The Housing Assurance Board is scheduled to meet to discuss the operational performance of housing services, readiness for inspection by the Regulator of Social Housing, and the implementation of Awaab's Law¹. The board will also review the complaints service and a performance report.

Readiness for Inspection

The Housing Assurance Board is expected to discuss the council's readiness for inspection by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). The Readiness for Inspection Report 151225 notes that the RSH, sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), regulates social housing providers in England, including councils like Croydon.

The report states that the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 introduced new measures to improve standards, safety and operation of social housing, enhancing the role of the RSH through proactive monitoring and inspections. Croydon Council's housing landlord service is expected to be inspected during 2026.

The council aims to achieve a C1 rating from the RSH, the highest possible, and has been working towards this goal since the lifting of the RSH's Regulatory Notice in April 2025. The Housing Assurance Board was formed in October 2025 to meet the requirements of new housing regulation and drive the council's aspiration to attain a C1 rating.

The Readiness for Inspection Report 151225 outlines the Housing Improvement Programme, which consolidates data and conclusions from the council's self-assessment and external reviews. The programme has seven workstreams and prioritised projects to address gaps in service provision and embed improvements. Priority 1 projects, considered the biggest risk to non-compliance, include:

• An HRA² Business Plan and Asset Management Strategy
• Accurate data on Decent Homes³ and Health and Safety Compliance
• Evidence of acting on the views of tenants
• Improvements to complaints processes
• Good data on tenants and evidence of adjusting service to meet tenants' diverse needs

The report identifies key areas of risk, including the timing of the inspection, complaints improvement, staffing, completion and publication of Tier 1 policies, implementation of the Servicing module on NEC⁴, demonstrating consideration of residents' views, and catering to residents' diverse needs.

The RSH will require evidence that elected members and tenants have been provided with the opportunity to see relevant performance data, challenge the service, and influence the Housing Service response.

Implementation of Awaab's Law

The Housing Assurance Board is scheduled to discuss the implementation of Awaab's Law. The Implementation of Awaabs Law report states that Croydon Council is committed to delivering on the requirements of Awaab's Law, ensuring that every resident has the right to a safe, dry, and healthy home.

Key commitments include treating all reports of damp and mould as cases, maintaining transparency with residents, and embedding accountability across teams and partners. The council aims to move from reactive to proactive measures through targeted investment, cross-service collaboration, and a resident-first approach.

The report outlines the timelines of Awaab's Law:

• Inspection within 10 working days of a damp/mould report
• Written report to tenant within 3 working days of inspection
• Commencement of repairs within 5 working days of the report
• Attendance and making safe of emergency hazards within 1 working day
• Completion of works within a reasonable timeframe

Preparations for Awaab's Law include automatic reports to residents, training for call centre staff and surveyors, a new tracker and dashboard, backlog clearance, a feedback loop, contractor alignment with Wates and Mears, and evidence management on SharePoint and NEC.

The report emphasises the importance of inspection before any mould wash, to identify the root cause of the problem and ensure compliance with Awaab's Law. Surveyor training and upskilling are underway to recognise early-stage signs of damp, mould, condensation, and structural risk. The council is investing in advanced moisture meters, thermal imaging cameras, air quality sensors, and carbonite testing kits.

The report also mentions the use of real-time humidity and temperature sensors in high-risk homes to alert officers before damp escalates, with data feeding into the asset management system for future decision-making. Power BI went live on 24 October 2025 to support operational decision-making and reporting.

Key risks identified include surveyors having too many inspections per day, staff leaving, new staff not understanding the process, call centre raising inspections without training, contractors not commencing work within the correct timeframe, no access process not followed rigorously, and legacy cases absorbing resources.

Complaints Service

The Housing Assurance Board is scheduled to receive an update on the complaints service. The Complaints Service Report 151225 provides an overview of the complaints service performance across the landlord services of the Housing Directorate. The report notes that the council has advised the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) that it will improve and standardise responses, minimise backlogs, and learn from complaints.

Currently, the council is not fully compliant with the Housing Ombudsman Complaints Handling Code, particularly in managing complaints within timescales and following complaint remedies to completion.

The Complaints Service Report 151225 includes the following data on landlord services:

The report notes that performance is improving in managing complaints within timescales at stage one, with over 66% being managed within timescales year to date compared to 39.1% at the same time in the previous financial year, despite an increase of over 200 complaints.

