The Social Housing (Regulation) Act has been passed into law, empowering tenants and give the Regulator of Social Housing stronger powers to hold poor landlords to account.
This new law will mean driving forward significant changes 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.
The law will bring forward the following 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.
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.
Future changes are expected to fee-charging which 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.
Fiona MacGregor, Chief Executive of the Regulator of Social Housing, 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."
Commenting, Leo Docherty MP said:
"Through this new law, standards of social housing will be driven up and tenants will be given a proper voice. Those that have seriously neglected their responsibilities for far too long will face the consequences."