding for thermal improvement/ decarbonisation work to support quality of homes.
- Introducing tenancy audits, or changes in frequency or type of audit.
- The majority of respondent have – or are moving towards – a rolling stock condition survey where they survey 100 per cent of their homes. This will support them to the meet the requirements within the Regulator’s Consumer Standards to have ‘an accurate, up to date and evidenced understanding of the condition of their homes that reliably informs the provision of good quality, well maintained and safe homes for tenants.’ The information gathered as part of these surveys differs across respondents, but around 40 per cent gather information on energy efficiency of properties (e.g. RdSAP).
- The majority of respondents report having a process for proactively checking the condition of homes between stock condition surveys. This includes, for example, through tenancy checks or audits, and asking staff who visit the home to report issues. One of the key areas of work for many is making sure IT systems can effectively record all the information about a home and the people who live in it, and that data quality is good. Around a third of respondents would recommend the IT or data systems they would use, suggesting that there is work to be done in this area.
- Having a good knowledge of the people who live in homes is a key requirement in the new Consumer Standards; to make sure that services are tailored and equitably delivered. Nearly all respondents in our survey collect, store and retain data about tenants. This includes, for example, information on household make-up, relevant health issues or disabilities, and communication needs or preferences. Nine out of 10 respondents actively update the information they hold on tenants, for example after a repair or during a tenancy audit. Members are actively working on the processes that they use to make sure they can demonstrate they are equitably delivering services.
- The collection of data on tenants is an area that members are working on, and where good practice sharing would be beneficial; particularly thinking about GDPR principles, how (and what) data is stored and kept up-to-date, and how it is used. We will continue to work with the National Housing Federation and their members to share good practice in this area.
CWAG Consultation Responses
Provision of information to tenants: Direction to the Social Housing Regulator on tenants’ rights and complaints
CWAG has responded to the DLUHC consultation on a new direction to the Social Housing Regulator on tenants’ rights and complaints. Whilst we agree that landlords should be providing this information to their tenants, in our view the proposals duplicate arrangements already set out in the RSH Consumer Standards and Ombudsman Statutory Complaints Handling Code. Overlaying a further set of very similar requirements and additional reporting that duplicate these arrangements will add to the complexity, regulatory burden and costs whilst providing little in the way of additional or new information for tenants.
Ombudsman Complaints Handling Code 2023
CWAG also responded to the Ombudsman Complaints Handling Code consultation 2023. The new statutory Complaints Handling Code forms part of wider changes to social housing regulation set out in the Social Housing (Regulation)Act 2023. Whilst the code is broadly similar to the existing code, our consultation response flagged up some issues including changes to response times and the need for clarity around the interface of these arrangements with those of other regulators.
Recent Publications
ALMOs top half year local authority TSM results – Housemark research
An interesting piece of research by Housemark on behalf of the National Federation of ALMOs makes very positive reading for anyone interested in the effectiveness of the ALMO management model. ALMO performance against all 22 TSMs at the half-year point in September 2023 was favourable when compared to local authorities generally. In addition, the report also looked at the data for former ALMOs where management is now back ‘in house’ suggesting that ‘housing management performance settles into that less favourable cost and performance pattern of stock retained local authorities’.
Housing Ombudsman Report – Insight on service charges and the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction – Published December 2023
This latest insight report considers complaints relating to service charges. The report sets out guidance around the complaints the Ombudsman might consider and those which are within the remit of the First Tier Tribunal or Tribunal and Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE).
Whilst the level and cost of service charges is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction, the way the charge has been calculated would fall within the Ombudsman’s remit. The report highlights that the importance of ensuring charges are as set out in tenancy agreements and leases, as opposed to what it is assumed is in these agreements.
Other issues include fairness and transparency, ensure that any redress is applied to everyone affected, not just those who have been party to the complaint. Cases involving measures such as non-disclosure agreements or pressure on residents to sign revised agreements are highlighted as unacceptable.
Where residents raise complaints about the standard of service, the onus will be on the landlord to demonstrate that the standard was of satisfactory quality for example through evidence of spot checks and monitoring.
Housing Ombudsman - Complaint Handling Failure Orders July – September 2023 (Published November 2023)
Given the increasing use of Complaint Failure Orders (CFOs) by the Housing Ombudsman, this report examining cases between July and September 2023 provides useful insights into current issues and complaints handling weaknesses in the sector.
