Consumer Standards

What are Consumer Standards?

As a social housing association, we are regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing, a government body that oversees housing quality, safety, and fairness. This ensures that social housing remains structured and positive for tenants and landlords.

On 1st April 2024 the Regulator of Social Housing passed four standards to protect tenants and ensure that social landlords are providing the correct quality of homes and services.

Safety and Quality Standard

This standard requires social housing providers to ensure the safety, maintenance, and good quality of social housing.

Decency: Homes must meet the Government’s Decent Homes Guidance (Section 5) and maintain that standard (Unless exempted)

Health & Safety: Taking all reasonable steps to guarantee health & safety of tenants in homes and communal areas.

Repairs, Maintenance, and Planned Improvements: Assets in homes and communal areas must be repaired efficiently and with little delay, planned improvements should be carried out, and landlords must set timescales, inform tenants, and communicate clearly

Adaptations: Assisting tenants needing housing adaptations, working with relevant authorities and organisations where necessary.

Transparency, Influence, and Accountability Standard

This standard sets expectations about how landlords communicate with tenants, treat them, and allow tenant input and oversight.

Fairness and Respect: Treating tenants and prospective tenants with fairness and respect.

Diverse Needs: Understanding tenants’ diverse characteristics/needs (protected characteristics, language barriers, etc) to ensure services are equitable and communication/accessibility is appropriate.

Engangement with Tenants: Providing meaningful ways for tenants to influence services, policies, strategies, and taking their views into account as well as communicating how their input has been considered

Information about Landlord Services: Making clear what services are offered, how to access them, what quality to expect.

Performance Information: Collecting and publishing performance data so tenants can analyse how well their landlord is doing.

Complaints: Addressing complaints fairly, effectively, and promptly.

Neighbourhood and Community Standard

This standard concerns the wider environment in which tenants live: Their neighbourhoods, shared spaces, and interactions with others, including partners.

Maintenance: Working with tenants and relevant organisations (police, local authorities, other landlords, etc) to ensure shared spaces and communal areas are safe and well-maintained.

Cooperation: Cooperating with partner agencies on promoting social, environmental, and economic wellbeing in the local area.

Safety: Ensuring tenants feel safe in their homes and neighbourhoods.

Tenancy Standard

This standard covers how tenancies are allocated, managed, and ended, including ensuring fairness, transparency, and support.

Allocations: Lettings must be fair and transparent, taking into account the needs of tenants & prospective tenants.

Tenancy Support: Supporting tenants to maintain stable housing and assist where there are problems with this.

Terms: Terms of occupation should be appropriate for the household’s needs, the sustainability of the community, and efficient use of stock.

Mutual Exchange: Supporting mutual exchange (Tenants swapping homes) where relevant.