What are the responsibilities of a social housing landlord?

Being a social housing landlord comes with extra responsibilities that help ensure that you are providing a safe and enjoyable experience for your tenants. Social housing is a public service that has been created to provide security and stability for millions of households across the UK. 

It is safe to say, however, that the relationship between you and your tenants will be slightly more regulated by regulatory, ethical, and legal standards compared to your relationship with tenants who are not in social housing. 

Understanding the social landlord’s responsibilities is the basis of a functional social housing community. With the introduction of the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023, the focus has shifted towards landlords needing to be more transparent and empowering tenants more. Here, we’ll go through your duty of care as a social housing landlord.

The statutory foundation

At the core of social housing landlord responsibilities is the fundamental right for tenants to live in a home that is fit for human habitation and safe. As a landlord, you will be held to the Decent Homes Standard, which is a benchmark that your property’s condition should comply with. Let’s take a look at this in more detail. 

The Decent Homes Standard

According to the Decent Homes Standard, all social housing must meet these four key criteria:  

1. It must meet the current statutory minimum standard for housing.
2. It must be in a reasonable state of repair.
3. It must have reasonably modern facilities and services.
4. It must provide a reasonable degree of effective insulation and heating.

Specific safety obligations

Social housing landlords have a duty of care to manage physical risks as efficiently as possible, which includes the following: 

• Gas safety: You need to ensure that you book in annual inspections by a Gas Safe registered engineer. 
• Fire safety: You need to install smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and conduct regular Fire Risk Assessments (FRAs). 
• Damp and mould:  You’ll need to take proactive steps to ensure that the tenant keeps the property dry and well-ventilated. 
• Electrical safety: You’ll need to ensure that you implement your EICR checks every 5 years to make sure that your wiring and installations are safe. 

A duty to the tenant

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has designed a set of consumer standards that you need to comply with as a landlord. These are regulatory requirements that will define how you interact with your tenants in social housing. 

Tenant voice and empowerment

A huge part of your responsibilities as a social landlord will involve listening to your tenants, including 

• Providing a range of opportunities for your tenants to be able to openly discuss and have opinions on how you manage the property. 
• Publishing ‘Tenant Satisfaction Measures’ (TSM) so that they can compare your service to that of other social housing landlords.
• Communicating in a way that is clear, transparent and accessible to your tenants. 

Fairness and respect

As a social landlord, you need to treat all tenants with respect and fairness, making sure that you take into account disabilities and language barriers. This will ensure that you’re following your duty of care as a social housing landlord and that vulnerable tenants aren’t forgotten about. 

Social housing tenants’ rights and responsibilities

Ensuring that your relationship with your tenants in social housing is healthy, you’ll need to remember that it needs to be a two-way street. You’ll definitely hold the bulk of the legal responsibility as a landlord, but social housing tenants’ rights and responsibilities should still clearly be defined in the tenancy agreement. 

Tenant rights

Here are the rights of your tenants in social housing: 

• The right to have essential repairs carried out within a timely manner
• Tenants have the right to security of tenure, which means they cannot be evicted without a specific legal reason and court order. 
• Tenants have the right to have access to policies on how you set your rent, how repairs are prioritised and how you’ll spend your money. 

Tenant responsibilities

As well as this, tenants have certain responsibilities that they need to prioritise, for example: 

• Tenants need to pay rent on time, as this allows you to maintain your property
• Tenants need to report any repairs as soon as possible to you, as the landlord, in order to prevent further damage. 
• Tenants need to avoid anti-social behaviour that disturbs the community and damages the property. 
• Tenants need to allow workers access to the property for all essential safety checks and repairs. 

Neighbourhood and community management

Your responsibilities as a social housing landlord will extend beyond just your property because you’re essentially the largest stakeholder within the specific neighbourhood. So, it is your responsibility to do your part within your community. 

Managing anti-social behaviour (ASB)

If you notice ASB within your property or your neighbourhood, it is important that you work with the local authority and the police to tackle it. You should also have a clear policy on how your tenants can deal with noise complaints, harassment, and any criminal activity within the estate. 

Upkeep of communal areas

When the communal space is poorly maintained, this is often indicative of wider property management failures. Communal maintenance will include lifts, playgrounds, ensuring the grass is cut, and all communal areas. 

The regulator and the Ombudsman

So, what happens when things go wrong? The framework of social landlord responsibilities outlines clear paths that you can take to rectify issues. Let’s take a closer look at the different options you have. 

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH)

As mentioned above, you’ll have to comply with the RSH. They look at whether or not you are financially viable enough and if you meet Consumer Standards. If you fail to comply with these standards, you may be issued fines, or there may be a change in property management. 

The Housing Ombudsman

Additionally, the Housing Ombudsman will deal with individual disputes if the tenant has exhausted your internal complaints process and is still not satisfied. This is when the Ombudsman will investigate the issue and can either order you to carry out specific repairs or pay compensation.

The duty to support tenancy sustainment

Another important responsibility as a social housing landlord is the duty to support tenants in being able to stay in their homes. Where private landlords can go through the process of eviction under the right grounds, social landlords are expected to work alongside tenants to help them remain in the property. 

This can include:

• Offering debt and benefits advice.
• Providing supportive housing for tenants with mental health or physical disabilities.
• Identifying early signs of vulnerability and referring tenants to external support services.

You need to keep in mind that your responsibility here is tenancy sustainment and preventing homelessness by addressing the cause of ASB or rent arrears. 

So, as you can see, your responsibilities as a social housing landlord are vast and range from operational issues to community cohesion. As well as this, understanding your social housing tenants’ rights and responsibilities is equally important to ensuring their home remains safe and protected. 

Are you looking for landlord insurance to help protect your social housing rental property? Get in touch with our team of specialists at CIA Landlords to get your tailored quote on 01788 818 670. Also, be sure to visit our advice centre for more information on how to manage your rental property.