5 landlords fail to fulfill RSH’s shopper requirements

East Suffolk Council, Ipswich Borough Council, Leicester City Council, North Kesteven District Council and Redditch Borough Council have every failed to fulfill RSH’s shopper requirements, launched on 1 April 2024. 

Following responsive engagement with East Suffolk Council, RSH discovered: 

Today’s regulatory judgement replaces a earlier regulatory discover, revealed in May 2022 about shopper and lease commonplace failings. RSH now has assurance that East Suffolk has addressed the sooner points referring to the Rent Standard.  

Following its inspection, RSH discovered Ipswich Council: 

• Had gaps in its information, together with in relation to the evaluation of hazards in tenants’ properties in step with the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), as required by the Decent Homes Standard.  

• Lacked complete information in regards to the numerous wants of its tenants. 

Following its inspection, RSH discovered Leicester City Council: 

• Had not had {an electrical} security check for round 70% of its properties. 

• Had an absence of up-to-date info on the situation of most of its properties, with its final complete inventory situation survey undertaken in 2009, and people surveys didn’t embrace an evaluation of HHSRS hazards in step with the Decent Homes Standard. 

Following its inspection, RSH discovered North Kesteven District Council: 

• Is not assembly its targets for routine repairs or voids service. 

• Only a 3rd of its properties had a Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) evaluation in place as required by the Decent Homes Standard. 

Following its inspection, RSH discovered Redditch Borough Council : 

• Had round 2,900 overdue hearth remedial actions together with round 800 excessive danger actions that had been overdue for greater than 12 months. 

• Had nearly 3,000 overdue repairs. 

RSH additionally revealed regulatory judgements for 18 additional landlords, together with first gradings for Grainger Trust (C2/G2/V1), Heart of Medway Housing Association (C1/G1/V1) and M&G UK Shared Ownership (C2/G2/V1).

Two landlords, Bromsgrove District Housing Trust Limited (Bromsgrove) and Empowering People Inspiring Communities Limited (EPIC), have been upgraded to G1 for governance. Both retained V2 viability gradings. 

Following a interval of responsive engagement, Bromsgrove has strengthened its governance preparations, particularly its danger administration and inner management framework in addition to elements of its monetary governance preparations together with stress testing and mitigation methods.   

RSH’s inspection of EPIC concluded that governance enhancements have been supporting the supply of its company goals and that the board seeks an applicable degree of assurance on key dangers together with monetary efficiency and capability. 

Curo Group (Albion), Empowering People Inspiring Communities Limited and the London Borough of Enfield obtained C1 gradings. 

Stability verify outcomes have been revealed for 3 landlords: Sage Rented Limited, Sage Homes RP Limited, Legal & General Affordable Homes Limited. 

Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, stated: 

Our programme of proactive inspections, alongside our ongoing responsive engagement, continues to deliver points to gentle round well being and security, realizing your inventory at a person degree, in addition to understanding your tenants’ wants. 

These points outlined within the judgements revealed at the moment should be addressed promptly and we’re working intensively with every of the landlords as they put issues proper for his or her tenants. 

‘Separately, robust governance permits strong board oversight for personal registered suppliers and helps their capacity to evaluate and reply to challenges, make knowledgeable choices and handle dangers.” 

Last week RSH revealed a spotlight report on the significance of understanding the situation of tenants’ properties which reiterated its expectations of landlords.  

Notes to editors

1. On 1 April 2024 RSH launched new shopper requirements for social housing landlords, designed to drive long-term enhancements within the sector. It additionally started a programme of landlord inspections. The modifications are a results of the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023 and embrace stronger powers to carry landlords to account. More details about RSH’s strategy is obtainable in its doc Reshaping Consumer Regulation. 

2. More details about RSH’s responsive engagement, programmed inspections and shopper gradings can also be accessible on its web site. 

3. RSH promotes a viable, environment friendly and well-governed social housing sector in a position to ship extra and higher social properties. It does this by setting requirements and finishing up strong regulation specializing in driving enchancment in social landlords, together with native authorities, and guaranteeing that housing associations are well-governed, financially viable and supply worth for cash. It takes applicable motion if the outcomes of the requirements will not be being delivered. 

4. The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) got here into impact on 6 April 2006 and replaces the health commonplace because the statutory factor of the Decent Home Standard. To be respectable, a dwelling must be freed from class 1 hazards (severe and rapid danger), and the existence of such hazards must be a set off for remedial motion except sensible steps can’t be taken with out disproportionate expense or disruption. 

5. RSH carries out stability checks on all housing associations, and different personal registered suppliers (PRPs), who personal 1,000 properties or extra. The stability checks are a yearly train. We take a look at the monetary info PRPs have submitted to us (together with their most up-to-date marketing strategy and annual accounts) and think about if there are any dangers which could lead to a change to their monetary viability or governance gradings.  The checks don’t embrace native authorities as a result of our Governance and Financial Viability Standard doesn’t apply to them.

For basic enquiries e-mail enquiries@rsh.gov.uk. For media enquiries please see our Media Enquiries web page.