The council has been working through a complaints improvement plan, implementing an escalation process for high-risk complaints, a process to ensure agreed actions are followed up, an additional check on stage one responses, an improved investigation process, and amendments to the complaints case management system.

The main driver of complaints continues to be delays in service delivery (45%), followed by quality of service (14%). Feedback from the Corporate Complaints Team is that actions not being completed following the stage one response continues to be the main escalation reason.

Amendments were made to the complaints management system to ensure compliance with the Housing Ombudsman Code, including a five-day acknowledgment period and the option to extend cases by 10/20 days.

The annual landlord performance report from the Housing Ombudsman Service reports that the council's maladministration rate of 88% was an increase on the 2023/24 rate of 67%, and is higher than the national rate for landlords of a similar size and type of 80%. In 2024/25, the council received eight findings of severe maladministration (a rate of 10%), which is again higher than the average national averages for landlord by size and type. The Housing Ombudsman have issued three Complaints Handling Failure Orders (CHFO) since April 2025, all for failure to progress complaints in line with the required timescales.

Learning from complaints has led to service improvements, including quality assurance checks on completed repairs, improved monitoring of contractor works closures, and enhanced internal systems for better data capture and reporting. Following a severe maladministration determination focused on noise nuisance, a review was conducted which implemented several changes to the council's management response to noise nuisance and its record keeping in these types of cases.

Key areas of risk include regulatory compliance, reputational damage, customer confidence, customer complaints escalating through the process, and failure to learn from mistakes.

Housing Overview Report

The Housing Assurance Board is scheduled to receive a Housing Overview Performance December 2025. This report will provide an update on the operational performance of Housing Services. The main priorities include improving complaints handling and Member Enquiry performance, continuing to improve repairs performance, quicker void turnaround, and preparing for the regulatory inspection.

The report highlights successes such as the completion of the Housing Assurance Board induction, the launch of the Housing Improvement Plan, the implementation of a Damp and Mould Team, improvement in Fire Risk Assessments and Compliance, sector-leading best practice noted from MHCLG⁵, income collection forecasted at 102% of rent roll for financial year 2025/2026, and improved TSMs⁶ for repairs in Q2 surveys.

Areas of concern include staffing recruitment and retention, issues with technology projects, void performance, Member Enquiry response times, a lower overall satisfaction score within the Q2 TSMs, complaints performance, and communicating to residents on the improvements to service being made.

The Housing Overview Performance December 2025 also provides updates on the Housing Improvement Plan, including workstreams focused on keeping residents safe, resident relationships, efficiency and utilisation, community and safety, governance, information and performance, people and culture, and stabilisation plan and housing needs.

Performance Report

The Housing Assurance Board is scheduled to review the HAB Performance Report Dec 25 Oct 25 Data for October 2025, which includes data on tenant satisfaction measures, key performance indicators, and building safety compliance.

The report includes tenant perception survey data, comparing 2025/26 year-to-date results with 2024/25 outturn and HouseMark London TSM Benchmark Results. Key metrics include overall satisfaction, satisfaction with repairs, satisfaction with time taken for repairs, satisfaction with home maintenance, satisfaction with home safety, satisfaction with landlord listening and acting, satisfaction with landlord keeping tenants informed, agreement that landlord treats tenants fairly, satisfaction with complaints handling, communal areas maintenance, contribution to neighbourhood, and ASB⁷ handling.

The report also includes TSMs generated from management information, such as complaints per 1,000 units, complaints closed on time, ASB cases per 1,000 units, homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard, repairs completed within target time, and building safety checks.

Key performance indicators cover finance (residential rent collection, current arrears, capital vs revenue spend, service charge collection, void income loss), repairs contact centre (average call waiting time, percentage of calls answered), responsive repairs (appointments kept, total repair jobs, percentage of repair jobs overdue, total disrepair jobs, percentage of disrepair jobs overdue), damp and mould jobs, operations (average re-let time), complaints (percentage escalation of housing complaints to stage 2), and people (staff turnover, average sick days per employee).

Building safety compliance data covers gas safety checks, fire safety checks, asbestos safety checks, water safety checks, lift safety checks, and electrical safety checks.

Other items

The agenda includes:

• Welcome
• Apologies for absence
• Disclosure of interest
• Urgent business (if any)
• Notes of HAB Induction Day and any follow up actions