After its passage through Parliament, the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill received Royal Assent, becoming the Social Housing (Regulation) Act on 20 July 2023.
This new law brings forward the following ground-breaking changes:
- Strengthening the Regulator of Social Housing to carry out regular inspections of the largest social housing providers and the power to issue unlimited fines to social landlords
- Additional Housing Ombudsman powers to publish best practice guidance to landlords following investigations into tenant complaints
- Powers to set strict time limits for social landlords to address hazards such as damp and mould
- New qualification requirements for social housing managers
- Introducing stronger economic powers to follow inappropriate money transactions outside of the sector.
The mandating of qualification requirements for social housing managers brings social housing closely into line with other sectors providing front line services, including social work, teaching, and health and care services. Any landlord who fails to meet the requirements of the new standards could be fined by the Regulator.
So what's next?
The Regulator will shortly consult on revisions to the consumer standards, and government will take forward consultations on Awaab’s Law, changes to the Decent Homes Standard, the professionalisation of the sector, and the Access to Information Scheme.
CIH will continue to work closely with members and with our partners as we work together to implement the Act. As the UK body for housing professionals we have an important role to play in shaping and delivering on the professionalisation agenda.
You'll find all our member-exclusive briefings at the bottom of this page.
The Regulator has published a consultation seeking input on a set of consumer standards, likely to apply from April 2024. These include:
- The Safety and Quality Standard
- The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard
- The Neighbourhood and Community Standard
- The Tenancy Standard.
Join this virtual event to understand what this will mean in practice and for your chance to feedback your views on the consultation.
The Housing Ombudsman will shortly issue a consultation on the Complaint Handling Code which will strengthen the Ombudsman’s role in developing its good practice guidance and challenging landlords to improve services in line with this, such as the time taken to respond to repairs.
Join this virtual event to understand what this will mean in practice and feedback on your views on the upcoming consultation.
