The Regulator of Social Housing Launches Pilot Customer Inspection Programme

In September 2022, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) published the outcome of its consultation on Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs). As a result, from the 1st April 2023 all registered providers of social housing will need to collect and publish a range of data on areas such as repairs, safety checks and complaints – in order to assess the performance of landlords.

These TSMs are a key component of the Regulator’s new proactive consumer regulation plan. Earlier this month, the RSH published its implementation plan for reshaping consumer regulation. This plan sets out the steps the RSH is taking to get ready for the landmark Social Housing Regulation Bill, which has nearly finished its passage through Parliament. The new approach will include inspecting all large social landlords against new standards, every four years.

Ahead of a national inspection roll-out, the RSH has selected eight social landlords to help test how it inspects performance against the new regulation by launching a pilot inspection programme. Of these eight landlords, there are four Northern organisations involved – Bernicia, Peaks & Plains Housing Trust, The Guinness Partnership, and Torus. The RSH will then use learnings from the pilot inspections to inform its approach.

The NHC will be looking to engage with members involved in this pilot once it is underway, to provide an understanding for all NHC members and their tenants of the new inspection measures.