Local council satisfied as social housing regulator issues its judgement

Posted on 30 July 2025

This week, South Holland District Council has been awarded the second highest grading by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) following a recent programmed inspection.

The council is satisfied with the C2 consumer standards grading but recognise there is room for further improvement and is committed to working with the regulator to achieve a C1 grading as soon as possible.

The RSH issues gradings from C1, where consumer standards are fully met, to C4, where there are very serious failings. The C2 grading indicates that while the council is broadly meeting the consumer standards, there are some weaknesses and improvement is needed in the transparency, accountability and influence standard. 

The RSH's inspection involved a detailed review of documents and onsite interviews with senior officers and councillors. Inspectors also attended scrutiny committee meetings and spoke with tenants.

In its judgment, the RSH recognises the strategic shift to prioritise landlord services through the implementation of a transformation programme in 2024, aimed at enhancing the delivery of housing services to tenants.

The authority's Cabinet approved a new Housing Landlord Service Tenant Engagement And Influence Strategy in June 2025. A crucial element of this strategy was the launch of the Tenants Forum which took place earlier this month; giving tenants a central platform to stay informed, but also share their views and influence key decisions.

Councillor Tracey Carter, Portfolio Holder for Strategic and Operational Housing said: "I welcome the C2 judgement from RSH, it's really pleasing to see we are doing a lot of things right in how we deliver services for our tenants.

"However, we have some work to do to improve our service delivery further, particularly in tenant engagement. The launch of our Tenant Forum marks the beginning of a new approach, enabling us to work more collaboratively with tenants, review services, and implement changes based on their feedback.

"We look forward to continued dialogue with RSH as we strive towards achieving a C1 grading in the future."

More information about the four consumer standards can be found on the Government website.

To read the full judgement and find a useful list of FAQs, please visit Proactive Consumer Regulation (Inspection)