In July, the Regulator of Social Housing inspected our services to see how well we’re meeting the standards expected of us as a social landlord.
The regulator has now published its judgement and given us a C3 grading. This means it has found serious failings and says significant improvement is needed.
We’re sorry that, in some important areas, our tenants aren’t getting the standard of service they should expect from us, or that we aspire to provide.
The regulator found that we need to improve how we oversee, track and report some safety work, including actions following fire safety assessments.
We want to reassure you that we’re not aware of any immediate danger to tenants as a result of these findings. Work is already underway to address the issues raised. Keeping you safe in your home is our priority and safety will be a key part of our improvement plan.
We accept the findings and we’re not going to shy away from them. We’ll now work together with tenants, our staff and the regulator to develop a clear and realistic improvement plan.
Read the full regulatory judgement on GOV.UK
Frequently asked questions
Who is the Regulator of Social Housing?
The Regulator of Social Housing is the organisation responsible for regulating social housing landlords in England.
It sets standards that councils and other social landlords must meet and checks how well landlords are delivering against them.
Find out more on the Regulator of Social Housing website
Why were we inspected?
The regulator has a programme of inspections for social landlords with more than 1,000 homes.
Tamworth Borough Council manages 4,265 social rent homes, including 365 independent living homes.
What did the regulator look at?
The regulator considered all four consumer standards:
- Safety and Quality
- Neighbourhood and Community
- Tenancy
- Transparency, Influence and Accountability.
As part of the inspection, the regulator observed our Housing and Homelessness Advisory Board and Tenant Consultative Group. It met tenants, officers, the leader of the council and the portfolio holder for housing. It also reviewed a wide range of council documents.
What grade did we receive?
We received a C3 consumer grade.
This means the regulator found serious failings in how we’re delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and says significant improvement is needed.
What do the different grades mean?
The regulator uses four consumer grades:
- C1: Landlord meets requirements.
- C2: Landlord meets requirements, but needs to improve some aspects.
- C3: Landlord does not meet requirements, with issues of serious concern. An action plan must be in place and improvement is needed.
- C4: Landlord does not meet requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern and the landlord is subject to regulatory intervention or enforcement action.
What did the regulator find?
The most serious findings relate to the Safety and Quality Standard.
The regulator found that we need to improve how we oversee the completion, tracking and reporting of safety work. It also found that we couldn’t provide assurance that actions relating to fire safety were being completed within appropriate timescales.
We also don’t currently have a Building Safety Resident Engagement Strategy, as required by the Building Safety Act 2022.
The regulator identified other areas where we need to improve. These include our information about the condition of homes, oversight of anti-social behaviour cases, tenant involvement and scrutiny, performance information for tenants and complaints.
These findings will form part of our improvement work.
Read the full regulatory judgement on GOV.UK
Is my home safe?
We understand why you may be concerned after reading the regulator’s judgement.
We’re not aware of any immediate danger to tenants as a result of these findings.
The regulator’s concerns include how we oversee, track and report safety work and whether actions following fire safety assessments are being completed within the right timescales.
Work is already underway to address the issues raised. Keeping you safe in your home is our priority and safety will be a key part of our improvement plan.
What are you doing about the findings?
Work has already started.
We’ll use the regulator’s findings to help develop a clear and realistic improvement plan. We’ll work with tenants, our staff and the regulator to agree what needs to change and make lasting improvements to the services you receive.
The regulator will continue to work with us and monitor our progress.
Will the regulator continue to monitor the council?
Yes.
The regulator has said its engagement with us will be intensive. It will seek assurance that we’re making enough progress towards better outcomes for tenants and will continue to monitor our improvement programme.
How will tenants be involved?
We want you to be part of the improvement work, not simply hear about it afterwards.
We’ll work with tenants as we develop and deliver our improvement plans, and we’ll share more information about how you can get involved.
The regulator identified tenant involvement and scrutiny as an area where we need to improve. We’ve already commissioned external support to improve our approach to tenant engagement and scrutiny.
There are already different ways you can get involved and help shape the services you receive.
Find out more on our tenant involvement webpage
How will I know whether things are getting better?
We’ll be open about our progress and keep you updated as our improvement plan develops.
We’ll use our website and tenant communications, including Open House, to explain what we’re doing and the progress we’re making.
Where can I read the full judgement?
You can read the full regulatory judgement on GOV.UK