The NFA is pleased to submit a response to the Regulator of Social Housing’s consultation on the draft Consumer Standards.

We have broadly welcomed the standards and consider that they cover the right areas and set the right expectations of landlords. We are happy with the outcome-focused approach as well as the Regulator continuing to commit to a co-regulatory regime. 

Members are agreed that the way the Regulator regulates these standards is as important as the standards themselves, and we have asked the Regulator to commit to a review after a set period of using them so that lessons can be learned, and the process and standards tweaked as necessary. 

NFA members are also concerned that however much they will want to meet all of these standards in the future, there are questions around the ability of individual Housing Revenue Accounts to be able to fund the necessary repair and capital works, as well as provide the service levels required to meet the new standards.