In the three months under review there were 51 CFOs issued, the highest number ever issued in a single quarter. Of these 38 (74.5%) were type 1 relating to unreasonable delays by the landlord in accepting or progressing a complaint. 12 cases (23.5%) were type 2 involving unreasonable delays in providing information to the Ombudsman and 2 cases (4%) involved a failure by the landlord to comply with membership obligations of the Ombudsman scheme. In the same period, 14 landlords failed to comply with the requirements set out in the issued CFO.
Social Housing Partner Toolkit
This toolkit includes details of the latest phase in the Governments ‘Make things Right campaign which aims to ensure social housing tenants know their rights and how to make a complaint in terms of repairs, disabled adaptations and help with anti-social behaviour. The campaign seeks to address barriers which hold people back from raising issues with their landlord.
The ‘toolkit’ comprises a range of publicity materials and formats including posters, social media videos, leaflets, draft copy for use in newsletters and blogs as well as a briefing for use with staff working with people who live in social housing.
Diary Date Reminder - Finance and Business Planning Workshop
Steve Partridge – Savills Director of Housing Consultancy will be leading this event for finance officers and others with an interest in HRA strategy and business planning. The event is a free event that is open to CWAG members. To book a place, contact the CWAG Policy Officer.
CWAG Newsletter – November 2023
This Update includes the following
Renters Reform Bill Update
Government commitments to address issues in the private rented sector in England are facing further delays.
The Renters Reform Bill which was published in May 2023 included a number of measures set out in the 2022 White Paper ‘A fairer private rented sector’ as well as the 2019 Conservative Manifesto commitment to abolish Section 21 evictions in England. Although the legislation received its second reading in the House of Commons on 23rd October 2023, the ban on Section 21 evictions is likely to be significantly delayed as the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has announced that the ban cannot proceed until reforms to the court system have been put in place.
The Government stance appears to be in response to intensive lobbying by the National Residents Landlord Association (NRLA) concerned that other measures in the legislation, which are intended to strengthen landlords’ ability to evict tenants in breach of tenancy agreements, will be ineffective without legal reforms to speed up repossession hearings and tackle existing court backlogs.
In the meantime, the Renters Reform Bill will continue to be progressed and has now moved to the Committee Stage. An update on the Committee Stage is expected on 5th December 2023 but the legislative timetable beyond this is unclear. The Bill has been included in the legislative programme announced in the King’s Speech so will carry over into the next Parliamentary session.
It is possible that a number of other measures in the legislation will continue to be progressed in advance of the abolition of Section 21 evictions – for example arrangement allowing tenants the right to keep pets, proposals for a private rented sector Ombudsman and a mechanism for tenants to challenge unfair rent increases. However, tenure changes linked to the abolition of Section 21 are effectively stalled until improvements and reform of court processes have been implemented.
CWAG Response – RSH Consultation on changes to the fees regime
CWAG has submitted a response to the recent RSH consultation on fees. The consultation sets out proposals for a new charging regime to fully meet the costs of regulation as set out in the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. The proposals involve levying a charge for each social home regulated and the fee rate for local authority landlords is estimated at between £7 and £8 per property.
The CWAG response highlighted concerns about the high level of fees proposed. These represent a significant additional financial burden on housing revenue account resources which will impact business plans and ultimately need to be funded from tenants rents. We also argue that there is a lack of transparency around how the fee level has been set, how it will be uplifted in the future and how value for money will be demonstrated.
Joint letter to the Building Safety Regulator
CWAG has joined up with the National Federation of ALMOS (NFA) and Association of Retained Council Housing (ARCH) to raise concerns with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) around how complaints in high rise social housing will be handled as well as issues around the interface with the Housing Ombudsman Statutory Complaints Handling Code. As a group we are seeking a meeting to discuss concerns and clarify arrangements.
Recent Publications
Sector Risk Profile, RSH – 14th November 2023
The RSH has published the 2023 Sector Risk Profile an annual overview of the main risks facing social housing providers. This year the report focusses on a number macro-economic risks and preparing for stronger consumer regulation.
The sector faces a challenging economic environment with persistently high inflation, a tight labour market, supply pressures and contractor failures and rental income constrained by the 7% cap in 1023/24.
The new regulatory regime from April next year requires an increased focus on the quality of social housing, and the services landlords provide to tenants. In preparing for these changes providers need to be ensuring up-to -date and robust tenant data that assesses the presence of serious hazards in tenant’s homes , including damp and mould.
