Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 3 May 2016 to Question 35113, what powers his Department can exercise if the Social Housing Regulator is failing to protect tenants from serious detriment by registered providers.

Gavin Barwell

The Social Housing Regulator may use its enforcement powers if a Registered Provider of Social Housing has failed to meet a regulatory standard. This includes ensuring that thier stock is adequately maintained and there is no serious detriment to their tenants.

However, if tenants of Registered Providers are not satisfied with the way the Regulator has handled their case, they will have to access the Regulator’s complaint process. This involves complaining directly to the Regulator, the Regulator will reply within 20 working days. If the tenants are unhappy with the way their complaint was handled at the first stage, they can escalate their complaint to the Regulator’s legal service team as an independent review of the original complaint. If they are still unhappy with the response, then they can refer their complaint to the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, who will carry out an independent review.

If following the Regulator’s complaint procedure they are still unhappy, they can ask their MP to take their complaints to the independent Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to review the handling of their complaint. Full details of how to make a complaint against the Regulator can be found on the Homes and Communities Agency’s website.