Social housing quality

Overview

Every single person in this country – irrespective of where they are from, what they do or how much money they earn – deserves to live in a home that is decent, safe and secure.

In 21st century Britain nobody should be living in poor quality social housing. Many tenants live under responsible landlords who take care of their tenants’ interests and maintain good quality social housing. But far too many live in damp, cold and mouldy properties that harm their health and their life chances.

This cycle of neglect has left us with a high number of non-decent rented homes in this country. We vowed to bring that number down with a cast iron commitment to halve the number of non-decent rented homes by 2030, set out in our Levelling Up White Paper.

Our aims are straight forward. Firstly, we want social housing where landlords are providing tenants with high quality housing they themselves would be happy to live in. Secondly, we want tenants to feel confident their homes will be properly maintained. Finally, we want those same tenants to have a voice by empowering them to act and exercise their right to complain to the Housing Ombudsman Service if they are unable to resolve problems with their landlords.

Since publishing the Social Housing White Paper: A Charter for Social Housing Residents in November 2020, the government has been working to implement significant new reforms. The centrepiece of this work is the Social Housing Regulation Bill.

What we have done so far

We have taken several important steps to improve the quality of social housing including:

Improving home safety

• Requiring social housing landlords to install smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms in properties from October 2022.

Listening to tenant voices

• Launching the Social Housing Quality Resident Panel, bringing together social housing residents from across the country so they can directly share their views with the Government and ministers on our approach to driving up the quality of social housing.
• Publishing guidance on the “help available to social housing tenants when faced with anti-social behaviour”, clarifying the roles of the agencies responsible for tackling anti-social behaviour, and the help and support available for tenants.

Improving complaints process

• Delivering two national complaints awareness campaigns to show tenants how they can make a complaint and access the Housing Ombudsman Service if needed.
• Reviewing what standards will help social housing staff make sure homes are good quality and to deal effectively with complaints through a Professionalisation Working Group.
• Strengthening the Housing Ombudsman Service so they can now identify problems that go beyond single cases, while also removing the requirement for tenants to wait eight weeks after they complete their landlord’s complaint process before they can access the Ombudsman.

We have also been working closely with the Regulator of Social Housing to introduce Tenant Satisfaction measures and a new proactive consumer regulation regime. For more information, please visit the Regulator of Social Housing website.

On top of this, we have been collaborating with the Housing Ombudsman Service and have issued a new complaint handling code that makes it easier for tenants to escalate complaints. For more information, please visit the Housing Ombudsman website.

Where residents can find support

Every single day social housing residents are having their complaints heard. If you are living in unacceptable housing, we want you to come forward so yours can be heard too.

Your complaint could be about:

• repairs and maintenance
• issues with communal areas
• health and safety issues
• anti-social behaviour
• customer service

You should make your complaint to your social housing provider in the first instance. You shouldn’t be penalised for doing so and it will not affect your tenancy.

If you’re unhappy with their response, you can also contact the Housing Ombudsman if you need further advice and support.

Find out how to get the right help by visiting Social Housing Complaints – Make Things Right.

The Four Million Homes programme also provides free information, guidance, and training on residents’ rights.