The Regulator for Social Housing is a standalone non-departmental public body of government. Their role is to promote a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver more and better social homes.
As part of their role they have developed a set of regulatory standards for landlords, which all registered housing providers like ourselves must comply with.
While there are a number of areas where our services comply with these standards, we've taken the opportunity to write to the regulator to let them know that there are some areas where we do not fully meet these new standards, which were introduced in April 2024.
The following information has been shared with our tenants in October 2024, in a letter from Pauline Stuchfield, Director of Housing and Communities.
Since April 2024, the services we provide to you as a landlord have been monitored by the Regulator of Social Housing.
We welcome the introduction of a regulator and the opportunity this brings to improve the quality of your homes and services we provide. To support this improvement across the UK’s social housing sector, the regulator has set out several new standards by which our services will be measured, these are called the Consumer Standards.
The Regulator has asked us to consider how our services compare to these new Consumer Standards. While there are a number of areas where our services comply, we've taken the opportunity to write to the regulator to let them know that there are some areas where we do not fully meet these new standards.
This includes requirements to:
- take all reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of tenants in their homes and associated communal areas
- understand the diverse needs of tenants
We know what we need to do to address these and to meet the standards for the long term.
Among the actions we’re taking, is to try and survey each and every one of our 7,400 council homes. This survey is helping us get a clearer and more accurate picture of what we need to do to improve your homes now and in the future. To date we have surveyed around 6,000 homes and I want to thank you for giving us access to your home to do this.
The results of this survey will enable us to plan what investment is needed in your homes over the coming years. As part of the survey, any major health and safety risks have been identified, and we are working hard to address these as quickly as possible. The survey has also identified the full extent of issues related to damp or mould across our council housing stock. We will work through these issues over the coming weeks and months and carry out the repairs needed to fix them.
All of our homes are at greater risk of damp and mould during the winter. See further information about preventing damp and mould in your home.
An area we are looking to improve is electrical testing. We know that there are a number of homes that haven’t had an electrical test in the last 5 years. We have plans in place to work through these and are carrying out the most urgent work as a priority.
We are also prioritising work around fire risk assessments and water hygiene. Every block with a communal area must have a fire risk assessment and any risks that are found must be corrected. We have recruited an officer dedicated to do these assessments and arrange for repair works to be done where needed. All communal areas have had a recent fire risk assessment and we are well underway with resolving issues identified. But there is more work to be done. Certain homes also require water hygiene risk assessments. We aim to complete these assessments as a priority as well as carrying out work to address any risks identified. Any homes affected by water hygiene risk assessments have already been contacted.
We know that we don’t have complete records of which homes have smoke or carbon monoxide detectors. We’re using the stock condition survey and the annual gas services to update our records. If you believe that your home is lacking a smoke or carbon monoxide detector, let the repairs team know and we will quickly arrange for one to be installed.
Knowing you and your particular needs is important to us. This information can help guide our services to ensure we are providing the right help and support for you. However, our records on residents’ needs are not as complete as we would like. This means that it is more difficult for us to tailor the support we provide you. The sort of additional information which would help us do this includes:
- whether you are or a family member is disabled and any adjustments you would like us to make in the way we communicate or provide services to you
- whether English is not your first language or any support you need with reading and understanding the information we supply
- your preferred method of contact, whether by email or post
To help us improve the services we offer you, we would be grateful if you could tell us a little more about yourself and how we can better support you. You can do this by:
- completing our Supporting our tenants needs eform
- emailing: housing.serviceimprovements@york.gov.uk
- calling telephone: 01904 555556 - leave a voicemail with your name and number and we’ll call you back
We want to keep you better informed about how we are performing and what we are doing to improve the services we offer you. Our 2023 to 2024 Tenant and leaseholder Annual Report shows some of the work we have been doing.
If you'd like a paper copy, contact the Housing Service Improvements Team.
It's important that we continue to hear and understand your views. One of the best ways to do this is by taking part in the yearly tenants’ satisfaction survey, which is available until 17 November. We are keen to hear the views from as many tenants as possible.
You may have had information from us about how to complete the survey. If you need any further support with this, contact us on email: housing.serviceimprovements@york.gov.uk, or telephone: 01904 555556.
Also see
- Repairs to your council home
- Annual safety checks
- Advice and tips on maintenance
- Moving Out Standard