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Scottish Housing Regulator highlights good practice by landlords in their 2024 thematic review of Annual Assurance Statements The report does highlight some landlords lacked appropriate evidence for tenant and resident safety and had outdated policies and irregular reporting methods and some landlords did not incorporate tenant feedback into their processes. The review does highlights good practices from landlords in areas such as getting assurance, tenant and resident safety, tenant participation, and finance. Recommendations for landlords are aimed at improving their assurance process, including involving tenants, providing timely information to the governing body, and ensuring financial forecasts are based on reasonable assumptions. Overall, it shows the governance of Scotland's housing providers is in a good place. https://lnkd.in/ej-epKW3

The Regulator of Social Housing and Housing Ombudsman have made a fresh commitment to work together – including sharing information on landlords – to help providers deliver “sustainable improvements”. https://lnkd.in/en_za5C9 #UKhousing #HousingFinance

🚨 Important Update for Social Housing Sector! 🚨 The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 has introduced significant changes that will impact landlords, housing associations, and tenants across the UK. Having come into effect from April 2024, these reforms aim to enhance transparency, accountability, and safety within the sector. Key Changes Include: Enhanced Regulatory Powers: The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) can now proactively inspect properties and enforce compliance without needing to prove serious detriment to tenants. New Consumer Standards: Four new standards focusing on safety and quality, transparency, neighborhood and community, and tenancy management. Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM): Landlords must report on TSMs, providing insights into property maintenance, safety, and complaint handling. Increased Accountability: Social landlords are required to be more transparent with residents, including providing access to information similar to the Freedom of Information Act. Health and Safety Leads: Requirement for Registered Providers (RPs) to appoint dedicated health and safety leads. These changes aim to protect tenants and ensure they live in safe, well-maintained homes with a clear path to address any issues. 🛠️ What This Means for You: Landlords and Housing Associations: Prepare for more frequent and rigorous inspections. Ensure compliance with the new standards to avoid penalties, which can now include unlimited fines. Tenants: Rightly expect higher standards of service, better maintenance of properties, and improved transparency from your landlords. What do you think of the new legislation? As always the good guys are already providing a good quality service and this is just an added cost for them whilst the dodgy landlords and housing associations fly under the radar! #SocialHousing #PropertyInvestment #HousingRegulation #TenantRights #LandlordCompliance #RealEstateNews #PropertyManagement

📢 Key Takeaways from the New MoU between RSH and the Housing Ombudsman! 🏘️✨ The recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) and the Housing Ombudsman marks a significant step forward in enhancing the quality of social housing and improving the lives of residents. Here are the key takeaways: 🔍 1. Improved Communication and Cooperation The MoU establishes a framework for better communication and cooperation between RSH and the Housing Ombudsman. This means more efficient handling of issues and a unified approach to tackling challenges in the housing sector. 📞💬 🔍 2. Enhanced Regulation and Oversight RSH will continue its proactive approach to regulating standards, ensuring that housing associations meet the required outcomes. This includes a focus on landlord improvements and maintaining high-quality homes and services. 🏠📈 🔍 3. Clear Roles and Responsibilities The MoU clearly defines the distinct roles of RSH and the Housing Ombudsman. RSH focuses on regulating providers and ensuring compliance with standards, while the Housing Ombudsman resolves disputes and promotes effective complaint handling. 🏘️🔄 🔍 4. Information Sharing and Data Coordination Both organisations will share relevant information and data to inform their activities. This includes regular updates on registered providers, insights from consumer casework, and coordination on specific cases to address serious failures. 📊🤝 🔍 5. Joint Efforts in Addressing Systemic Issues The Housing Ombudsman can refer cases of systemic failure to RSH, ensuring that underlying issues are addressed comprehensively. This collaboration aims to improve overall sector performance and resident satisfaction. 🛠️🏡 🔍 6. Promoting Positive Change and Best Practices The MoU encourages a complementary and compatible approach, promoting understanding of each organisation’s role among tenants and landlords. It also highlights the importance of sharing best practices to drive positive change in the housing sector. 🌟🔄 🔍 7. Commitment to Ongoing Review and Improvement The MoU will be reviewed annually to ensure it remains effective and reflects any developments or changes in legislation, policy, or practice. This commitment to continuous improvement ensures that both organisations can adapt to new challenges and opportunities. 🔄📅 👥 As a Risk Management Consultancy, House of Risk are here to help housing associations navigate these changes and leverage the benefits of this new MoU. Understanding and adapting to these developments is crucial for maintaining compliance and improving resident satisfaction. 📅 Together, we can build a stronger, more resilient housing community. 💪🏘️✨ #HousingSector #Regulation #RiskManagement #SocialHousing #ResidentFirst

