Council works with regulator to further housing standards

On 1 April 2024, the Social Housing (Regulations) Act 2023 came into force. Its new regulatory standards require tenant safety and engagement, decent homes and transparency, and landlords to inform the regulator of any non-compliance. The Regulator of Social Housing also requires more frequent surveys of homes and consideration of tenants’ diverse needs and any vulnerabilities.

Housing associations have been regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing for some time. Now, the 100 or so local authorities in England which own and manage council homes are being regulated on new consumer standards. About half of these councils have already self-referred to the Regulator - 13 since the new regulations came in - and now City of York Council has referred itself as it continues work to improve its homes and landlord services.

While the Council complies with many of these standards, it knows that more work needs to be done to meet all areas. It has contacted the regulator and is discussing its improvement plans to ensure that services for tenants continue to improve.

Cllr Michael Pavlovic, Executive Member for Housing at City of York Council, said: “This new legislation provides a welcome framework for our improvement. We have developed an action plan to continue our intention to provide the best landlord services and quality of housing. Safety is our priority and any tenants with any concerns about their homes should contact us directly.

“We’ve written to all our tenants about this self-referral, the changes it brings and new opportunities for them to take part in our journey of improvement. We have also published our latest annual report setting out our current performance and updating tenants on the work we are doing to improve our services.

“Through this self-referral, we’re fully briefing the Regulator on areas needing improvement and our planned activities and timescales to deliver them.”