First Report - The Regulation of Social Housing

Select Committee

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee HC 18 20 July 2022

Report Status Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations 55 items (24 recs)

Source View on Parliament website

Government Response (AI assessment · 48 of 55 classified)

Accepted 3

Accepted in Part 2

Acknowledged 31

Deferred 7

Not Addressed 5

Recommendations

9 results

2 Acknowledged

Para 18

Whatever the extent and causes of housing disrepair, we call on everyone in and connected...

Recommendation

Whatever the extent and causes of housing disrepair, we call on everyone in and connected to the social housing sector to work together and prioritise above all else the quality of housing being provided to existing tenants.

Government Response Summary

The government agrees the sector needs to prioritize the quality of housing and states that their messaging to the sector has been unequivocally strong and clear on this issue.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

18 Acknowledged

Para 76

We urge the Government and the Regulator of Social Housing to work together to ensure...

Recommendation

We urge the Government and the Regulator of Social Housing to work together to ensure the TSMs and the access-to-information scheme are implemented in such a way that tenants can have confidence in their reliability and effectiveness as a means … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government has published a final suite of TSMs, which they will use as a source of regulatory intelligence, and they intend to review their TSM requirements at an appropriate point after implementation.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

23 Acknowledged

Para 97

We urge all social housing providers, especially the larger ones, to prioritise putting the tenant...

Recommendation

We urge all social housing providers, especially the larger ones, to prioritise putting the tenant at the centre of how they deliver housing services, including by relying far less on impersonal and remote methods of communication and increasing the number … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government states that the overall intention for the new standards will remain to set clear outcome-based expectations, and that registered providers and their tenants are enabled to design the most appropriate way to meet their outcomes according to the needs of their tenant base.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

31 Acknowledged

Para 118

We encourage the Housing Ombudsman to continue investigating systemic failings across the social housing sector.

Recommendation

We encourage the Housing Ombudsman to continue investigating systemic failings across the social housing sector. In response to this report, the ombudsman should identify which further areas it may investigate. We further encourage both the ombudsman and the Regulator of … Read more

Government Response Summary

The Housing Ombudsman welcomed the committee's support and stated that investigating systemic failures is a core aspect of their role and promotes a positive complaint handling culture. They publish upcoming report topics on their website. They will work with the Regulator on a framework for sharing information and intelligence between the two organisations and will work with the Regulator to identify ways in which they can use their combined powers to improve the resident experience and drive up standards.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

34 Acknowledged

Para 126

The Government must commit to ensuring social housing tenants get the same levels of compensation...

Recommendation

The Government must commit to ensuring social housing tenants get the same levels of compensation it has said tenants in the PRS will be entitled to under its proposals for a new ombudsman. We recommend it does this by amending … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government believes that non-financial remedies are important, and the Ombudsman may order that the landlord reviews costs incurred by the household, but does not explicitly commit to amending the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill or increasing compensation limits. The Ombudsman will consider how its assessment of compensation can be further explained, including loss of earnings, and will review its bands.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

38 Acknowledged

We strongly recommend that the Government immediately make it clear to local councils that they...

Recommendation

We strongly recommend that the Government immediately make it clear to local councils that they have a duty to inspect all unsafe homes, irrespective of who owns it, including, if necessary, by producing new enforcement guidance. This must include setting … Read more

Government Response Summary

The Government recognises the importance of safe and secure homes and local authorities' powers to enforce housing standards, working to raise awareness of these powers regarding hazards like damp and mould. The Social Housing (Regulation) Bill will strengthen tenant rights and regulator powers.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

42 Acknowledged

Para 156

To ensure that the consumer regulatory regime does not continue to let down tenants whose...

Recommendation

To ensure that the consumer regulatory regime does not continue to let down tenants whose providers are responsible for serious mismanagement that does not meet the ‘systemic failure’ test, we strongly urge the Regulator of Social Housing to reconsider its … Read more

Government Response Summary

The Regulator of Social Housing is independent of the Government and is alone responsible for the interpretation of its statutory duties. The Department engages regularly with the Regulator to understand how it is discharging its duties and to ensure that the Department’s policy intentions are understood. The Government has amended the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill to remove the ‘serious detriment’ test.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

48 Acknowledged

Para 186

We urge the Government and the Regulator of Social Housing to make sure the latter...

Recommendation

We urge the Government and the Regulator of Social Housing to make sure the latter has the resourcing, skills and capacity to continue to regulate the economic standards properly. As part of this, the Government must first assess the regulator’s … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government states that they will seek to ensure they have the capacity and skills to continue to regulate the economic standards robustly and keep pace with the evolving challenges faced by the sector.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

50 Acknowledged

Para 198

We urge the regulator to publish details as soon as possible of how it plans...

