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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

3 items
3 Conclusion First Report - The Regulation of Social… Accepted in Part

The level of disrepair in some parts of the social housing sector can undoubtedly be...

The level of disrepair in some parts of the social housing sector can undoubtedly be attributed partly to the age and design of the housing stock, some of which was never built to last and is now approaching obsolescence. For this, some blame must attach to successive Governments for not … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government agrees on the importance of quality housing and notes that most social housing is decent. It commits to collecting more data on the Decent Homes Standard from providers next year and emphasizes strong messaging and regulatory engagement to ensure landlords prioritize quality and …
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
32 Conclusion First Report - The Regulation of Social… Accepted in Part

The Housing Ombudsman is supposed to award compensation to cover financial loss and avoidable inconvenience,...

The Housing Ombudsman is supposed to award compensation to cover financial loss and avoidable inconvenience, distress and detriment. We do not think, however, that the levels of compensation being awarded come anywhere close to reflecting any of these things. We also think financial loss should explicitly include loss of earnings … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the importance of both financial and non-financial remedies for tenants, supporting transparency in compensation decisions and the consideration of loss of earnings for missed appointments. It will consider explaining how its assessment of compensation can be further explained in investigation reports. However, …
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
36 Recommendation First Report - The Regulation of Social… Accepted in Part

We encourage all social housing providers and the Housing Ombudsman to adopt a co-ordinated strategy...

We encourage all social housing providers and the Housing Ombudsman to adopt a co-ordinated strategy to increase awareness among tenants of the ombudsman. As part of that, providers should routinely send letters and leaflets specifically about how they can complain to the ombudsman, as well as including this information in … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the Committee that improved awareness of the complaints procedure is essential, and will work with the Regulator to support the consumer standards placing an obligation on social landlords to promote the Ombudsman; it encourages landlords to review the revised jurisdiction guidance …
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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…