A guide to the new consumer standards regulations for housing providers – introduction

Posted: 11/03/2024

The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 has put consumer standards on the same footing as economic standards, and has given the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) new powers to regulate and enforce them.

The new consumer standards will come into force on 1 April 2024, and from this date the RSH will be looking at compliance with the consumer standards when it carries out inspections. There will be a new C rating (as well as the existing G and V ratings), and the RSH will downgrade those registered providers (RPs) that fail to comply with them.

The regulator’s new powers mean that it will move from a reactive approach to consumer regulation, where it can only investigate consumer issues when there was ‘a serious detriment’ to tenants, to a proactive approach on the same ‘co-regulatory’ basis as it regulates the economic standards.

What do registered providers need to know, and be doing?

Firstly, be aware that the four current standards will be replaced by four new standards. Some of these do not have huge changes, whilst others have more substantial ones; it is therefore important to get to grips with them. It is worth noting that together these four new standards will set out 20 ‘required outcomes’, with a further 61 ‘specific expectations’, so there will be plenty to regulate.

There will also be two further consumer standards, one on the provision of information to tenants, and the second on competence and conduct.

Additionally, there will be a new code of conduct, just as there is for economic standards. The aim of this code of conduct is to provide examples of good practice to help RPs comply with the new consumer standards.

And, of course, there will be the new ‘Awaab’s Law’, requiring RPs to address dangerous hazards (including, but not limited to, damp and mould) in their properties within strict timescales.

So what should registered providers be doing?

Read very carefully through the new consumer standards, which are now in final form. Many of the provisions will be familiar already; however, there are also new specific expectations, so knowing what the requirements are is crucial. Future articles in this series will cover these.
On 28 February 2024, the RSH published its guidance on how it will regulate RPs in respect of the consumer standards, and how it will use its new powers. Once again, read through this guidance, taking note as to what the regulator requires.
Prepare plans on how to achieve compliance.
Finally, as the RSH will be requiring RPs to provide ‘assurance’ that they are in compliance, and as that assurance is usually documentary, make certain that documentary evidence can be produced to the board, and therefore also to the regulator.