Fire Safety Reform Bulletin No 3, Home Office – 6th November 2023
This Bulletin includes information on new requirements for Responsible Persons, feedback on the risk assessor survey and details of the new guide for responsible persons along with a summary of other available guidance.
New Homes Fact Sheets, Homes England – 2nd November 2023
Homes England has published a series of 10 fact sheets designed to support conversations with local communities about the need for new homes and development. Topics include how new homes are planned, including transport infrastructure and services such as schools and healthcare.
New Homes Facts Sheets and Capacity Analysis Tool launched – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
LGA Submission: Autumn Statement 2023
Ahead of the Autumn Statement next week, the LGA has set out the case for additional resources for councils facing unprecedented financial pressures. Councils are facing ongoing inflationary and pay pressures alongside spiking demand and market challenges in areas such as homelessness and temporary accommodation. Also, financial resilience is strained following a 27% real-terms reduction in core spending power since 2010/11.
RSH Social Housing Stock and Rents statistics 2022/23
The RSH has published the latest batch of statistics on social housing stock and rents in England. There are a number of reports available including a briefing on local authority housing stock.
2023_LARP-briefing-note_FINAL_V1.0_.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Housing Ombudsman Damp and Mould Update
Two years after the publication of its Spotlight Report on damp and mould ‘It’s not lifestyle’, the Housing Ombudsman has released an update on this area of complaints handling. Whilst the number of complaints relating to damp and mould has continued to rise, with 5,398 complaints in this category in 2022/23, this increase in part reflects landlords making it easier for tenants to report issues. The update includes a number of recent cases, both positive and negative. Key themes continue to include references by landlords to residents lifestyle and poor record keeping by landlords hampering responses.
Diary Date – Finance and Business Planning Meeting – Thursday 18th January 2024
Steve Partridge – Savills Director of Housing Consultancy will be leading this event for finance officers and others with an interest in HRA strategy and business planning. The event is a free event that is open to CWAG members. To book a place, contact the CWAG Policy Officer.
CWAG Newsletter – October 2023
This Update includes the following
CWAG Annual General Meeting
This year’s AGM focussed on preparing councils for the regulatory and professionalisation changes introduced by the Social Housing Regulation Act.
Lydia Dlaboha from the Housing Quality Network introduced the session with a topical discussion on ‘Getting ready for inspection and the new regime’
Whilst preparations for most councils are well under way it was useful to discuss some of the issues and challenges specific to councils with ALMOs. With a much greater spotlight on the council as landlord and on elected members, new arrangements need to be put in place whilst not undermining the work of ALMO Boards.
Councils will need to be able to have assurance that they are complying with the consumer standards. This requires that councils have good data on their homes and the tenants who live in them as well as ensuring that services are developed with the input of tenants.
Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) are a key tool in the new arrangements and landlords need to drill down into the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of what TSMs are telling them – in particular identifying whether there are specific concerns in certain communities and demographics. The Regulator will be keen to understand how landlords are using TSM data and what plans they have for improvement.
The discussion also picked up the potential for tensions where councillors make decisions based on wider objectives that are not necessarily aligned with the interests specific to social tenants. In these circumstances much will depend on the narrative and how the council presents its case.
Our second speaker Charlotte Hilliard from the Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) spoke on the topic Driving Professionalism in social housing: Implementing the Conduct and Competence Standards. This set out the background to the current professionalisation agenda alongside current thinking around what the new regulations are likely to mean in practice.
The Social Housing Regulation Bill was amended at a late stage to introduce measures to enable the Regulator of Social Housing to introduce new Competence and Conduct Standards, which will require landlords to ensure that all staff have the appropriate behaviours, skills, knowledge, and experience. Linked to this senior housing managers and senior housing executives (defined in the Act) will be required to have, or be working towards, a suitable housing management qualification.
The key criteria determining which job roles will be deemed to be in covered by the legislation are that:
- The post is concerned with managing a service in a customer facing role
- The subject properties are regulated by the RSH
Relevant staff who are not already qualified will be required to enrol on and complete an appropriate qualification within specified timescales, which will be set out following consultation.
The discussion at the AGM highlighted differences in the way people are currently interpreting the legislation with implications for exactly which posts are likely to fall within the scope of the legislation. These issues will need to be further explored and clarified as detail arrangements are worked up. A two-stage consultation process will take place prior to the arrangements coming into force:
- Stage 1 – Statutory consultation on a draft Direction to the Regulator – this will take place over the next few months,
- Stage 2 – Once formally directed the Regulator will consult on its approach to setting the requirements within the standards.
