By Alistair McIntosh, chief executive, HQN

We got three C ratings on this day. The details are set out below. Here are a few points of interest:

Gosport Borough Council got the worst grade possible at C4. And it looks well deserved. Many years ago I did a lot of work for Gosport and they were fantastic. Let’s hope they can get back to past glories.

Great Places climbed from C2 to C1. That’s good to see. It would be brilliant if they could work the same magic and help their PFI partnership at Oldham to get better too.

The new kids on the block are Sparrow Shared Ownership. This used to be part of Sage Homes.  The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) now owns the homes under its Sparrow banner. We can only hope that this goes a lot better than their foray into water.

The USS held a significant shareholding in Thames Water that they had to write off in the wake of much opprobrium.

Why does the RSH gather satisfaction data? Low satisfaction at Sparrow did not stand in the way of C1. Nor did high satisfaction at Gosport soften the blow of C4.

The Gosport situation is easier to grasp. The Financial Conduct Authority has handed out big fines to banks for regulatory breaches despite high customer satisfaction rates. Monzo, Starling and the Nationwide have fallen into this trap.

As far as we can make out, the RSH seems to regard low shared ownership satisfaction at blocks in the south of England as par for the course. These ratings are not a state secret so could affect sales.

The Gosport report does contain some useful details – this is not the case for Great Places or Sparrow. So it is hard to learn from these reports.

Gosport Borough Council – C4

“The breadth and scale of the failings we identified at Gosport Borough Council are unacceptable and we will be engaging intensively with them as things are put right as soon as possible for tenants.

“Our inspection programme continues to root out issues and drive landlords to improve homes and services for tenants.”

Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement RSH

 

Overall satisfaction TSM · 84.9% (not mentioned in the RSH inspection report)
Safety and Quality Standard · Insufficient knowledge of stock

· Lack of recent surveys

· Don’t know true levels of compliance with DHS or HHSRS (Gosport TSM return claimed only 4% failure on DHS)

· Insufficient compliance reporting

· Hundreds of long overdue remedial actions across electrical and fire safety

· No planned improvement programme since 2023

· Inaccurate repairs data
Transparency Influence and Accountability Standard · “Serious failings”

· Don’t know enough about tenants to “tailor” services

· Tenants don’t get enough information to hold Gosport to account

· Complaints handled directly by Gosport OK – Gosport not “fully assured” by complaints handling from repair contractor
Neighbourhood and Community Standard · “Serious failings”

· Out of date information to tenants

· Domestic abuse not mentioned by RSH
Tenancy Standard · “Reasonable assurance”

· Weaknesses in monitoring outcomes and giving information to tenants
Engagement with RSH · Lack of self-referral to RSH a “serious failing”

· RSH engagement will be “intensive”

· Gosport “engaging constructively”.

 

Sparrow Shared Ownership – C1

Overall satisfaction TSM for shared owners · 40.5% (not mentioned in RSH inspection report)
Safety and Quality Standard · DHS does not apply

· Complies with rest of S&Q Standard

· Where blocks are owned by third parties Sparrow “holds these parties accountable and escalates issues appropriately” – no detail provided in report
Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard · Complies overall – no supporting evidence cited

· Performing well on complaints handling – new feedback system in place

· TSM for complaints handling 14.5% (not mentioned in the report)

· RSH saw evidence that engagement working well

 
Neighbourhood and Community Standard · RSH saw evidence of “appropriate oversight” of ASB
Tenancy Standard · Not applicable
RSH engagement · Not mentioned as part of the C rating.

 

Great Places – C1 (upgrade from C2 at September 2024)

“Through our responsive engagement, we have assurance that Great Places has improved its understanding of the condition of its homes. It will use this information to identify the investment needed to ensure tenants live in good quality, well maintained and safe homes.”

Regulator of Social Housing