RSH gives council C4 grade and downgrades two landlords to G2

The regulator found a lack of accurate information on the quality of tenants’ homes, particularly the recording and monitoring of potential hazards.

 

The council, which owns almost 11,000 social homes in South Essex, had identified around 4,600 fire safety remedial actions arising from fire risk assessments, but had been unable to evidence their completion.

 

Although Basildon Council reported that none of the actions were high risk and it had mitigations in place, the RSH was not assured that there was a plan in place to address the outstanding work in “a timely manner”.

 

The regulator said there were “serious failings” in its engagement with tenants and a lack of meaningful opportunities for them to scrutinise landlord services, policies and strategies. The RSH also found the council did not have “sufficient assurance” of repairs performance, or effective oversight of its contractor.

 

Furthermore, the regulatory judgement cited issues with the council’s tenant satisfaction measure (TSM) reporting, and no evidence of any analysis, learning or actions from the results to improve services.

 

In addition, the RSH criticised Basildon Council for failing to self-refer to the regulator, after an external review in March 2025 found the council was not delivering a range of outcomes in the consumer standards.

 

“Due to the seriousness of the issues we identified during the inspection, including the scale and breadth, we consider the lack of self-referral to be a very serious failing,” the regulator said in its judgement.

 

The RSH said Basildon Council has been “engaging constructively” with the regulator.

 

Kate Dodsworth, chief of regulatory engagement at the RSH, said: “We are working intensively with Basildon Council to make sure it understands the risks to tenants and takes prompt action to put things right – prioritising the highest-risk issues.

 

“This case reinforces the importance of landlords self-referring to us when they find problems – either themselves or through external reviews. This is a fundamental requirement of our consumer standards. By flagging issues to us at an early stage, landlords can solve them more quickly and, in doing so, protect tenants and improve services.”

 

Gary Jones, chief executive of Basildon Council, said the findings highlighted “very significant failings”.

 

“We recognise that we have let our tenants down, and for that we are deeply sorry,” he said.

 

"We have taken full accountability [and] are acting urgently to deliver the improvements required to our services. This grading confirms that while we have made progress, there is much more to do.”

Mr Jones thanked the RSH for its “extensive engagement” with the council and said he is “confident” the provider will return to a compliant rating.

 

He said the council understands the scale of the challenge required and has taken the “necessary steps” to improve, starting with implementing a new leadership team last year.

 

“I am confident that we will deliver better outcomes for our residents and returning our services to a compliant rating,” Mr Jones said.

 

Governance downgrades

 

One Vision Housing and Worthing Homes were both downgraded from G1 to G2, and the former retained its V1 rating while the latter kept its V2.

 

The RSH said One Vision Housing, which owns over 13,000 social homes across the North West, met the regulator’s governance requirements overall but needed to improve “some aspects” of its governance.

 

This includes board reporting to support improved oversight of safety and quality outcomes for tenants, as well as aspects of its stress testing.

 

A spokesperson from One Vision Housing said: “We are proud to hold C1 and V1 ratings, the highest possible grades for service delivery and financial strength. These show that our foundations are secure and we’re investing in our homes.

 

“We have a robust plan in place to address the regulator’s feedback regarding our governance rating and are focused on returning to G1 status by the end of the year.”

 

The RSH said Worthing Homes needed to improve aspects of its governance to support continued compliance. This includes the “reliability, accuracy and completeness” of the information it holds, and work was already underway to strengthen these areas, the regulator said.

 

Donna Cezair, chief executive of Worthing Homes, acknowledged the judgement.

 

She said the grades confirmed the landlord, which owns and manages around 4,250 social housing homes in the South East, was meeting the regulator’s requirements, while also making clear where it needs to improve.

 

Ms Cezair said: “The inspection recognised strengths in our customer service culture and the role residents play in helping shape our services. It also highlighted areas where we need to strengthen aspects of our safety work, internal processes and repair services.

 

“We know residents want safe homes, reliable services and repairs that are completed properly. That is where our focus remains, alongside tackling damp and mould and embedding the improvements being delivered through our new responsive repairs service.”

 

Torus’ consumer upgrade

 

Torus was upgraded from C2 to C1. The housing association, which manages around 41,000 homes in Liverpool, was given a C2 grade following an inspection in May last year, and since then has been delivering an improvement plan.

 

The RSH has now concluded that as a result of this work the provider has “strengthened” its oversight of health and safety compliance and provided assurance that it is delivering “an effective repairs service”.

 

Torus’ G1/V1 grades are based on its previous assessment in November.

 

Steve Coffey, group chief executive at Torus, said: “We are really proud to have received confirmation from the regulator that our consumer standards rating has been upgraded to C1.

 

“This reflects the exceptional efforts of colleagues and board members across the organisation who have worked tirelessly to strengthen oversight, assurance and service quality for our customers.

 

“Achieving C1/G1/V1 demonstrates our continued commitment to strong governance, financial resilience and delivering high‑quality services for the communities we serve.”

 

Gradings under review list

 

Elsewhere, the regulator placed YMCA Thames Gateway on its gradings under review list, while it investigates matters which may indicate “serious failings” in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard and the consumer standards.

 

The provider said this relates to the late submission of the group’s 2022-23 audited accounts, during a period in which an operating deficit was also reported and a “limited number” of properties were identified as potentially not meeting the Decent Homes Standard. The landlord said this was around 25 out of 400 bedrooms.

 

The landlord said that since this engagement began, it had been working “closely and transparently” with the regulator.

 

The provider owns fewer than 1,000 homes so is not subject to regulatory gradings.

 

The landlord said: “YMCA Thames Gateway Group remains focused on strengthening its financial resilience, improving performance and meeting all regulatory expectations. Services for residents continue to operate as normal.

 

“The group welcomes the regulator’s engagement and is committed to demonstrating the effectiveness of the actions being taken. Further updates will be provided once the RSH has concluded its review.”