Salix Homes amongst first to be awarded top C1 grading from Regulator of Social Housing

Salix Homes is pleased to announce we’ve been awarded the highest grading from the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in recognition of the homes and services we provide for our customers.

The RSH, which is a Government body that regulates the social housing sector, has recently completed a thorough inspection of our organisation.

We’re already assessed on our Governance (G grading) and financial Viability (V grading ), but now there’s a new Consumer (C grading) where the Regulator looks at how we comply with the new Consumer Standards, introduced to help drive improvements in the quality of housing and services.

We are amongst the first housing associations to be inspected as part of the new standards and inspection programme, and one of the first in the country to be awarded the highest possible C1 grading.

We also retained our G1 grading for governance and V2 grading for financial viability.

Sue Sutton, Salix Homes Chief Executive, said: “This is a really positive outcome for Salix Homes and we’re very proud to be amongst the first housing associations to have achieved the highest possible C1 grading under the new Consumer Standards, which reflects our ongoing commitment to putting customers at the heart of our organisation.

“This achievement is testament to the dedication and hard work of our workforce, Board and Customer Committee. It also underpins our collective efforts to ensure that our homes are safe and well-maintained, our customers are listened to and respected, and that our services are responsive and effective.

“Retaining our G1 and V2 gradings also highlights our dedication to strong governance and financial stability. These gradings assure our customers, colleagues and stakeholders that we are managing our resources wisely and are well-positioned to continue providing high-quality homes and services.

“While we are proud of this recognition, we are not complacent. We’re committed to continuous improvement and we will carry on learning from customer feedback to ensure we can keep delivering a housing service in Salford we’re all proud to be a part of.”

In its judgement, the Regulator recognised our strengths, including:

• We have appropriate systems in place to ensure the health and safety of our customers in their homes, including an effective building safety programme.
• We work effectively with our partners to tackle anti-social behaviour and ensure safe communities.
• We treat our customers with fairness and respect and provide a wide range of opportunities for customers to influence and scrutinise our services. Feedback received from customers directly and positively impacts service delivery.
• We use our customer and stock data effectively to manage our assets and deliver high quality homes and services.
• We are implementing positive changes to our repairs and maintenance service to help improve the service and reduce waiting times.

Jim Battle, Chair of the Salix Homes Board, added: “I’d just like to say a massive thank you on behalf of the Board for the outstanding achievement and hard work by colleagues, customers, partners and the Salix Homes Customer Committee. Together, and over a number of years, they have all played their part in making Salix Homes an outstanding organisation that puts people at the very heart of everything we do.”

The Government introduced the new Consumer Standards in April this year as part of a new integrated approach to social housing regulation, setting the outcomes that landlords must deliver for tenants.

Launched as part of the Social Housing Regulation Act, the new approach aims to drive improvements in the quality of social housing and services while continuing to scrutinise the financial viability and governance of housing associations.

In addition to the existing economic standards, which are the Governance and Financial Viability Standard, the Value for Money Standard and the Rent Standard, there’s four new Consumer Standards that housing associations are assessed against. These are:

• Safety and Quality Standard – outcomes about the safety and quality of tenants’ homes.
• Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard – outcomes about how landlords provide information, listen to tenants, and act on their views.
• Neighbourhood and Community Standard – outcomes about how landlords work with other organisations to help ensure tenants live in safe neighbourhoods.
• Tenancy Standard – outcomes about how landlords allocate and let homes and manage tenancies.

You can read the full judgement about Salix Homes on the RSH website.