Regulator announces plans for a national tenants’ survey
The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has announced that it plans to carry out a National Tenant Survey to better understand how satisfied social housing tenants are with their landlord’s service.
The move coincides with work all social landlords are currently undertaking to collect Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) from their tenants. The RSH’s one-off tenant survey will be in addition to landlords’ TSM surveys and will use the same questions.
The aim is to provide the RSH with a robust and independent benchmark when reviewing TSM results submitted by individual landlords. The survey will also provide information about levels of satisfaction among different groups of tenants.
It is hoped that the RSH National Tenants Survey will provide deeper understanding and additional insights on tenant satisfaction levels throughout the sector.
Consultation – Awaab’s Law – Direction to the Social Housing Regulator
This autumn sees a series of consultations linked to implementing measures in the Social Housing Regulation Act. The latest relates to the section of the legislation known as Awaab’s Law which introduced new requirements around the information social landlords will be required to provide to their tenants.
As a first stage the government is consulting on a new Direction requiring the Social Housing Regulator to set standards for the provision of information to tenants in the following areas:
- making complaints
- tenants’ rights
- relevant regulatory requirements
The government has carried out an initial assessment of the likely costs involved which are estimated at around £1.8m per year for local authority landlords. The consultation indicates that new burdens funding will be available to local authorities to cover this. This is an 8-week consultation ending on 22nd November 2023.
Following this consultation, the Regulator will formally consult on its proposals for implementing the Direction.The government is also planning to consult in the near future on directions relating to the quality of accommodation, access to information, tenure and competency and conduct.
Housing Ombudsman Changes
The Housing Ombudsman has gained considerable new powers as part of changes set out in the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023. This expanded authority enables the Ombudsman to require landlords to go beyond the scope of individual complaints and seek to address wider issues.
Following approval by the Secretary of State of a revised Scheme, the Housing Ombudsman can order a landlord to evaluate a particular policy or practice to prevent service failure being repeated. Previously, these types of orders would have only been recommendations, which the landlord was not duty bound to act upon.
The Complaints Handling Code will also become a statutory scheme and the Ombudsman is currently consulting on this. Whilst no major changes are proposed to the Code itself, there is a new duty for the Housing Ombudsman to monitor compliance. The consultation outlines proposals for wider compliance monitoring including the use of Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs). The Ombudsman will also be able to intervene with a landlord on the Code even where a complaint has not been received.
The consultation closes on 23rd November 2023 with the aim is for the Code to become statutory from 1 April 2024.
Recent Publications
Tenant Satisfaction Measures – Frequently asked questions – September 2023
This document brings together examples of specific recurring queries sent to the Regulator as providers begin to collect their first set of TSM data for 2023/24. It is a fairly technical document intended for practitioners involved interpreting the guidance and collecting the data. Download document
New Fire Safety Guidance
New fire safety laws came into force on 1st October 2023 and the home office has published new fire safety guidance as follows:
- People with duties under fire safety laws (29th September 2023) is intended to assist those with duties under fire safety legislation in England to comply with the legislation.
- Fire Safety Order: enforcement and sanctions for non-compliance (29th September 2023) explains how the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (as amended) is enforced and advises of the sanctions that are available to Enforcing Authorities in the case of compliance failures.
Design For All – A Place to Call Home
This University of London report by a panel of academics and researchers including from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust proposes a radical and transformative national housing plan to address the UK’s housing crisis. The report sets out the wider economic benefits of building more social and affordable housing. Modelling a scenario around building 72,000 additional social and affordable homes per year which could save the government an estimated £1.5 billion per year whilst delivering major social and economic benefits. Download report
CWAG Newsletter – September 2023
This Update includes the following
‘Knowing our Homes’ Project and Survey
CWAG is joining up with other partners across social housing in a new project ‘Knowing our Homes’. This is a programme of work with origins in the ‘Better Social Housing Review’ commissioned jointly by the National Housing Federation (NHF) and Chartered Institute of Housing.
Although the Better Social Housing Review was focused on the housing association sector, the local authority sector has committed to support the work emerging from the review to ensure there is a shared approach across the whole social housing sector. The Local Government Association (LGA), Association of Retained Council Housing (ARCH), National Federation of ALMOs (NFA), and Councils with ALMOs Group (CWAG) are all working together to achieve this and make sure the whole council housing sector is represented.
