Social housing regulatory reforms

Consumer standards

On 20 July 2023, the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 became law. The Regulator of Social Housing welcomes the enhanced consumer regulation role and additional powers that will give it the tools to fulfil its new role.

As part of the new consumer regulatory framework, registered providers will have to comply with a revised set of consumer standards. These are the requirements they will use to confirm their commitment to improving the quality of social housing and services. In order for the new consumer regulatory framework to be a success, it must provide meaningful outcomes to tenants, be deliverable by landlords, and have the ability to be regulated against.

The New Consumer standards (April 2024)

We have looked at our landlord service and put together a draft Housing Regulatory Development Plan (PDF) to improve the services we provide to you.

Your feedback is important to us. We want to make sure we get it right so we are organising focus groups where you can share your views on governance oversight, quality assurance, data integrity, tenant involvement, professional development, housing customer experience, improving the effectiveness of the housing repairs service and housing policies.

Infographic illustrating the Housing Regulatory Development Plan (HRDP) with eight core themes. The central circle labeled 'HRDP' is surrounded by a purple ring titled 'The 8 Themes' and a gray ring labeled 'Monitoring.' Each theme is displayed around the diagram, including: Governance (1), Quality Assurance (2), Data Integrity (3), Tenant Involvement (4), Professional Development (5), Housing Customer Experience (6), Effectiveness of Repairs (7), and Housing Policies (8). On the right, there is a smaller circular section for project elements: Project (1), Reporting (2), and Tenant Engagement (3). The design uses colourful circles and dotted connectors

 

To find out more, visit our tenant involvement page.

The Safety and Quality Standard

Requires landlords to provide safe and good quality homes and landlord services to tenants. 

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard

Requires landlords to be open with tenants and treat them with fairness and respect so that tenants can access services, raise complaints, when necessary, influence decision making and hold their landlord to account. 

The Neighbourhood and Community Standard

Requires landlords to engage with other relevant parties so that tenants can live in safe and well-maintained neighbourhoods and feel safe in their homes.

The Tenancy Standard

Sets requirements for the fair allocation and letting of homes and for how those tenancies are managed and ended by landlords

Find out how to get involved.