Regulation

Working in a highly regulated sector is complex. Our long history of supporting clients in the social housing sector means we are intimately familiar with the social housing regulatory frameworks across the UK and Ireland. We’ve worked with each of the regulators themselves on various aspects of their roles, and we understand the details and the nuances of the approaches taken in each country.

Our deep understanding of regulation and the regulatory mindset helps clients to see the important work they do through a regulatory lens and fine-tune the way in which they understand and demonstrate compliance. Our advice is pragmatic, down to earth, and focused on what matters most. Whether it is helping board members and councillors to get to grips with the relevant regulatory framework, discussing the detail of a particular regulatory requirement, or providing expert recovery support when things get tough, we’re always happy to talk social housing regulation: please get in touch.

Key Services

The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 has introduced changes to the consumer regulation regime and we are very well placed, building on our existing IDA support offer, to help housing associations, local authorities, ALMOs and for-profit providers respond to these changes. We can tailor our support to your requirements, for example providing briefings on the regulatory framework, assistance with self-assessment of compliance, help to develop assurance frameworks, and/or practice for inspection. Our support can extend to more detailed reviews and advice in relation to specific areas of practice if required.

In depth assessments (IDAs) continue to evolve and will change further as new Consumer Regulation is rolled out. Recent changes include a greater focus on stock condition, stress testing, recovery planning, and building and resident safety.

We have helped more than 100 housing associations to build the confidence of their non-executive directors and executive team and to deliver clear assurance to the regulator.

Preparing for in depth assessment – helping you to shine

Our services cover:

  • Introductory presentations and interactive workshops for Boards
  • Reviewing and refreshing key documents to help shape your narrative
  • Rehearsing and coaching interviewees to confidently describe your ambitions, structures and risks
  • Identifying areas of strength and opportunities for improvement ahead of scrutiny by the Regulation of Social Housing;
  • Critical friend input on key elements such as document mapping, briefing notes, stress-testing and risk management;
  • Post-IDA remedial support.
Delivering clear assurance to the housing regulator

Our IDA clients include for-profits, supported housing and recently merged providers, plus several of the pilots for the new consumer inspection regime.

We are proud to have recently supported both L&G Affordable Homes – the first for-profit RP to be confirmed as G1 V1, and Clarion – who retained their G1. And we are pleased that many clients have returned to us to help with their second and third IDAs.

Over 80% of the RPs we have supported have achieved a positive IDA outcome in retaining or improving their G/V grading. For others, our advice has been key to delivering a clear and focused action plan that addresses regulatory concerns and builds RSH confidence, supporting a rapid return to the previous grading.

Alongside our support to prepare for inspection, we can provide a range of assistance to prepare social landlords more broadly for the changes to regulation – including self-assessment, ‘health checks’ and developing your approach to assurance.

Social housing regulation in England is changing.

The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 changes the way all registered providers will be regulated from April 2024, as well as putting the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaints Handling Code on a statutory footing. The sector must also comply with the expectations of a new Building Safety Regulator.

Campbell Tickell offers expert, tailored and practical support to clients to help them understand and comply with regulatory expectations.

 

Our support:

  1. Building understanding of consumer regulation

    Draw on us to:

    • Help Executive teams, Boards, Council members, staff and/or tenants understand regulatory expectations.
    • Work through with you how consumer regulation compliance can become an embedded part of how you maintain high standards in your homes and services, rather than feeling like an onerous tick-box exercise.
  2. Assessing and achieving compliance

    Draw on us to:

    • Help you take a good look in the mirror and understand the extent to which you comply with the consumer standards (including support with self-assessment)
    • Organise, scrutinise, and validate the assurance which underpins your ability to demonstrate compliance
    • Design an assurance framework which brings structure and rigour to your understand of compliance
    • Act as a critical friend to leaders, managers, and operational teams.
    • Support you to develop action plans to address any gaps, including identifying priorities and understanding resource implications
    • Help you to base decisions on richer evidence through targeted and risk-based ‘deep dive’ checks to provide assurance in key areas
  3. Prepare for regulatory inspection

    Draw on us to:

    • Help you understand what to expect and how best to prepare
    • Review documents through a regulatory lens
    • Provide rehearsal and coaching for inspection
    • Conduct soft benchmarking against good practice

We are familiar with the various Regulatory Standards in place across the UK and Ireland. We can assess compliance (or validate an organisation’s self-assessments) against any aspect of them, either in full, or targeted at a particular standard or requirement.

We can also assess compliance with codes of governance such as the NHF Code of Governance, the UK Corporate Governance Code and the Charity Governance Code.

We can provide assistance and support in the completion and validation of regulatory returns. Where inaccuracies occur, we can help organisations resolve them, and put in place controls to ensure they are avoided in future.

Where an organisation experiences regulatory compliance issues, of whatever level of severity, we can help identify root causes (including systemic factors), map out the path to recovery and provide ongoing support and advice to enable organisations to resolve matters. This can include support with developing voluntary undertakings and improvement action plans, as well as with validating improvement work undertaken.

We support organisations seeking to become registered social housing landlords. We help with the creation of documentation, establishing governance structures, financial modelling and application submissions to the relevant regulator.

Key Contacts

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Find out how our sector specialists can help you deliver success.

Regulation

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