First Report - The Regulation of Social Housing
Select Committee
Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
HC 18
20 July 2022
Government response
First Special Report - The Regulation of Social Housing: Regulators' responses · published 24 Oct 2022
Recommendations & Conclusions
4 results
11
Recommendation
Accepted
Para 49
Whilst social housing providers cannot be blamed for the age of their stock or for...
Recommendation
Whilst social housing providers cannot be blamed for the age of their stock or for government policy, they must certainly take responsibility, where they have failed to respond properly to requests for repairs, have preferred quick fixes to structural problems, …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the need for providers to take responsibility for housing quality, committing to collect more data on the Decent Homes Standard from next year and progressing work to review consumer standards and implement new Tenant Satisfaction Measures.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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12
Recommendation
Accepted
We recommend that housing providers put in place systems for regularly monitoring the condition of...
Recommendation
We recommend that housing providers put in place systems for regularly monitoring the condition of their stock, rather than relying on tenants to report problems. We also 70 The Regulation of Social Housing recommend that, as part of its review …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees it is imperative that providers understand the condition of their stock, referencing the Consumer Regulation Review 2021/22 and highlighting the importance of good quality stock condition data and accurate reporting of compliance with the Decent Homes Standard (DHS).
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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29
Recommendation
Accepted
We recommend that the Government legislate through the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill to place a...
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government legislate through the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill to place a legal requirement on social housing providers to self-assess against the Housing Ombudsman’s complaint handling code and to report to the ombudsman when they have done …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees that the Ombudsman can move beyond responding to individual complaints to seek assurance that the Code is being met, including asking all landlords to submit their self-assessment to the Ombudsman and investigating where there is evidence of poor practice, subject to the Social Housing Regulation Bill reaching the statute.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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44
Recommendation
Accepted
Para 163
We recommend that the Government use the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill to amend the Housing...
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government use the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill to amend the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 to place a much clearer requirement on the Regulator of Social Housing to engage with tenants whenever it investigates possible breaches …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees that tenants' voices should be at the center of social housing regulation, and has amended the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill to strengthen tenant engagement with their landlords and ensure the Regulator engages with tenants when undertaking inspections. The Regulator has also introduced Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) to provide greater transparency on landlord performance.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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