Response to regulator’s proposals on consumer regulation

Catalyst has responded to the Regulator of Social Housing’s publication of its paper on ‘Reshaping consumer regulation: our principles and approach.

Published: 02/12/2021

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Regulator of Social Housing’s Publication paper

Our response to this included the following key points:

• Catalyst welcomes the greater focus on consumer regulation which strengthens accountability to our customers. We agree with the key themes running through the principles and outcomes, alongside the tenant satisfaction measures

• We agreed that the onus for demonstrating compliance should be placed with the landlord. We hope to see an element of customer input into the assurance system

• We highlighted the importance of involving our customers and getting their views and ensuring their voice is heard in a meaningful way

• We would like to see examples of best practice being developed alongside league tables so the culture of organisations in the housing can move towards higher service standards for customers

• We’ve made some positive steps forward in building a customer first business and would like to share some work we are doing with customers around our service standards as an example of achieving the outcome but through a path that is meaningful for our customers and business

• We have gone beyond compliance and made sure we fully involved customers and gave them the tools and information they needed to give meaningful feedback. We gathered feedback that told us the whole story of our customers’ experiences. We used this information to give our customers a clear idea of the service they can expect from us and learn from feedback to make changes if necessary.

Catalyst will continue take part in the development of the new consumer regulation standards and hope to share our experiences to create examples of best practices for others.