“We’re raring to go” – that’s what Kate Dodsworth, the RSH’s Chief of Regulatory Engagement, told HQM.

Her teams will be inspecting the outcomes you deliver for tenants. That means making sure your ‘tenant experience’ on the ground is in tune with ‘corporate rhetoric’ in the boardroom or council chamber. Thanks to Stephen Blundell of Leeds Federated, one of the pilots, for that tip.

This is how Kate sums up what she’s looking for:

“With consumer regulation, often it comes back to culture: can a landlord easily spot issues and put them right? What’s the golden thread running through the organisation to understand quickly the themes of complaints? How able are they to spot problems with the quality of tenants’ homes? And how robust and effective is their data?”

So, now you know what the RSH expects in short, sharp and plain terms. Surely any good landlord can pass the test. Not so fast.

Claire Miller from Clarion puts it well in Housing Today:

“The current combination of reduced financial support and significantly increased regulation is making the situation harder than at any point in my career.”

 

How can HQN help?

Members of the Housing Quality Network will get:	Our self-assessment toolkit to help your board or council assess whether you meet the consumer standards and help you identify SMART actions to achieve compliance (updated version now available and will be sharpened again after the general election) Regular briefings on the themes emerging from inspections – how to submit documents to the RSH and use the six weeks’ notice countdown to good effect Tracking of tenant satisfaction metrics against C ratings Interviews with practitioners that have been through inspections Discounted places on inspection briefing sessions Guidance checklist on when to self-refer to the RSH.
What matters is what works – members of our specialist networks (eg, housing management, EDI, health and safety, and residents) set the agendas and will get:	Briefings and access to best practice groups to find out what others are doing and to answer the questions that concern you Highlights of inspection reports for their services Analysing the TSMs for your service Practical support for health and safety leads.
Consultancy for all budgets	Desktop reviews of self-assessments against RSH consumer standards with follow up discussion Desktop reviews of self-assessments against the Housing Ombudsman’s Code with follow up discussion Desktop assessments of improvement plans – are the targets clear? Is the data reliable? Can it be paid for? Will it get you to C2 or C1? Independent inspections with indicative gradings and SMART improvement plans across all of the consumer standards Deep dives into problem areas.

To find out more, contact Anna Pattison at [email protected]