Life-changing reforms to social housing become law as the
Government’s new Social Housing (Regulation) Act receives Royal
Assent today.
This means driving forward significant change in holding poor
landlords to account, placing the needs of tenants at the heart
of government reforms to improve the quality of life for those
living in social housing across the country.
Today’s landmark law brings forward the following ground-breaking
changes:
- Strengthening the Regulator of Social Housing to carry out
regular inspections of the largest social housing providers and
the power to issue unlimited fines to rogue social landlords.
- Additional Housing Ombudsman powers to publish best practice
guidance to landlords following investigations into tenant
complaints
- Powers to set strict time limits for social landlords to
address hazards such as damp and mould
- New qualification requirements for social housing managers
- Introducing stronger economic powers to follow inappropriate
money transactions outside of the sector
New enforcement powers will be made available to tackle failing
social housing landlords who are not pulling their weight in
taking swift action to address damp, cold and unsafe homes.
Following the tragic death of Awaab Ishak last year, the
Government also committed to introducing Awaab’s Law where all
landlords must fix reported health and safety hazards within a
strict timeframe.
The Act is the latest step in addressing systemic issues
identified following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, not just on the
safety and quality of social housing, but about how tenants are
treated by their landlords.
Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities,
Rt. Hon MP said:
Today is an important step towards righting the wrongs of the
past. Our landmark laws will drive up standards of social housing
and give residents a proper voice.
The Social Housing Act will help to ensure that tenants get the
safe, warm and decent homes they deserve - and those who have
seriously neglected their responsibilities for far too long will
face the consequences.
Awaab’s Law will force social landlords to take immediate action
on dangerous damp and mould as we introduce new strict time
limits to fix their homes.
I am incredibly grateful to Awaab’s family who have displayed
such courage, dignity and leadership in pushing for change and
securing these vital reforms.
Alongside powers to issue unlimited fines, a stronger Regulator
will have greater authority to flush out rogue social landlords,
with the capability to enter properties with only 48 hours’
notice and make emergency repairs where there is a serious risk
to tenants.
The Act also makes changes to what activities the Regulator can
charge landlords fees for, ensuring it has the resources it needs
to do its job.
We expect future changes to fee-charging will see all social
housing providers – both private registered providers and local
authority landlords – paying for regulation costs. This will
include new consumer standards as well as other costs such as
investigating when things go wrong.
The Regulator will shortly publish their consultation on new
consumer standards to help protect tenants and the regime is
expected to go live in April next year.
Fiona MacGregor, Chief Executive of RSH, said:
We welcome the introduction of the Social Housing Regulation Act,
which will empower tenants and give us stronger powers to hold
social landlords to account.
Our next step is to consult on the new consumer standards that
landlords will need to meet, and we encourage tenants, landlords
and others in the sector to have their say when we launch the
consultation next week.
We’re gearing up to start our new programme of regulatory
inspections from next April, and landlords will need to
demonstrate how they’re providing good quality homes and services
for tenants as well as meeting our governance and viability
standards.
Gavin Smart, Chief Executive Officer · Chartered Institute of
Housing
We’re delighted to see that the Social Housing (Regulation) Act
has now been passed and congratulate all involved in its
development.
The Act will provide an important foundation for giving tenants’
a greater voice, improving access to redress and increasing the
focus on professionalism in the sector.
Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the National Housing
Federation, says:
We welcome the Social Housing Regulation Act and have worked
closely with the government to support this legislation from the
outset. It is essential that we strengthen powers to tenants and
improve access to swift and fair redress. Housing associations
are committed to taking the Act forward and demonstrating
transparency and accountability to their residents.
Alongside stronger regulation, housing associations are committed
to working with the government to address the severe shortage of
social housing and helping to deliver a long-term plan, focused
on delivering the homes the country needs over the next decade.
