By Alistair McIntosh, HQN CEO

Many are hoping that the new government will put a lot more cash into housing. You might miss out on that if you score C4. On top of that, you’ll be sitting in endless meetings with the RSH while spending a fortune on correcting the wrongs that got you there in the first place. In the immortal words of Captain Furillo from Hill Street Blues, “you don’t need to hit rock bottom”. Here’s what you must do:

1. Get to grips with your data

If the RSH ever went on Mastermind, data would be their specialist subject. So, treat them with respect and don’t make basic errors like others have done by:

• Claiming there’s no hate crime in the area when that’s not remotely plausible
• Saying you comply with the Decent Homes Standard when you haven’t carried out enough surveys to know whether you do or not.

Our advice is to:

• Get a professional firm in to gather the TSM satisfaction scores
• Understand what the figures mean and report on these to councillors
• Ensure qualified professionals undertake/validate your safety TSMs
• Commission a full stock survey (until that’s available, marshal and act on the data you can glean from sources such as: tall building surveys; damp and mould returns to government; analysis of complaints, councillor enquiries, call centre figures, repair records and focus groups with staff and residents)
• Run a sense check on your data before it goes to the RSH – mistakes are obvious in hindsight.

2. Don’t just self-assess – act

The Consumer Standards are mostly easy to understand. So, test yourself against them or ask someone to help. You might want to use the HQN toolkit. If you fall well short on any one standard, confess to the RSH and say what you will do about it. Don’t just gloss it over and hope for the best. They are bound to find out about defects. Trust me – these aren’t hard to spot in the documents you must send to the RSH. Don’t wait to confess until you get the letter warning of an inspection. No one respects deathbed converts.

We’re seeing far too many weak improvement plans. This is unsurprising given the wide range of the RSH standards. There’s a lot to do. But we need to get back to SMART plans – which are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound.

3. Be honest with tenants

The RSH knows that your job is difficult, and that money is short. Some of their staff have just come over from councils that had problems. They get it. That said, they’re also quick to call out propaganda.

What is the RSH looking for?

• In-depth knowledge of what individual tenants want (making use of the TSM surveys, transactional surveys and tenancy audits)
• Tailoring of services around the diverse requirements of residents
• A realistic service offer with evidence that you do what you say
• Evidence that you listen to what tenants have got to say and act on it.

In a nutshell, show that you care.

4. It’s all about assurance

The RSH expects that your leading councillors will:

• Get accurate and timely information on performance against the standards
• Ask sensible questions to get to the bottom of things,
• Know what services are like on the ground
• Take decisive action to ensure compliance.

At an inspection, the RSH is testing your systems of assurance. So, you must put the effort in here.

Read your committee reports. Does it look like the councillors are getting what they need? If not, step it up. Some councils are setting up boards with councillors, residents and experts to beef up assurance. These can work well – but it’s not automatic. What would someone from outside make of the rigour? How do the new boards fit with the rest of the council? Could anything slip between the cracks? We’ve come across good and bad examples of such boards. What does work well is when the leaders across the council pull together to help housing. That was key to one of the C2 decisions that we saw. It wasn’t easy – in the past they faced RSH intervention on safety.

5. Play your stars

Everywhere HQN has worked on consumer regulation we’ve met great staff. How can we tell? When you walk round with them, they know the tenants and people come out of their homes to talk to them. The conversations are great and take place on estates with real challenges. Staff that can forge relationships are gold. The RSH must meet them.

Unfortunately, the RSH teams are under pressure so don’t visit estates and rely on video calls. Many councils must get better. We all know that. But the RSH must change too. Yes, they can grade a council by reading papers and meeting a few people. For me, you can learn a lot more – good and bad – by seeing the service in action.

At some point the minister will ask the RSH for its views on investing in council housing. We’ve got to work tirelessly to convince the RSH to back us. By the same token, the RSH must take a properly rounded view.

It’s time for the RSH to leave lockdown thinking behind and get out there to see what the tenants see.