North Yorkshire Council refers itself to Regulator of Social Housing

A recently formed local authority has referred itself to the Regulator of Social Housing after finding it is not meeting all the requirements of the new Social Housing (Regulation) Act.

North Yorkshire Council -  which last year took on housing services from three district councils - said it has ”recognised that work needs to be done to meet all elements of the act”.

Officers are now in talks with the regulator for plans to improve its housing services for tenants. 

The act, which came into force last month introduces new consumer standards for social landlords, relating to the safety and quality of homes,  tenant safety, tenant engagement, transparency and a duty on landlords to highlight any areas of non-compliance to the regulator.

The changes it has introduced include stricter timeframes for landlords to deal with issues such as mould and damp. 

Nic Harne, corporate director for community development at the council said: “This new act provides the chance to provide the best services and quality of housing for our residents”. 

“As the landlord for almost 8,500 homes, we welcome the changes it brings.  It provides us with a framework for improvement as we create a unified housing management service. 

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Harne added: “We have fully restructured the service and have improvement plans in place. The safety and quality of our homes is our priority, and we encourage any tenants with any concerns about their homes to contact us directly.

The council was formed in April last year, replacing seven former district and borough councils and a county council.

The district councils were Craven, Hambleton, Richmondshire Ryedale and Selby. The borough councils were Scarborough and Harrogate.