DLUHC launches consultation on the provision of information to tenants relating to complaints and tenants’ rights

The Social Housing (Regulation) Act (‘the Act’) introduced two new powers of direction; provision of information to tenants, and competency and conduct.

This new consultation lunched by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (‘DLUHC’) sets out proposals to direct the Regulator to introduce requirements relating to the provision of information to tenants relating to complaints and tenants’ rights.

The proposals will result in councils and housing associations being legally obliged to provide tenants with information on regulatory requirements that are relevant to them, such as the Decent Homes Standard.

The DLUHC have said;

“Tenants will know they can hold their landlords to account”.

The consultation document states that;

“The intended outcome of this direction is to ensure that all tenants understand how to make a complaint and their landlord’s policy for dealing with complaints.”

“While landlords will have flexibility in determining the most appropriate way to communicate this information to their tenants, this is intended to ensure that all tenants are able to access information about complaints in a way that they understand, without barriers to comprehension.”

The consultation is open until 22 November 2023.

The timings on the part of Awaab’s Law requiring social landlords to respond to and fix reported hazards within a specified time frame or rehouse tenants where a home cannot be made safe, will be part of a future consultation.

Simultaneously, the Housing Ombudsman has launched a consultation into the Complaints Handling Code (‘the Code’). Further information can be found here.

For further information or assistance, do get in touch.