Updated 10 December 2024
The council has decided to refer itself to the Regulator of Social Housing to help improve services and meet all new consumer standards for social housing providers.
The Regulator welcomed our decision to self-refer and the level of detail we provided. They have confirmed they will carry out an inspection of housing management services between now and March 2025, with a view to publishing a grading in Spring 2025. Social housing providers are graded C1 to C4, with 1 being the highest and 4 the lowest.
The council brought Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) in-house in November last year and conducted two external reviews to assess its position against new regulatory requirements. These reviews provided a deeper understanding of performance gaps and areas of improvement required to meet residents’ needs, as well as the new consumer standards.
In a proactive move and in the spirit of co-regulation, the council took the decision to self-refer and has a Regulatory Assurance Action Plan in place to show how improvements will be made following similar moves by other local authorities.
We are committed to making sure residents’ homes are safe, there are no changes to tenancies and the way people access services remains the same. Ultimately, this is a positive step to improve the quality of services.
Tower Hamlets Council Chief Executive Stephen Halsey, said:
“Every person living in Tower Hamlets deserves to have a warm, safe and well-maintained home. It is our job to provide the highest quality service we can. By working in partnership and collaboratively with the regulator it is our ambition to ensure that is the case at the earliest opportunity.”
The council has already started to make improvements which include:
- making a £140m investment of capital funding to address fire and building safety remedial works
- implementing improvements across Property and Resident data including a new system to manage our asset data
- cleared all outstanding Fire Risk Assessments, ensuring 100% are completed
- appointing key staff to lead improvements in the management of our council homes, fire safety and complaints
- programmes which have already improved our position in terms of outstanding Fire Safety actions and across Landlord Compliance.
In response to Grenfell, the Government introduced a range of legislation to ensure residents are safe in their homes, have a stronger voice and greater opportunity to hold their landlord to account. A suite of new and revised consumer standards came into force on 1 April 2024 which all providers of social housing must meet.
A report to Cabinet recommended the setting-up of a Housing Cabinet Sub-Committee to strengthen governance and ensure improvements are delivered on time. The first meeting of this sub-committee is expected to take place in January.
Frequently asked questions
Why have you decided to self-refer?
Following the insourcing of Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) in November 2023, the council conducted a review to assess our current position against new consumer standards which came into effect from the 1 April 2024.
The assessments were completed by Housing Quality Network (HQN) and Penningtons and identified areas where we were not meeting standards.
We took the decision to refer ourselves to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) as an important and positive way to bring independent oversight to improving our services.
Were there any other options?
The RSH can investigate potential non-compliance by a registered provider (RP) of social housing, by either:
- The RP self-refers
- The RSH identifies issues through its engagement with the RP
- Referrals from the Housing Ombudsman
- Referral by a third party (including, residents and employees) and/or resulting from adverse media coverage.
Our legal advice said that whilst the engagement process with the RSH can be prolonged (covering the referral, initial engagement, initial grading, implementing changes and then re-assessment by the RSH), the process for those self-referring is generally shorter than the other routes.
Is this a bad thing?
No, self-referral is viewed as a positive engagement by the RSH as it is in the spirit of co-regulation, collaboration and transparency
Why has it taken a year since the insourcing for this to happen?
Bringing services in-house takes time to review and find any issues and areas that are not performing to expected standards. We also wanted to get independent insight into services and this took time to set up and run its course. We’ve been taking action during this time to make changes and improvements. It is a challenging and changing environment both in terms of council finances, stock conditions and changing legislation. We see self-regulation as a positive step to making the necessary improvements and the next step in the process.
What are the new consumer standards?
The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) Consumer Standards came into effect on 1 April 2024. They are:
Is Tower Hamlets the only council to do this?
No, we are one of a number of local authorities who have chosen to self-refer to the regulator. This new regulatory approach has meant that many local authorities and housing associations have proactively engaged, sharing potential non-compliance with the RSH, particularly with requirements under the Safety & Quality Standard. The following councils have self-referred: Greenwich, Lambeth, Camden, Hackney, Haringey, Lewisham and Southwark, and are now working with the RSH to implement their improvement plans.
How are you going to achieve compliance?
We have been in discussions with the RSH for some time and will continue to work closely with them. We have a robust action plan in place to address the areas of improvement. We will go to Cabinet in November to set up a Housing Sub-Committee to strengthen our governance arrangements around housing management and assure the delivery of our action plan.
What are the next steps?
The RSH has a range of regulatory and enforcement powers if it finds that there are serious failings to deliver the outcomes required by its standards. The RSH will use its regulatory powers to investigate and if deemed necessary, use its enforcement powers to bring about improvements. In brief these can include:
- A regulatory judgement
- Performance improvement plan
- Enforcement notice
- Emergency remedial action
- Appointment of advisors
Posted on Tuesday 19th November 2024