By Alistair McIntosh, chief executive, HQN

As the housing sector stress tested Lynx Africa to the max at the Manchester conference, the RSH was there to cheer us up. No, Jonathan Walters was not handing out the much needed choc ices. Instead he did dish out a flurry of C1s to pep up delegates who had travelled all that way to see Andy Burnham only to find out that Andy had gone south. Will the new MP for Makerfield become Britain’s first delay repay millionaire!

So, Manchester has lost its leader. To rub salt in the wound Merseyside is fast becoming the C1 capital. Well done to Livv and Prima. Croydon Churches and Two Rivers also merited C1. Warm congratulations to them too. Let us hope the King of the North allows C1s in the South!

HQN is happy to see that Wandle and Nottingham City Council are on C2. A lot of hard work went into those results. I am certain they will close in on C1. Nice to spot Warrington and Advance in the compliant zone with C2.

The key drivers for the C1 and C2 ratings are shown in the table that follows.

Here are a few points:

• Nottingham shows just how fast a council can move when it puts its mind to it
• At Wandle, Nottingham, Advance and Warrington the RSH gives clear pointers for getting to C1 – they are all on the right lines, one more heave to show change is embedded
• Given its history it is brilliant to see Livv back on track – Knowsley has a fine association to go with its safari park.

We know that in Manchester Andy Burnham set up a good landlords scheme to promote excellence. Will he keep pushing for this if he is PM? How do you strike the right balance between fixing the homes you have versus building new ones? You must have a full stock survey and be working fast to fix the issues to get to C1. Where is the room for manoeuvre? Is it time to reward the best landlords with more cash so they can do both?

Landlord and C rating	Health and safety compliance	Repairs service	Stock knowledge	Tenant engagement	Tenant knowledge and tailoring	Dealing with ASB
C2: Advance Housing and Support	Meets requirements – internal monitoring and external specialists	Weaknesses with evidence on emergency works and dealing with hazards	High proportion of physical surveys – limited recent independent validation	Culture of respect Satisfaction above medians Need to improve complaint handling and comms around repair contractor behaviour	Considers diverse needs of residents but weak systems limit ability to tailor services	Board oversight limited by gaps in reporting
C2: Cambridge Housing Society	Appropriate systems to understand and act	Improvements since new contractor in April 2025 – needs embedding	Accurate and up to date knowledge of homes via physical surveys – used to plan investment	Wide range of meaningful opportunities Effective complaints service – taking action to improve performance on repairs and ASB	Tenant census closes May 2026 – clear plans to improve	Working with appropriate partners – reviewing service with tenants due to relatively low satisfaction
C1: Croydon Churches	Appropriate systems	Improved outcomes via new contractor and bringing call centre in house	Accurate and up to date information informs investment decisions	Meaningful engagement Tenants influence decisions Strong and clear comms Learning from complaints	Targets improvements for tenants with complex/diverse needs – tailors approach on case by case basis	Works in partnership with “numerous” organisations
C1: Livv Housing	Appropriate systems	Effective, efficient and timely service with further improvements in train	Accurate and up to date records inform investment decisions	Treats tenants with fairness and respect Meaningful feedback Good comms Learning from complaints	Tailors and prioritises repairs services around diverse needs	Works with relevant partners Effective approach to domestic abuse: Survivor informed across multi-agencies
C1: Prima Housing	Appropriate systems, remedial actions carried out on time	Efficient, effective and timely repairs service – taking action to improve further	Accurate and up to date records inform investment decisions	Meaningful opportunities to influence Encouraging greater engagement Feedback improving outcomes Learning from complaints	Tailors repairs service around diverse needs of tenants	Learning from previous cases and tenant feedback to understand drivers of ASB and shape the service
C1: Two Rivers	Appropriate systems – investigates, identifies and repairs hazards on time	Effective, efficient and timely repairs service – acting to improve further	Accurate and up to date physical surveys – used to inform investment decisions	Feedback and insight used to improve outcomes and influence decisions Complaints addressed fairly, promptly and effectively – used to improve services	Continuing to improve how it uses information about tenants to tailor services	Manages ASB effectively with local partners
C2: Wandle	Compliance generally strong	Making progress in delivering an efficient and timely repairs service Transformation programme informed by tenants has led to faster response times More time needed to show improvements embedded	Accurate and up to date records Assessed higher risk buildings and taking action to complete works/mitigate	Meaningful opportunities to scrutinise and influence Wandle focused on making changes to service delivery to strengthen trust Improved complaints handling and understand drivers of high complaints volumes – continuing to work on this and raise satisfaction	Considers diverse needs in design and delivery of services Working to close gaps on data held on tenants via targeted surveys and visits	Working to improve this service
C2: Warrington Housing	Not sufficient assurance that tenants are consistently receiving safe, well maintained homes and effective landlord services	Repairs as reported look good – but data not reliable Can’t evidence that damp and mould dealt with effectively	Good understanding of homes with near complete stock survey – clear links to financial planning	Meaningful tenant engagement – taken steps to ensure feedback leads to service improvements Learning from complaints		Needs to demonstrate effective outcomes for tenants – must be clearer on speed of response and impact

Nottingham City Council has been uprated from C3 to C2 through responsive engagement.

Key points from a major overhaul include:

• Now holds surveys for 85% of homes
• Evidence of action on ‘no-access’ cases
• Improvements to speed and satisfaction levels of repairs service
• Improvements to gas checks and monitoring of carbon monoxide and smoke detection
• Repairs data now accurate
• Improved approach to adaptations
• Nottingham routinely contacts tenants that are dissatisfied to help it understand causes and improve services
• Changes to engagement now “embedded”.