Regulator hits borough council with lowest consumer grade after serious failings in its engagement with tenants

Basildon did not self-refer to RSH after an external review in March 2025 found the council was not delivering a range of outcomes in the consumer standards.

Due to the seriousness of the issues identified during the inspection, the RSH indicated that the lack of self-referral was itself a very serious failing.

The investigation uncovered:

• Poor data assurance for legal health and safety requirements, and a lack of assurance that remedial actions are accurately recorded or actioned in a timely way.
• A lack of accurate information on the quality of tenants’ homes, particularly the recording and monitoring of potential hazards.
• Serious failings in its engagement with tenants and a lack of meaningful opportunities for them to scrutinise landlord services, policies and strategies.
• Insufficient assurance of repairs performance, or effective oversight of contractors.

In addition, RSH found issues with the council’s Tenant Satisfaction Measure (TSM) reporting, and no evidence of any analysis, learning or actions from the results to improve services.

Basildon Council now needs to make fundamental changes so it can deliver improved outcomes for tenants, RSH said.

It suggested that Basildon also needs to develop a full understanding of current risks to tenants and the root causes of the failings to develop its improvement plan and drive the fundamental changes needed to address these failings. 

Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, said: “We are working intensively with Basildon Council to make sure it understands the risks to tenants and takes prompt action to put things right – prioritising the highest risk issues.

“This case reinforces the importance of landlords self-referring to us when they find problems – either themselves or through external reviews.

"This is a fundamental requirement of our consumer standards. By flagging issues to us at an early stage, landlords can solve them more quickly and, in doing so, protect tenants and improve services.”

Basildon Borough Council said it fully accepted the RSH’s findings and the need for urgent and sustained improvements.

The council stressed that it is taking decisive action, with a new leadership team leading housing services, experienced in working closely with the regulator and at turning around failing services at speed.

Basildon is also working on an improvement plan that focuses on strengthening leadership, compliance and sustained outcomes for residents.

Gary Jones, the council's Chief Executive, said: "The findings highlighted very significant failings. We recognise that we have let our tenants down, and for that we are deeply sorry.

"We have taken full accountability are acting urgently to deliver the improvements required to our services. This grading confirms that while we have made progress, there is much more to do."

He added: "I want to thank the Housing Regulator for their extensive engagement with the council and thorough review of our services. It gives me confidence that the regulator hasn't decided to take enforcement action and has given us the opportunity to work at speed to put things right.

"I understand the scale of challenge required and took the necessary steps, starting with implementing a new leadership team last year. I am confident that we will deliver better outcomes for our residents and returning our services to a compliant rating."

Deborah Fenton, Basildon's Executive Director of Housing, added: “While the news is disappointing it’s not unexpected and while we have a difficult journey ahead, I feel confident that we can work at speed to bring the service back to a compliant standard.”

Also in the latest round of consumer gradings, Norwich City Council was given a C1 grading after an inspection, meaning it meets the outcomes of RSH’s consumer standards.

Norwich is the latest evidence in a positive trend that has seen eight local authorities obtain the C1 grade in the last 12 months, after only two achieved the grade in the previous year.

Harry Rodd