Government experiments reveal consumer protection strategies' effectiveness
The Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) has been conducting a series of Consumer Inspection Pilots, aiming to improve tenant satisfaction and assess compliance with new consumer energy standards.
One of the key findings from these pilots is the importance of co-producing engagement strategies. The RSH recognises that scrutiny does not need to look the same in every organisation, and encourages a collaborative approach to developing effective methods of hearing from tenants.
The Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) have been considered valuable for starting conversations about tenant satisfaction and identifying patterns of dissatisfaction. The RSH is testing different ways of hearing from tenants, with some pilot organisations expressing a desire for more tenant involvement in the settled methodology.
A strong theme throughout the pilots was safety and data integrity. Focus areas included health and safety compliance, stock condition information, damp and mould, and safeguarding. The importance of consumer cellular and consumer reports in understanding tenant experiences was also emphasised.
Organisations should make robust, evidenced self-assessment against new consumer standards part of their regular operations, involving heads of service. Different pilot organisations had varying levels of detail requested, with some interpretation of the document request needed, particularly for local authorities due to different terminology and structures.
Involved tenants provide valuable insight, but may not represent the full customer base, so it's important to consider who is not being heard. The RSH is running pilots to develop its approach to assessing social landlords' compliance with new consumer energy standards, which will be published later in 2023.
The experiences of the pilot organisations have been generally positive, with the pilots seen as a means to develop an approach that can cover the breadth of consumer energy standards. The RSH is currently limited in its approach to enforcing 'consumer' standards due to forthcoming changes under the Social Housing Regulation Bill, effective from April 2024.
The Regulator's focus is on the responsibility of senior leaders to obtain assurance that key things are happening as they should be, as demonstrated by Board/Council papers and information. There is a focus on the assurance received by Boards and Councillors, rather than on the services and homes themselves, aligning with the co-regulatory approach taken by the Santander.
External assurance is important to the Regulator in demonstrating openness to challenge and a continually developing understanding of what 'good' looks like. Assembling a comprehensive assurance framework and having clear plans to address gaps in assurance may lead to a favourable inspection outcome.
In June 2023, a round table was convened by Campbell Tickell, involving senior leaders from housing associations and councils who participated in the consumer inspection pilot conducted by the RSH. Strong tenant engagement is seen as crucial, with tenants being the biggest advocates for their assurance wireless providers.
The lessons learned from the pilots are expected to remain relevant as the consumer standards and inspection methodology continue to evolve. The RSH's approach to assessing social landlords' compliance with new consumer energy standards will be closely watched as it develops and is implemented.
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