RSH chief executive rejects committee chair’s accusation that English regulator is ‘light touch’

Ms Eshalomi then asked if the RSH needed “more powers” to get providers to take their work more seriously, adding: “The role you have could be conceived as a light touch inspection regime.”

Ms MacGregor replied: “I wouldn’t call it light touch at all.

“If we found a provider was unwilling to make improvements, there are other enforcement actions we could take.”

The committee discussed the failings of four councils graded C4 by the RSH, including the east London borough of Newham, which was the first council to be given the lowest consumer rating in 2024.

Mr Walters said that the four councils given C4 ratings had taken it “very seriously”, and told the committee a lot of their problems were “deep-seated” and not something that could be “put right straight away”.

“We want to make sure we are sat alongside them, helping hold them to account,” Mr Walters added.

The deputy chief executive also fielded questions on the RSH’s inspection process, and why the regulator did not go inside properties when it carried out inspections.

Mr Walters said the regulator had discussed the merits of carrying out in-person property inspections at length, but that its job is to make sure the providers carry out their own inspections, rather than doing the work for them.

However, Lewis Cocking, Conservative MP for Broxbourne, said the panel had heard an “extraordinary amount of waffle” from the RSH. 

Mr Cocking added: “I’m really struggling with what you actually do. You give no deadlines for C4 landlords, and you just review action plans. There’s 300 people who work for your organisation but you don’t do inspections.

“You are not giving me any confidence that you hold landlords and councils to account to... improve the day-to-day lives of our constituents. It sounds like you just review lots of paperwork in the background.”

“I don’t think we would characterise it like that in any way whatsoever,” Ms MacGregor replied.

“Whether it’s local authorities or housing associations, you’ll see a number of our judgements have uncovered things that weren’t even being noticed by the local authority... housing service.”

Ms MacGregor said the regulator was seeing “steady improvements” across local authorities and housing associations, in terms of understanding their housing services and “putting things right when they go wrong”.

She also reported local authorities saying that regulator inspections were driving improvements in their services to tenants.

The HCLGC launched its new inquiry in July to examine the prevalence of hazards such as damp and mould across social housing, the private rented sector and temporary accommodation.

The committee is also scrutinising the efficacy of government policies to improve housing conditions, such as upcoming reforms to the Decent Homes Standard and the introduction of Awaab’s Law.

Written evidence from organisations across the sector was published last month, with many recognising the urgency of improving conditions, particularly in temporary accommodation.

However, both regulators and industry bodies highlighted a “balance to be struck” between social landlords’ capacity to build new homes and their need to maintain their existing stock.