Government open Competence and Conduct Standard consultation

The government has today published an eight week consultation seeking views on a new Competence and Conduct Standard for social housing providers. 

With a focus on professionalism, the new standards include an enhanced code of conduct that sets out how all housing staff should behave towards tenants. They also require senior housing managers and executives in relevant roles to undertake qualifications.

The new standard builds on ‘Awaab’s Law’ (also the subject of consultation) to improve quality and empower social tenants to challenge landlords where needed.

Responding to the announcement Gavin Smart, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing commented:

“As the professional body for housing, we’re committed to supporting the professionalism agenda and welcome the government’s support for this, with a focus on competence and conduct, including mandating qualifications for key senior roles.

“Qualifications are an effective way of ensuring professionals have the required knowledge and skills. But professionalism is more than a qualification; it’s about following a code of conduct and ethics, and displaying the right behaviours, attitudes, and empathy. We know the sector will want to engage with this consultation to ensure the correct balance is struck and that regulation around professionalism in housing is meaningful, accessible, and effective.”

Today’s announcement marked the start of the government’s eight week consultation on a Competence and Conduct Standard for social housing. CIH will be running a series of a events to gather member feedback for our consultation response. Further information about how you can feed into our response is available in the menu below.