Housing services inspection underway after Council’s self-referral

Swindon’s council housing services are being inspected by the independent regulator after the Borough Council sought advice on how it is performing against new regulatory standards.

The Council referred itself to the Regulator of Social Housing in September following an internal review, which identified areas for improvement.

Since then, the Council has sought advice and had regular contact with the Regulator, which recently confirmed it would begin the first of its planned programme of four-yearly landlord inspections.

The Social Housing (Regulations) Act 2023, which came into force on 1 April 2024, introduced four new consumer standards which apply to all registered providers of social housing, including local authorities.

These place an emphasis on decent homes, tenant safety, tenant engagement, transparency and a duty on landlords to highlight any areas of non-compliance to the Regulator.

Recognising areas where it needs to improve, the Council has already submitted a housing improvement plan to the Regulator for review. The delivery of the improvement work is being overseen by a new Housing Improvement Board that includes tenant and cross-party councillor representation.

The inspection process, now underway, will culminate in inspectors spending two days visiting Swindon in mid-February 2025 before the final inspection report is published next spring.

The Council is updating tenants about the self-referral and inspection by the Regulator and will provide regular updates on work to improve services.

Back in September, the Council invited a team of senior councillors and officers from other local authorities to undertake a ‘Corporate Peer Challenge’ in September 2024.

The final report, tabled at last month’s Cabinet meeting, noted that: “The Council are in active discussions with the housing regulator to discuss their planned improvement journey.

“It is testament to the more open and transparent culture that is embedding at the Council that these challenges are acknowledged, discussed and help, guidance and advice is sought and welcomed.”

Councillor Janine Howarth, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “All tenants should expect us to deliver a decent standard of housing and comply with national standards, and we share these expectations.

“Since taking over the Housing portfolio last year I’ve been fortunate to meet a large number of our tenants and leaseholders and it has been clear from those meetings that we haven’t been providing the services they deserve for some time.

“That’s why we commissioned a comprehensive independent internal review and why we have subsequently made the referral to the Regulator of Social Housing to seek advice on how we are performing against the recently-adopted new consumer standards.

“We welcome this transparent and independent assessment of our housing services, which will inform our current and future work to improve services for tenants.”

Further information about the inspection has been provided for tenants through a series of questions and answers on the Council’s website.