Today, Housing Secretary Michael Gove announced that, in order to protect residents and raise standards in the sector, social housing managers must gain professional qualifications under new rules.
The UK government has announced new rules requiring social housing managers to gain professional qualifications to drive up standards and protect residents. The announcement was made by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, in response to the tragic deaths of two-year-old Awaab Ishak and the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The new regulations will require around 25,000 managers in the sector to hold a housing management qualification regulated by OfQual equivalent to a Level 4 or 5 Certificate or Diploma Foundation Degree in Housing or from the Chartered Institute of Housing.
The changes will be made through amendments to the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill, which will drive up standards in the sector and hold landlords accountable for the services they provide to their tenants. The Bill will also give the Regulator tough new powers, such as the ability to enter properties with only 48 hours’ notice and make emergency repairs with landlords footing the bill.
The new requirements aim to professionalize and drive the necessary culture change in the sector to ensure that residents receive a high level of service and are treated with respect at all times. Although many managers already provide a high-quality professional service, not all do, and these new regulations will ensure that all managers have the skills and qualifications they need.
The Changes Will Raise Standards and Ensure Resident Safety
The new regulations come in response to the tragic deaths of two-year-old Awaab Ishak and the Grenfell Tower tragedy, which showed the devastating consequences of residents being let down by Poor performing landlords who consistently failed to listen to them.
The aim of these changes is to provide social housing managers nationwide with the appropriate skills and experience to provide outstanding service and increase standards overall. The regulator could impose an unlimited fine on any landlord who does not comply with the new standards.
Professionalising Social Housing Management
The new requirements will bring social housing more closely in line with other sectors providing front-line services, including social work, teaching, and health and care services.
Professionalizing social housing management will ensure that tenants and residents have access to good quality, affordable homes and that they are treated with dignity and respect. It will also ensure that their voices and views are heard and taken into account in decisions that affect them, their homes, and the communities they live in.
The Chartered Institute of Housing, which represents housing professionals in the UK, welcomed the government’s focus on and support for professionalism in housing. The Institute believes that housing professionals should do all they can to ensure that tenants and residents have access to good quality, affordable homes, and that they are treated with dignity and respect.
Source: Gov[Dot]UK
