Regulator of Social Housing publishes implementation plan for new consumer regulation and launches pilot consumer inspection programme

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has published an implementation plan for new consumer regulation, which sets out the steps it is taking to prepare for the ‘landmark’ Social Housing Regulation Bill, and describes the progress already made.

The RSH predicted that the legislation would bring about one of the "most fundamental changes to social housing regulation for over a decade".

Subject to the Bill being passed in early 2023 and receiving the necessary directions from government, RSH expects to implement the new approach from April 2024.

The policy paper ‘Reshaping consumer regulation: our implementation planReshaping consumer regulation: our implementation plan’, said that the legislation would set “new expectations” on the services that landlords need to provide for their tenants, introduce regular consumer inspections of social landlords and give RSH stronger powers to hold landlords to account.

The RSH has revealed that the new approach will include inspecting all large social landlords against the new standards, including housing associations and local authorities, every four years. These inspections will build on the regulator’s experience in carrying out its “intensive and challenging in-depth assessments for economic regulation”.

The implementation plan notes that “publicly sharing the outcomes of regulatory assessments of individual landlords” is a key part of RSH’s regulation.

The regulator has launched a pilot inspection programme, in order to test the new inspection regime. The social landlords included in the initial wave are Bernicia Homes, Brunelcare, Cheshire Peaks and Plains, Eastbourne Borough Council, Folkestone and Hythe Borough Council, Guinness Housing Association and Torus62.

To prepare for new consumer regulation, RSH has already:

• engaged with thousands of tenants to understand the issues that matter most to them, and used this feedback to inform the emerging plans.
• published the Tenant Satisfaction Measures that landlords will need to collect from April 2023. This followed extensive consultation, with over 1,000 responses (55% of which were from tenants).
• started to build additional capacity by recruiting more staff and building the teams that will deliver new consumer regulation. A further recruitment drive will start after the Bill has been passed by Parliament.
• set out the broad themes of the new consumer standards, which cover safety, quality, neighbourhood, transparency, engagement and accountability, and tenancies.

The next steps over the coming year include:

• consulting with tenants, landlords and other stakeholders on the consumer standards. RSH plans to launch the consultation by summer 2023.
• developing the new approach for landlord inspections, including carrying out further engagement with tenants, landlords and other stakeholders.

Fiona MacGregor, Chief Executive of RSH, said: “We are making significant progress in gearing up for new consumer regulation, which will empower tenants and give us stronger powers to hold landlords to account.

“It is vital that landlords get ready now. Tenants deserve quality services from their landlords, and homes that are safe and of a decent standard. Where there are issues, landlords should act to put things right – before we start carrying out our consumer inspections."

The Social Housing Regulation Bill has nearly finished its passage through Parliament. Once the Social Housing Regulation Bill has become law, the Government must also issue new Directions to RSH to enable it to deliver new consumer regulation.