The Government launched a package of measures to drive up quality in social housing: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/social-housing-quality.
These measures include the launch of a Resident Panel, a commitment to publicly name and shame failing landlords, publication of draft legislation and a factsheet outlining the role of the Regulator of Social Housing and Housing Ombudsman Service. Minister Hughes has also written an article in Inside Housing, outlining the announcement: https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/how-we-will-act-to-protect-tenants-74882
Social Housing Quality Resident Panel
The Panel will bring together social housing residents from across the country, so they can directly share their views with government about our approach to driving up social housing quality. All social housing residents are invited to register their interest, irrespective of their prior experience, via this form: https://forms.office.com/r/d9iXLSEycE Please do widely publicise this link through your channels, encouraging residents to apply. Further detail can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/social-housing-quality-resident-panel, which also includes a list of frequently asked questions.
Naming and shaming failing landlords
Government will begin naming and shaming landlords on social media. These will be landlords who have either breached the Regulator’s consumer standards, or where the Ombudsman has made a severe maladministration finding of them.
We are clear that landlords should self-refer to the Regulator if they suspect they may have breached a regulatory standard. If a landlord is found to be in breach of the consumer standards and they did not self-refer themselves, ministers will write to the landlord and / or meet with them to discuss why they had not self-referred themselves.
Further detail can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/naming-and-shaming-failing-landlords
Publication of draft clauses to implement changes to social housing regulation
We have published a selection of draft legislative clauses (19 draft clauses and a schedule), in addition to accompanying explanatory notes, signalling our progress with developing legislation and our intention to bring legislation forward as soon as possible. We know this has been a significant ask for some time and want to reassure you that we are making progress.
We are not submitting these clauses for pre-legislative scrutiny but want to clearly signal to residents, tenants and landlords that legislation is coming. Landlords should already be considering how they may need to amend their services to comply with the new consumer regulation regime set out in the Social Housing White Paper.
Further detail, and the draft clauses and explanatory notes, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-housing-regulation-draft-clauses
Factsheet about the Regulator of Social Housing and Housing Ombudsman Service
We have heard from tenants that it is not always clear who they should be raising concerns with and that it is not well understood how the Regulator and Ombudsman work together. To help provide greater clarity, we are publishing a factsheet explaining the role of the Regulator of Social Housing and Housing Ombudsman Service. The factsheet can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/regulator-of-social-housing-and-housing-ombudsman-service-factsheet