Following the announcement of new legislation that will allow social housing tenants to access information about the management of their home, London's largest landlords are calling for 'sufficient time' to comply, Inside Housing reports. Under the new legislation, a tenant, or their representative, can request information for free. This could include data around health and safety inspections, repair actions and repair times, with the the hope that access to this information will give tenants the tools to take further action if their wish. The G15 group of landlords outlined its concerns in response to a government consultation launched in May, however the group was keen to express its commitment to ensuring residents have access to the information that matters to them. The group said: “We support the government’s aim of enhancing transparency and accountability in social housing to strengthen the relationship between social landlords and their residents. While we welcome these objectives, we’re concerned that the current proposals lack the clarity and detail needed for successful implementation. To best serve residents, G15 members require clear guidance, realistic timeframes and consideration of our current capacity.” Read the full article here ➡ https://lnkd.in/eY3UuaUH #UKHousing #SocialHousing #TenantRights #HousingLeaders #HousingLeadership #LondonHousing #HousingRegulation #G15Landlords

"All social housing providers will need to adapt to the shift towards proactive regulation and continue to work towards embedding a customer-centric approach" "Rather than just looking at the specifics of how individuals are treated, it’s about the organisational approach, culture and philosophy" From Monday we enter a new era for social housing regulation as the new consumer standards for providers come into effect. The regulator will begin its more proactive approach, assessing providers’ compliance against the four revised consumer standards, armed with increased enforcement tools. The change means housing inspections will be carried out by a government body for the first time in more than a decade. As housing associations and councils gear up for one of the biggest social housing regulatory changes in years, Olivia B. has spoken with experts from across the sector – from customer services to chief executives, consultants and lawyers – to understand the scale of the changes and their implications for registered providers. It's a must-read for everyone in social housing #housing 👇 https://lnkd.in/e4mriaKy The piece includes insights from Jonathan Walters of the Regulator of Social Housing, Bruce Moore of Housing 21, Paul Hackett CBE of Southern Housing Ceri Victory-Rowe FCIH of Campbell Tickell Kush Rawal of Metropolitan Thames Valley and Jim Bruckel of Abri Group

👇A must-read for everyone in #social #housing👇 The #Regulator of #SocialHousing revised consumer standards and proactive regulatory approach come into effect on 1 April. Olivia B. speaks to housing providers, consultants and #legal #experts to find out what the changes will mean for the sector.

🏠 The Alarming Failures in Social Housing Over the past decade, private landlords have faced tighter regulations—from stricter safety checks , to higher taxes, tighter profit margins and tougher eviction rules. A new report reveals that councils and housing associations are falling short of even basic standards. ✅ Key findings from the Housing Ombudsman’s review: 
🔧 21,740 interventions were needed to fix poor conditions, pay compensation, or improve practices—a hefty 329% increase in just one year.
❌ 73% of cases revealed maladministration, where social landlords failed to follow the law or their own policies. 👎🏻 A staggering 73% of property condition complaints, 84% of complaint handling issues, 68% related to anti-social behaviour, and 62% for health and safety were upheld 
🏚️ In Yorkshire and the North East, 62% of complaints were upheld—the lowest rate in the country but still alarmingly high. Examples include : * Families living with untreated damp and mould * Residents waiting extended periods for repairs. * Safety risks like disrepair forcing vulnerable tenants into dangerous situations. What are your thoughts on how the Social Housing sector is managed in comparison to private landlords? 👊

Have you seen this network? It's really important. The Scottish Housing Regulator has published an engagement plan for every social landlord and a summary of the outcomes of its annual regulatory risk assessment. https://lnkd.in/eBByNiD2

Although nearly all parties competing for government in the upcoming election have set out their support for the housing industry in their campaigns, it remains to be seen how the successive government will meet the challenges it has inherited. Gavin Smart, Chartered Institute of Housing's chief executive, believes that the next government must start with the most pressing issues and then keep the momentum going. He states whoever comes next has an opportunity to rethink the whole way social rents are calculated in the round, as the sector waits anxiously for an announcement about the next rent settlement. The rent settlement is long overdue for an announcement, with rents currently set by a rigid formula, calculated using 30% of a property’s relative value, 70% of the relative local income levels and applying a weighting based on the number of bedrooms. Smart believes that if landlords were offered more flexibility to “smooth” increases (considering historic rent bases and geographical sensitivities), it could potentially allow inflation-linked overall increases while keeping rent increases lower for households. Last month, the G15 group of large housing associations in London published data which highlighted previous policies, such as the scrapping of rent convergence, has cost the group a collective £2 billion. Whilst Clarion chief executive Clare Miller recently suggested that rent-setting should be taken away from ministers altogether and be given instead to the Regulator of Social Housing. It will be crucial for the new government to listen and learn from past mistakes, whist taking a fresh approach to how things should be done in future. ‘Start now and try to move as fast as you can’ - CIH boss Gavin Smart gives his advice for the next government on housing https://buff.ly/4cq22lW #rentsettlement #housing #government