Consumer Standards, Regulator Q&As - Top Takeaways
Tuesday 30th of April 2024
In April, we were pleased to be joined by Fleur Priest-Stephens, Tenant Engagement Manager at the Regulator for Social Housing at not one but two special Q&A sessions.
The first one with staff at our Measuring Engagement Club and the second with tenant members of the National Scrutiny Club. Both sessions were insightful with some in-depth debate. It was interesting to see some consistent themes emerging from both events and below is just a taster of the main points discussed.
Trust
The Scrutiny Club was keen to hammer home that trust was a key concern regarding the new consumer standards and future inspections.
Concerns around some landlords potentially “gaming” the results and the regulators’ ability to identify this were raised. The regulator responded by highlighting the enhanced powers contained within the new regulations, including the new opportunities for them to reach out to tenants personally and look beyond the data provided in the tenant satisfaction measures, to give a rounded picture of the Influence and accountability of individual landlords.
Real Change
Both sessions highlighted their enthusiasm for real change to occur because of this new approach to standards.
Lots of questions around any actions occurring from inspection and the regulators’ appetite for enforcing judgements against the consumer standards. The regulator was keen to highlight how thorough the requirements for inspection are, with the regulator wanting to see evidence from a clear and representative section of the tenant body.
Fleur encouraged those who felt their landlord was not ready or not complying with the standards, to have a conversation with their provider and raise concerns and if people still felt unhappy with the response, to contact the regulator directly with their concerns. She went on to say how the emphasis was very much to get positive outcomes for tenants, with an emphasis on solutions and developing clear actions for the future.
Success?
A common theme within the Measuring Engagement Club is the debate around what does good look like and how you can be successful in applying the standards.
Questions were particularly asked around where tenant input is described as ‘fair and respectful’ and how that is defined. Fleur was keen to point out that they look for evidence in a wide range of places not just the TSMs, the information provided to tenant scrutiny groups, board papers and complaints data are all areas where we may look for compliance.
We have both staff and tenant sessions recorded and they are well worth your time if you want to delve a little deeper into what was discussed. The links can be found below:
Recorded event – National Scrutiny Club meet up
Recorded event - Measuring Engagement Club
Please don’t forget, as a member of Tpas you can as a tenant scrutineer, attend the National Scrutiny Club and as a member of staff you can sign up to the Measuring Engagement Club. Both are free and the links are below.
Measuring Engagement Club – 4th July 2024 – 11 am – 1 pm (Free online event)
National Scrutiny Club – 24th July 2024 – 6 pm – 8 pm (Free online event)