The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG), that regulates the social housing sector to ensure it is viable, efficient, and well-governed.

The RSH works to make sure social landlords (including local authorities and private registered providers of social housing, such as housing associations and charitable housing providers) provide homes that are safe, warm, and well-maintained, they deliver good quality services to tenants, and they hear and respond to tenants’ voices.

The RSH does this by setting standards and carrying out inspections and other regulatory activities. Local authorities and private registered providers are subject to the RSH’s consumer standards (which cover the landlord services to tenants) and its Rent Standard, and private registered providers are additionally subject to the RSH’s economic standards which are focused on governance, financial viability, and value for money.

From 1 April 2024 the RSH has had expanded powers under the law, and it now delivers an inspection programme on its consumer standards.

The London Borough of Barnet (LBB), as the landlord, is registered with the RSH as a registered provider of social housing. Barnet Homes is LBB’s arms-length management organisation (ALMO) and manages the council’s social housing on its behalf. In doing so, Barnet Homes must make sure it complies with the RSH’s consumer standards.

Responsible Persons

In April 2024, the RSH published information about its consumer standards which includes requirements to provide safe and quality homes, as well as describing the responsibilities landlords have to their tenants. Barnet Council has appointed two members of staff to monitor that Barnet Homes is meeting the requirements.

Consumer Standards Responsible Person

The Interim Chief Executive of Barnet Homes, Elliott Sweetman, has overall responsibility for ensuring Barnet Homes is meeting the requirements set out in the regulator’s Consumer Standards.

To make contact with Elliott about this, you can email talktous@barnethomes.org

Barnet Council is your landlord and is ultimately accountable for compliance with the expectations of the regulator. Councillor Ross Houston is the Cabinet Member for Homes and Regeneration. The council’s Arms-Length Management Organisation, Barnet Homes, provides tenancy and property management services on behalf of the council and operational responsibility for making sure the standards are met therefore is delegated to Barnet Homes. There are governance arrangements in place to make sure the council has proper oversight and receives appropriate assurance that Barnet Homes delivers service in line with the regulatory duties.

Health and Safety Lead

Michael Koumi, Barnet Council’s Head of Safety, Health, and Wellbeing, is responsible for monitoring Barnet Homes’ compliance with health and safety regulations.

If you have any concerns about the safety of your home, please contact us.

Frequently asked questions

The RSH has two sets of standards – economic standards and consumer standards.

Economic standards

The economic standards are to make sure social housing landlords are financially viable, properly managed, and perform their functions efficiently, effectively, and economically.

As a local authority provider, we do not have to meet the Governance and Financial Viability or Value for Money standards, but we do have to meet the Rent Standard, which you can read about on the government’s website.

Consumer standards

The consumer standards aim:

  • to support the provision of social housing that is well-managed, safe, energy efficient, and of appropriate quality;
  • to ensure actual or potential tenants of social housing have an appropriate degree of choice and protection;
  • to ensure tenants of social housing have the opportunity to be involved in its management and hold their landlords to account;
  • to ensure registered providers and private registered providers act in a transparent manner in relation to their tenants of social housing; and
  • to encourage registered providers and private registered providers to contribute to the environmental, social, and economic well-being of the areas in which the housing is situated.

There are four consumer standards, which you can read more about on the government’s website:

Safety and Quality Standard – requires landlords to provide safe and good quality homes and landlord services to tenants.

Related information on Barnet Homes’ website:

Transparency, Influence, and Accountability Standard – requires landlords to be open with tenants and treat them with fairness and respect so tenants can access services, raise complaints, influence decision-making, and hold their landlord to account.

Related information on Barnet Homes’ website:

Neighbourhood and Community Standard – requires landlords to collaborate with other parties to create safe and well-maintained neighbourhoods where tenants feel safe in their homes.

Related information on Barnet Homes’ website:

Tenancy Standard – sets requirements for the fair allocation and letting of homes and responsible tenancy management and ending practices.

Related information on Barnet Homes’ website:

Our performance section gives you more information about how we’re performing and how tenants think we’re performing. We also publish an Annual Report for Residents each year, which you can find in our publications section.

Once a year, we complete a self-assessment against the consumer standards. We share this self-assessment with our Board and Barnet Council. We will be completing the self-assessment again in April and May 2025.

The RSH will engage with both Barnet Council and Barnet Homes when it undertakes an inspection of the consumer standards. Barnet Council is the landlord and is therefore ultimately accountable, so the RSH will expect it to have proper oversight and governance arrangements in place to make sure Barnet Homes delivers services in line with its regulatory duties.

We do not yet know when Barnet Council / Barnet Homes will be inspected. The RSH conducts programmed inspections of landlords, and large organisations like Barnet Council / Barnet Homes will be inspected at least once every four years. The RSH usually gives six weeks’ notice that it will carry out an inspection.

The RSH also carries out inspections that are not programmed, for example if it becomes aware of an issue or potential issue that it assesses as material to the delivery of the consumer standards, or because it considers an inspection is an appropriate way to investigate a matter.

You can read more about the RSH’s inspection plan on its website.

Tenant Satisfaction Measures are a set of 22 standard measures that all social housing landlords have to collect in a standardised way and share with the RSH by 30 June each year. The TSMs are intended to make landlords’ performance more visible to tenants, and help tenants hold their landlord to account.

There are 10 TSMs that show landlord management information and 12 that show tenant satisfaction. Our results are regularly reported to our Board and to the council, and we publish them on our website in June each year. You can find our latest results in our performance section.

You can read more about the Tenant Satisfaction Measures on the government’s website.

The RSH encourages tenants to make complaints directly to their landlord, as the RSH’s role is not to resolve individual disputes between the landlord and the tenant. If you have a complaint, please contact Barnet Homes so we can work with you to fix things. Find out more in our Complaints section.

The Housing Ombudsman Service is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the MHCLG, which can review and make decisions on disputes between tenants and social housing landlords if tenants are not satisfied once the landlord’s internal complaints process has been exhausted. You can find out more about the Housing Ombudsman Service in our Complaints section.

The RSH does accept referrals regarding social housing landlords not delivering the outcomes of its standards. These are different to individual disputes affecting one tenant. You can find out more about making a referral to the RSH on its website.