Crawley Borough Council receives positive judgement from Regulator of Social Housing

Crawley Borough Council has been inspected by the Regulator of Social Housing against the national consumer standards for all social landlords. Today, 30 July, the Regulator has published Crawley’s inspection report and graded it as C2 which is the second highest level it can achieve. This means that while the Regulator is assured overall that Crawley Homes is meeting the standard, there are some areas where further work is required.

In the report, the inspectors noted that the council provided evidence that it did have effective policies and strategies in place. In particular, the inspectors highlighted the work the council was undertaking to help tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents with partners. In addition, they also noted that throughout the inspection there was clear evidence that the council dealt with complaints ‘fairly, effectively, and promptly’.

The inspectors highlighted some areas for improvement but recognised that these are largely already areas which the council had identified and was already working to address. These included clearer reporting, tailoring services for residents’ needs, and improving performance reporting against service targets.

The regulator carried out its inspection in May, and observed a Cabinet meeting, an Overview and Scrutiny Commission meeting, a Crawley Homes Regulatory Compliance Board meeting, a Tenant and Leaseholder Action Panel (TLAP) meeting and a TLAP complaints evaluation meeting.

They also met with housing tenants, officers, and councillors, including the Leader of the Council, the Cabinet member for Housing, and the Cabinet member for Public Protection, and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by the council.

The council welcomes the report and the grade that the regulator has awarded. It recognises areas where improvement is needed and is committed to working with the regulator to address these issues.