Recommendation

We urge the regulator to publish details as soon as possible of how it plans to use its enhanced regulatory powers under the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill, particularly those on inspections and surveys, and to place them at the centre … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government welcomes the Committee’s recommendations regarding their role, will carefully consider them as they continue to develop their approach to proactive consumer regulation.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Conclusions (22) Observations and findings — click to expand

1 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 17

It is not possible to gauge exactly how prevalent poor quality is within the social housing sector. Given that the English Housing Survey (EHS) estimated that 13% of homes in the social rented sector failed to meet the decent homes standard in 2020, it is fair to conclude that the …

Government Response Summary

The government agrees that the majority of social housing in England is of a decent standard and that examples of disrepair highlighted by the Inquiry are not representative of the majority of social housing tenants’ experiences.

9 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 40

We agree with our witnesses that housing disrepair, particularly damp and mould, is often aggravated by the inability of tenants to heat or ventilate their homes properly or by overcrowding, or by a mixture of both. We also agree that tenants cannot, and must not, be held responsible for either …

Government Response Summary

The government agrees that the sector needs to prioritize the quality of housing and states that their messaging to registered providers has been unequivocally strong and clear on maintaining a constant focus on delivering safe, good quality homes and treating tenants with respect.

13 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 62

The presence of a stigma attached to being a social housing tenant is very hard to dispute, although it is difficult to say how prevalent stigmatising views are among contractors and staff working for social housing providers. It is also difficult to say how prevalent other types of discrimination are. …

Government Response Summary

The government agrees that providers must take concerns over stigma and discrimination seriously, and work towards reducing the factors leading to it, restating the existing standards.

15 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 67

The power imbalance between tenants and housing providers is one of the biggest problems facing the social housing sector today. One of the most effective ways of empowering tenants, however, is through the establishment of tenants and residents associations, led by tenants themselves, with which providers must engage first and …

Government Response Summary

The government agrees that providers must take concerns over stigma and discrimination seriously, and work towards reducing the factors leading to it, restating the existing standards.

17 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 75

The tenant satisfaction measures (TSMs) and the new access to information scheme are central to the Government’s plans for making the sector more transparent. While we do welcome the steps taken to improve transparency, we must note how underwhelmed the sector is by these proposals. In their current form, we …

Government Response Summary

The government has published a final suite of TSMs, which they will use as a source of regulatory intelligence, and they intend to review their TSM requirements at an appropriate point after implementation.

21 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 95

The commercialisation of social housing can be traced back to the cut to government funding in 2011. Whilst we would like the Government to provide more central funding for specific purposes, such as regeneration, building safety, decarbonisation and new housing, the sector is now clearly dependent on high levels of …

Government Response Summary

The government states they continue to apply consumer powers robustly, encourage providers to improve services and engage with tenants, and share learning from casework with the sector to strengthen systems and processes.

22 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 96

It is difficult to say for certain whether very large providers are more likely to lose sight of their core responsibility, which is to their tenants, but it seems obvious that there is a tendency for such providers to become more remote and impersonal. If such providers struggle to provide …

Government Response Summary

The government states they continue to apply consumer powers robustly, encourage providers to improve services and engage with tenants, and share learning from casework with the sector to strengthen systems and processes.

26 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 111

The primary responsibility for resolving disputes between tenants and providers lies with the providers themselves, and yet too often their complaint handling processes are inefficient and obstructive. It is understandable if tenants sometimes conclude they have been specifically designed to prevent them from ever referring their complaint to the Housing …

Government Response Summary

The government looks forward to continuing to work with tenants and other stakeholders as they develop a new proactive consumer regulation regime.

27 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 112

The introduction of the Housing Ombudsman’s complaint handling code and complaint handling failure orders must drive improvement and consistency in the way providers respond to complaints. We are pleased therefore that the Government is legislating through the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill to place the power to establish such a code …

Government Response Summary

The government looks forward to continuing to work with tenants and other stakeholders as they develop a new proactive consumer regulation regime.

30 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 117

The Housing Ombudsman’s new power to investigate systemic issues across the sector is an extremely valuable tool for improving quality across the sector, and we disagree strongly with the assertion that this represents any sort of encroachment on the remit of the Regulator of Social Housing.

Government Response Summary

The Housing Ombudsman welcomed the committee's support for their work on systemic issues and stated that they are investigating the systemic failures that give rise to complaints.

33 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 125

We welcome the ombudsman’s decision to increase the levels of compensation for the most serious service failings, but even these are inadequate. If the Government thinks tenants in the private rented sector (PRS) should be entitled to compensation of up to £25,000, it cannot argue otherwise for social housing tenants. …

Government Response Summary

The government believes non-financial remedies, as well as financial ones, are an important aspect of an Ombudsman’s toolkit. Our calculation of financial bands will increase. A key aspect of this review will be ensuring landlords recognize distress and disruption in their own awards of compensation, and use their discretion in their complaints procedure.