The project aims to establish a shared, standardised approach for gathering and using information about the condition of social homes and about the residents who live in them. This will help social landlords to meet new requirements emerging through the Consumer Standards which set higher expectations for how landlords gather and use information about their homes and their residents.
The first stage of this work is a baseline survey to identify how social landlords are currently gathering and using data. From this, we will look to develop proposals to address existing challenges and build on good practice.
This is intended to be a joint survey with both the council and ALMO contributing to the response. It is important that the survey achieves a good return rate, and in the case of councils and ALMOs, we need to ensure that only one return per landlord is received. As most of the data is currently held by the ALMO, the survey link has been sent to the ALMO with the intention that they will work jointly with the council on this. Analysis of survey returns will be administered by the NFA on behalf of the LGA, ARCH and CWAG.
The survey return date is Wednesday 18th October 2023.
If you would like more details about the ‘Knowing our Homes’ project, survey or a copy of the survey questions please contact the Policy Officer.
Regulator of Social Housing launches fees consultation
The Social Housing Regulation Act, which received Royal Assent in July 2023, conferred new fee-charging powers to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) to ensure it can deliver its expanded role.
This consultation follows an announcement by government that from 1st July 2024 social landlords will need to pay the full costs of their regulation.
The Regulator is currently funded through a combination of fees and government grants; proactive regulation of the economic standards is funded by fees, whilst other activities including enforcement and reactive consumer regulation are covered by government grant.
The RSH is now gearing up for the biggest change to social housing regulation in a decade, with regular inspections of larger social landlords (including councils). The proposed changes to RSH’s fee charging arrangements are designed ensure there are sufficient resources, skills and capacity to deliver proactive consumer regulation whilst removing the requirement for direct government grant support.
For local authority landlords this represents a major change as the sector will fall within these revised charging arrangements and will be required to pay fees for the first time.
The consultation relates to the principles and arrangements for charging rather than the exact level of fees that will be levied. However, the consultation does include modelling and estimates around a proposed fee level of between £7 and £8 per unit for local authorities with more than 1000 homes. Local authorities with less than 1000 homes will be exempt from the fee arrangements, the fee rate proposed is being zero.
There is a differential between the proposed fee level for councils and housing associations which is intended to reflect the additional economic regulation applicable to housing associations.
A key principle set out is that private registered providers do not pay for the regulation of local authority registered providers, or the visa versa.
This is an eight week consultation which ends on Tuesday 31st October 2023.
Key Proposals:
- To increase the fees social landlords pay, to recover the full cost of regulation including the expanded consumer remit.
- Continue to charge larger social landlords for each social home they provide. A flat rate fee will apply to smaller housing associations with fewer than 1000 units.
- Start charging fees to councils owning over 1,000 homes.
- Charge organisations when they apply to become registered social landlords (instead of the current approach where landlords pay fees after they have successfully registered).
Diary Dates
CWAG Annual General Meeting – Thursday 28th September 2023.
This year our AGM speakers will focus on the implementation of the Social Housing Regulation Act, in particular preparing for the new regulatory arrangements and the professionalisation changes introduced by the legislation.
Lydia Dlaboha, Deputy Chief Executive HQN will be discussing how councils can prepare for consumer regulation whilst Charlotte Hilliard who is the DLUHC lead on professionalisation and anti-social behaviour will be speaking on Driving Professionalism in Social Housing.
Come along and support your AGM
Tpas Tenant Engagement Workshop – Thursday 12th October 2023
Tenant engagement is a key element in the new regulatory arrangements and as part of our preparations we have teamed up with Tpas to organise a workshop to consider key issues for CWAG members.
In this session Caritas Charles and Clare Powell, from the Tpas Policy and Insights team, will take us though the Consumer Regulation proposals tenant voice with a particular focus on the implications and issues for councils with ALMOs.
As the leading tenant engagement organisation Tpas have been heavily involved over the last few years on the development of these standards and also have their own accreditation that is a robust assessment of an organisations engagement culture, policies and outcomes.
Caritas and Clare will give a presentation with an overview of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act with a lens of what CWAG members should be focused on and prepared for. We will then open up to a Q&A.
A highly informative and practical session.
To book places contact the Policy Officer.
Recent Publications
New government guidance ‘Understanding and addressing the health risks of damp and mould in the home’ Sept 2023
At the time of the inquest into the tragic death of Awaak Ishak the government made a commitment to publish new guidance for private and social landlords. This guidance has now been published and includes the following:
- An overview of the potential physical and mental health effects of living in a home with damp and mould, as well as information about groups that are particularly vulnerable to more severe health impacts.
