The Regulator of Social Housing and the Housing Ombudsman have issued an updated Memorandum of Understanding setting out how they will work together following significant changes to the roles of both organisations following enactment of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. In a covering letter to Registered Providers they emphasise the differences between their roles, with the HO focusing on individual complaints and the RSH on landlord performance overall. They point out that:
“This means therecan be a landlord failing in complaints handling, a service, operational area or that needs to be investigated by the Ombudsman but without the regulator concluding it is an organisational failure to deliver against the standards. Equally, the regulator may find that a landlord is not delivering the outcomes of the regulatory standards, but this does not mean the Ombudsman will find the landlord has acted unfairly or unreasonably in all the circumstances it investigates.”