What the Social Housing White Paper says about: consumer regulation

The fourth topic in our series of blogs and webinars drilling down into the details of the Social Housing White Paper (published November 2020), is focused on new consumer regulation. Chapter four of the white paper is titled ‘to be treated with respect, backed by a strong consumer regulator for tenants’ and begins by explaining that unlike the successful economic regulation regime, the current regime of consumer regulation is not strong enough to ensure that social landlords deliver to the expectations of the new charter. The proposals aim to establish a new consumer regulation function, within the regulator of social housing (‘the regulator’), that is proactive and holds all landlords to account for the services they deliver. 

Take away headlines are:

• The regulator will review the current consumer standards and redraft them, including publishing an accompanying Code of Practice. This is likely to include requirements for landlords to publish policies on tackling domestic abuse, evidence how they have sought best practice to improve tenant engagement and an objective surrounding greater transparency
• The ‘serious detriment’ test, which placed an unnecessarily high bar for intervention, will be scrapped and replaced by a four yearly inspection cycle
• These inspections will be in the form of an annual desk-top review of the new Key Performance Indicators and complaints (especially those escalated to the Ombudsman), four yearly inspections (for landlords with over 1,000 homes) and reactive investigations where non-compliance is suspected
• The cap on fines which the regulator can impose will be removed, and performance improvement plans will be introduced for failing landlords
• Local authorities will also be held to greater accountability for their management of Arms Length Management Organisations (ALMOs) and Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs)
• The notice period the regulator must give a landlord to survey the condition of their properties will be reduced from 28 to 2 days. Following completion of a survey the regulator will be able to arrange repairs to homes and recoup the costs
• A new function within the regulator is to be set up with senior leadership and staff with the right expertise in consumer regulation, customer service and tenant engagement to effectively deliver the new proactive consumer regime.

These changes will not be able to happen overnight. Some will require primary legislation and, as acknowledged in the chapter, extensive engagement with the sector will be needed to get this right and develop a workable regime. There is a welcome expectation that the regulator will need to consult with landlords and tenants thoroughly. It is vitally important that the details are in place to ensure that changes to consumer regulation are meaningful and enforceable and that metrics are outcome focused and more relevant to residents’ actual experiences. The regulator has a big task ahead of them to scale up to this enhanced role and new responsibilities. They will need the ‘tools for the job’ to do this, both in terms of resources and people with the right skills. 

In our upcoming webinar 'What does the charter for social housing say about consumer regulation?', we'll be joined by Will Perry, director of strategy at the regulator of social housing, to discuss the contents of the white paper in relation to consumer regulation, the changing role of the regulator, and answer your questions about the proposals. Join us then.