- Details of relevant regulation and the legal responsibilities of landlords in relation to damp and mould in homes in England.
- Recommendations on how landlords should respond to reports of damp and mould.
- Suggestions on how to reduce the likelihood of damp and mould developing in homes
Fire Safety Reform Programme Update
This is the second update on the Home Office’s fire safety reform programme. This update covers changes to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 that will be coming into force on 1st October 2023. It includes information on monitoring the impact of reforms to-date as well as details and links to current published guides.
NFA / ARCH Annual Income Management Survey
The annual NFA and ARCH survey into income management has been published – On the edge: cost-of-living findings from the council housing sector highlights the difficulties facing many tenants due to cost of living pressures. In the past year rent arrear have risen by around 4% in the 28 council areas represented in the survey (17 ALMOs and 11 Councils). The average amount owed per household also rose from £427 to £527, up by 23%.
In looking to understand the drivers of current trends, the report identifies the impact of severe inflationary pressures which impact disproportionately on the poorest households as well as a welfare system that isn’t for purpose. The system of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) is also under increasing strain with reducing resources and increasing numbers requiring assistance.
Based on these findings, the report makes a number of asks of DWP and government including:
- Increase the basic universal credit element to cover the essentials of housing, food and heat.
- Stop paying universal credit in arrears
- Improve benefits for those in short-term, fluctuating employment
- Set a minimum level of benefit to stop deductions pushing families into destitution and to the brink of homelessness
Regulator consults on new consumer standards
Following the passage of the Social Housing Regulation Act which received Royal Assent on 21st July 2023, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has launched its consultation on the proposed new consumer standards that will underpin the regulation of the sector from April 2024. The consultation will run for 12 weeks ending on Tuesday 17th October 2023
These new standards reflect the RSH’s expanded consumer regulation objective which now includes safety, transparency, and energy efficiency. Changes will strengthen the accountability of landlords for ensuring the quality and safety of their homes as well as driving greater landlord accountability to their tenants. There is also a much greater focus on transparency, organisational culture and giving tenants greater power to hold landlords to account.
Overview of the proposed new standards
- Safety and Quality Standard
- Replaces the existing Home Standard with a broader focus that explicitly includes safety.
- Landlords must have accurate up-to-date stock condition information and ensure their homes comply with ‘all relevant requirements’. This will require detailed knowledge based on a physical inspection of all homes at an individual property level.
- Properties must be maintained to at least the Decent Homes Standard (or its replacement) with effective systems to identify and tackle any non-decency where it occurs.
- Timescales will be introduced for acting on health and safety assessments.
- On repairs, maintenance, and planned improvement programmes there will be a greater emphasis on the outcome for tenants. Services must be ‘effective, efficient and timely.’
- On adaptations there is an expectation that registered providers assist tenants seeking adaptations to access appropriate services, with the objective of improving outcomes for tenants.
2.Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard
- This aims to remove barriers for tenants in accessing their landlord and its services. It includes explicit requirements to treat tenants with fairness and respect so they can access services, make complaints, influence decision making and hold the landlord to account.
- Landlords must consider tenants’ diverse needs, using relevant information and data to inform and adapt their services, ensuring fair access to services and equitable outcomes for all tenants.
- There should be a number of routes and meaningful opportunities for tenants to influence and scrutinise strategies, policies and services.
- Landlords need to make effective use of the information they get from engagement, taking tenants views into account in their decision making.
- Landlords must identify a dedicated person responsible for complying with the consumer standards.
- Where a significant change in management arrangements is proposed, the landlord must consult meaningfully with tenants on the actual or potential advantages and disadvantages, including costs, in both the immediate and longer-term.
- Neighbourhood and Community Standard
- Sets out expectations in relation to ‘shared spaces’.
- Landlords are expected to work co-operatively with other organisations to resolve issues affecting the upkeep and safety of neighbourhoods in which tenants live.
- Landlords are required to have set out their approach to deterring and tackling hate crime incidents.
- Landlords are required to have clear policies to support tenants affected by anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse, working with other agencies as appropriate.
- Tenancy Standard
- Sets out requirements on lettings, tenancy sustainment and evictions. Arrangements must be fair and transparent throughout.
- Registered providers are expected to assist local authorities to meet homelessness duties, e.g. nomination agreement obligations.
- Adapted homes should be allocated to meet needs compatible with the purpose of the housing.