Ministers are set to “name and shame” landlords providing sub-standard social housing to better hold them to account.
Plans are also in place to establish a “resident panel” that will allow social tenants to be heard “directly by Government”, with 250 people from across England invited to share their experiences, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said.
The reforms, to be delivered through legislation, will involve publicly shaming failing landlords on the Government’s website and social media channels.
It is unacceptable that anyone should have mould covering their walls, risk slipping on a wet floor or have water dripping from the ceiling
This will include those who have breached consumer standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing or where the Housing Ombudsman has made a finding of “severe maladministration” against them.
Meanwhile, the resident panel will give tenants a chance to have their say on how to improve the quality of social housing, the DLUHC said.
“The panel will allow residents to scrutinise and influence measures to strengthen the Decent Homes Standard, training and qualification for staff, a new Access to Information Scheme and other planned reforms,” it added.
Eddie Hughes, the minister for social housing, said: “Everyone in this country deserves to live in a safe and decent home. It is unacceptable that anyone should have mould covering their walls, risk slipping on a wet floor or have water dripping from the ceiling.
“We have published draft legislation today to toughen up regulation of social housing landlords. This includes naming and shaming those landlords who fail to meet acceptable living standards and giving tenants a direct channel to raise their concerns with Government.
“This package will help to deliver on our commitment in the Levelling Up White Paper to halve the number of non-decent rented homes by 2030.”
The panel will be supported by a national survey, with about 5,000 residents asked to share their views on their landlords’ services during March and April 2022. This will be used to monitor the impact of reforms.
