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Select Committee · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

The Regulation of Social Housing

Status: Closed Opened: 10 Nov 2021 Closed: 5 Mar 2024 25 recommendations 30 conclusions 1 report

The purpose of this inquiry is to examine the quality and regulation of social housing in England and the Government’s proposals in the social housing White Paper for improving the regulatory regime. Read the key findings and recommendations from our report published on 20 July 2022.

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
First Report - The Regulation of Social Housing HC 18 20 Jul 2022 55 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 items
11 Recommendation First Report - The Regulation of Social… Accepted

Whilst social housing providers cannot be blamed for the age of their stock or for...

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, have failed to properly investigate the causes of serious disrepair, … Read more

Government response AI 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.
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
12 Recommendation First Report - The Regulation of Social… Accepted

We recommend that housing providers put in place systems for regularly monitoring the condition of...

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 of the consumer standards, the Regulator of Social Housing consider … Read more

Government response AI 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).
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
29 Recommendation First Report - The Regulation of Social… Accepted

We recommend that the Government legislate through the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill to place a...

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 so. To ensure that providers are self-assessing against the code, … Read more

Government response AI 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 …
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
44 Recommendation First Report - The Regulation of Social… Accepted

We recommend that the Government use the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill to amend the Housing...

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 of the consumer standards. Whether or not the Government does … Read more

Government response AI 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 …
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Oral evidence sessions

6 sessions
Date Witnesses
16 May 2022 Eddie Hughes · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Nick Burkitt · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities View ↗
19 Apr 2022 Jonathan Walters · Regulator of Social Housing, Richard Blakeway · Housing Ombudsman Service, Richard Blakeway · Office for Legal Complaints View ↗
14 Mar 2022 Angela Price · Guinness, Daniel Hewitt · ITV News, Nicole Walters · Southwark Council View ↗
9 Mar 2022 Dr Amanze Ejiogu · Newcastle University Business School, Helen Garrett · Building Research Establishment, James Prestwich · Chartered Institute of Housing, Jenny Osbourne · TPAS, Tarun Bhakta · Shelter View ↗
7 Feb 2022 Chloe Fletcher · National Federation of ALMOs, Cllr David Renard · Local Government Association (LGA), Karen Brown · Northern Housing Consortium, Kate Henderson · National Housing Federation, Matthew Walker · PlaceShapers, Nick Murphy · Nottingham City Homes View ↗
17 Jan 2022 Ben Denton · Legal and General Affordable Homes, Clare Miller · Clarion Housing Group, Darren Hartley · TAROE Trust, Pat Turnbull · London Tenants Federation, Professor Ian Cole · South Yorkshire Housing Association, Suzanne Muna · Social Housing Action Campaign View ↗

Who gave evidence

25 witnesses
WitnessOrganisationSessions
Angela Price · Tenant Guinness 1
Ben Denton · Chief Executive Legal and General Affordable Homes 1
Chloe Fletcher · Policy Director National Federation of ALMOs 1
Clare Miller · Chief Executive Clarion Housing Group 1
Cllr David Renard · Chair of the Economy, Environment, Housing and Tr… Local Government Association (LGA) 1
Daniel Hewitt · Political Correspondent ITV News 1
Darren Hartley · Chief Executive TAROE Trust 1
Dr Amanze Ejiogu · Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Finance Newcastle University Business School 1
Eddie Hughes · Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister … Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities 1
Helen Garrett · Principal Consultant Building Research Establishment 1
James Prestwich · Director of Policy & External Affairs Chartered Institute of Housing 1
Jenny Osbourne · Chief Executive TPAS 1
Jonathan Walters · Deputy Chief Executive Regulator of Social Housing 1
Karen Brown · Senior Policy Advisor Northern Housing Consortium 1
Kate Henderson · CEO National Housing Federation 1
Matthew Walker · Chair PlaceShapers 1
Nick Burkitt · Head of Affordable Housing Regulation and Investm… Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities 1
Nick Murphy · Chief Executive Officer Nottingham City Homes 1
Nicole Walters · Tenant Southwark Council 1
Pat Turnbull · Regional Representative London Tenants Federation 1
Professor Ian Cole · Chair of Board Management South Yorkshire Housing Association 1
Richard Blakeway · Housing Ombudsman Housing Ombudsman Service 1
Richard Blakeway · Government's preferred candidate for Chair Office for Legal Complaints 1
Suzanne Muna · Representative Social Housing Action Campaign 1
Tarun Bhakta · Policy Manager Shelter 1

Correspondence

11 letters
DateDirectionTitle
7 Feb 2023 To cttee Letter from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Faith and Communitie…
6 Dec 2022 To cttee Letter from the Chair to the Secretary of State and the Regulator of Social Hou…
19 Oct 2022 To cttee Letter from the Chair to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Housing…
19 Oct 2022 To cttee Letter from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Housing and Communit…
12 Jul 2022 To cttee Letter from the Central Hill Estate Residents Association Committee to the Comm…
21 Jun 2022 To cttee Letter from the Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing dated 13 June 2022 foll…
30 Mar 2022 To cttee Letter from the Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing dated 29 March 2022 con…
30 Mar 2022 To cttee Letter from the Guinness Partnership to the Chair dated 23 March 2022 concernin…
22 Mar 2022 To cttee Letter from BRE to the Chair dated 10 March 2022 concerning the inquiry into th…
1 Mar 2022 To cttee Letter from Cllr David Renard, Local Government Association, to the Chair dated…
22 Feb 2022 To cttee Letter from Broadacres Housing Association to the Chair dated 9 February 2022 c…