35 Conclusion Acknowledged

It is clear from the evidence we received during this inquiry, and from the constituency casework we deal with, that generally tenants are not aware of the Housing Ombudsman. We welcome the work the ombudsman has done recently to raise awareness of its service among tenants and agree that this …

Government Response Summary

The Housing Ombudsman agreed with the Committee that improved awareness of, and access to, the complaints procedure is essential. They believe there is a higher-than-average awareness of the Housing Ombudsman compared to other Ombudsman schemes, with research suggesting an awareness level amongst social tenants of between 60% to 70%. To tackle this, they have recruited an Accessibility Expert Panel to advise them. Landlords are integral to awareness raising and will often be the main contact point for residents.

37 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 137

It appears that some local authorities might have misinterpreted the Housing Health and Safety Rating System enforcement guidance, and as such are not inspecting private providers. We welcome the Minister’s reiteration that a council can inspect a property owned by a private provider and issue an enforcement notice, although we …

Government Response Summary

The Government recognises the importance of safe and secure homes and local authorities' powers to enforce housing standards, working to raise awareness of these powers regarding hazards like damp and mould. The Social Housing (Regulation) Bill will strengthen tenant rights and regulator powers.

39 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 147

We welcome the removal of the serious detriment test, which has obstructed the effective regulation of the consumer standards for far too long.

Government Response Summary

The Government welcomes the Committee’s support on the removal of the serious detriment test, stating that this will give the Regulator stronger powers to proactively address issues of tenant safety and wellbeing.

40 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 154

The Regulator of Social Housing is independent of the Government and is alone responsible for the interpretation of its statutory duties. It interprets its duty to minimise intervention and act proportionately to mean that it should only find a provider non-compliant with the consumer standards if it also finds evidence …

Government Response Summary

The Department engages regularly with the Regulator to understand how it is discharging its duties and to ensure that the Department’s policy intentions are understood. The Department welcomes the Committee’s views on the Regulator’s interpretation and will raise these points with the Regulator. The Government has amended the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill to remove the ‘serious detriment’ test.

43 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 162

If the Regulator of Social Housing engages as little with tenants as seems to be the case, we are deeply concerned. It is impossible for the regulator to even give the appearance of putting tenants at the centre of its consumer regulation if it does not seem interested in their …

Government Response Summary

The government agrees that tenants' voices should be at the center of social housing regulation. The Social Housing (Regulation) Bill will ensure that the Regulator engages with tenants when undertaking inspections. The Regulator has also recently introduced Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs), which will provide tenants with greater transparency on their landlord’s performance. The Government has amended the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill to strengthen tenant engagement with their landlords.

45 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 183

The social housing sector has commercialised and diversified almost beyond recognition since 2011. That nothing has gone seriously wrong yet should be no cause for complacency, especially as we enter a period of rising inflation and interest rates. A single failure in the sector could be catastrophic, particularly given that …

Government Response Summary

The government welcomes the Committee's recommendations regarding their role and will carefully consider them as they continue to develop their approach to proactive consumer regulation.

46 Conclusion Acknowledged

We are also uncertain about the argument that any increase in the regulator’s powers would prompt the Office for National Statistics to reclassify the social housing sector as belonging to the public sector and so push its debt on to the government balance sheet. The primary consideration should be the …

Government Response Summary

The Government welcomed the Committee’s views on the Regulator’s independence. The Regulator operates at arm’s length from Government, and it is for the Regulator to determine how to exercise its powers. The Department engages regularly with the Regulator to understand how it is discharging its duties and to ensure that the Department’s policy intentions are understood.

47 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 185

We disagree with the regulator’s assertion that intervening to shape the market - for example, to encourage providers to consolidate their stock in particular areas - would take the regulator beyond its duty to minimise interference. As we have stated elsewhere, we think it should reinterpret this duty, as its …

Government Response Summary

The Department welcomes the Committee’s views on the Regulator’s interpretation of its duties and will raise these points with the Regulator.

49 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 197

The removal of the ‘serious detriment’ test will make it much easier for the regulator to inspect providers proactively and to survey properties where it has reason to suspect serious disrepair. We welcome this development as perhaps the most important reform of the consumer regulatory regime. We appreciate that proactively …

Government Response Summary

The government welcomes the Committee's recommendations regarding their role and will carefully consider them as they continue to develop their approach to proactive consumer regulation.

51 Conclusion Acknowledged

Para 201

Whilst understanding the advantages of a relatively light touch regulatory regime, we still find the regulator to be extremely reticent and passive in its use of its enforcement powers. It is appropriate for the regulator to punish providers responsible for the most serious service failures. If used sparingly, the power …

Government Response Summary

The government welcomes the Committee’s views on the Regulator’s independence, noting that it operates at arm’s length and determines how to exercise its powers.

55 Conclusion Acknowledged

We are concerned that potentially extremely vulnerable residents in receipt of unregulated support services do not currently benefit from the protection of regulation by the Care Quality Commission. We are encouraged by the Government’s stated commitment to improving standards in supported housing, but it is impossible to say from the …

Government Response Summary

The government recognizes that some supported housing residents are particularly vulnerable, and is committed to improving standards and quality of supported housing. They have announced a package of measures and will respond to the Committee's upcoming report on exempt accommodation in due course.