Inside Housing – Home – The Week in Housing: scale of remediation laid bare and children in temporary accommodation inquiry begins

A discrepancy occurred in the English regulator’s new regime. Newham Council achieved the highest tenant satisfaction measure (TSM) score of all London local authorities in 2023-24, despite being the first landlord to receive a C4 grade from the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).
A spokesperson for the RSH told Inside Housing that the TSMs were “only one source of information” it uses to regulate landlords and that it recognised “collection methods can potentially impact on results”.
Another council revealed it was looking at creating a new standalone housing department after it received a C3 grade from the RSH.
A new report by the regulator also revealed a 66% rise in whistleblowing allegations. At the same time, the Housing Ombudsman made nearly 22,000 orders and recommendations last year to force landlords to put things right for residents, a more than threefold year-on-year increase.
At the Homes England Investment Symposium in London on Monday, the chief executive of the government housing agency made a number of interesting comments on temporary accommodation.
He said: “I don’t think investors are wary of this area, if done correctly. If local authorities were there leading the charge on managing the temporary accommodation situation, I think you’d find investors were perfectly happy to support that.”
Peter Denton also explained why Homes England’s master developer with Barratt Redrow and Lloyds Bank will not get access to the agency’s existing sites.
At the same event, a senior official outlined three things the government has to fix as part of its upcoming 10-year housing plan.
One thing the plan must do is significantly ramp up development if the government is to meet its 1.5 million-home target this parliament.
A new report by Savills this week found that the rate of affordable housebuilding must more than triple to meet need and tackle the housing crisis.
A separate government-commissioned report said the supported housing sector will need to double by 2040 “if current demand and unmet demand is to be met”.
With the sector looking to the next multi-year Spending Review in March for funding and additional certainty to help underpin long-term business plans, a new value for money report from Housemark showed how English housing associations’ average operating margins have increased for the first time in five years.
While margins continue to be strained by existing stock improvements and building safety, merger activity across the sector shows no sign of slowing down.
Bromford and Flagship reported rising half-year revenues, but are facing spending pressures on improving existing homes as they prepare to merge next year.
Two Welsh landlords merged to form a 5,200-home association, and a small north London landlord completed a stock transfer to Watford Community Housing, following a consultation with residents.
Finally, the head of 16,000-home Plymouth Community Homes told Inside Housing why he is developing a new homes standard and how housing associations can be more innovative, and we also published our latest monthly round-up of top-level housing sector appointments.
Have a great weekend.
Stephen Delahunty, news editor, Inside Housing
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