Decision

Basildon Borough Council (22UB) - Regulatory Judgement: 15 April 2026

Published 15 April 2026

Applies to England

Our Judgement

	Grade/Judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer	C4 Our judgement is that there are very serious failings in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards. The landlord must make fundamental changes so that improved outcomes are delivered.	First grading	April 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Basildon Borough Council (Basildon BC) following an inspection completed in April 2026.

This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grade of C4. This is the first time we have issued a consumer grade in relation to this landlord.

Summary of the decision

From the evidence and assurance gained during the inspection, we have concluded that there are very serious failings in how Basildon BC is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards. Basildon BC needs to make fundamental changes so that improved outcomes are delivered for tenants, specifically in relation to our Safety and Quality Standard. Significant improvements are also needed to deliver the required outcomes under the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard.

Although Basildon BC has indicated a willingness to address these failings and has started work in some areas, we have not yet seen sufficient evidence to assure us that it is able to put matters right, including taking prompt action to gain assurance that tenants are safe. Based on our assessment of the seriousness of the failures, the risks that tenants are exposed to as a result of these failures, and the fundamental changes needed to improve outcomes for tenants, we have concluded a C4 grade for Basildon BC.

How we reached our judgement

We inspected Basildon BC as part of our planned regulatory inspection programme. During the inspection, we considered all four of the consumer standards: Neighbourhood and Community Standard, Safety and Quality Standard, Tenancy Standard, and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard.

During the inspection we observed a meeting of Basildon BC’s Housing Scrutiny Committee and its Home Group (provides oversight of repairs, planned works and health and safety). As part of the inspection, we met with engaged tenants, Basildon BC’s officers and councillors, including the leader of the council and the portfolio holder for housing. We also reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Basildon BC. 

Our regulatory judgement is based on a review of all the relevant information we obtained during the inspection as well as analysis of information supplied by Basildon BC in its regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.

Summary of findings  

Consumer – C4 – April 2026

We have found very serious failings in how Basildon BC is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards, and saw evidence that this has had a significant impact on service outcomes for tenants and accountability to tenants. Our judgement is that fundamental changes are required to improve outcomes, based on the scale and breadth of the issues identified during the inspection and the significant impact or potential impact on Basildon BC’s tenants.

There are very serious failures related to the delivery of the outcomes of the Safety and Quality Standard. There is a lack of assurance that Basildon BC is meeting legal health and safety requirements including completing all necessary checks and remedial actions, and a lack of accurate information on the quality of tenants’ homes, particularly the recording and monitoring of any potential hazards in homes. Basildon BC has demonstrated a willingness to resolve these issues, though we have seen limited evidence that it fully understands the scale and breadth of the issues or that it has the capacity to resolve them. In addition, Basildon BC failed to self-refer to us on material issues it had identified following an external review in March 2025 which indicated potential failures to deliver the outcomes of our consumer standards.

The Safety and Quality Standard requires landlords to have an accurate, up to date and evidenced understanding of the condition of their homes that reliably informs the provision of good quality, well maintained and safe homes for tenants. Landlords must also ensure that their homes meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard. We found very serious failings in Basildon BC meeting these outcomes. While it has reasonable coverage of stock condition surveys in relation to some elements of the Decent Homes Standard, it was not able to evidence that it has carried out an assessment of hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System and therefore we are not assured that its tenants’ homes are free from category 1 hazards as the Decent Homes Standard requires.

The Safety and Quality Standard also requires landlords to identify and meet all legal requirements that relate to the health and safety of tenants in their homes and communal areas and ensure that all actions arising from legally required health and safety assessments are conducted within appropriate timescales. Through our inspection we found very serious failings in Basildon BC delivering this required outcome. Overall, we found that data assurance is poor, reporting on compliance performance is insufficient and we do not have assurance that remedial actions arising from health and safety inspections are accurately recorded or actioned in a timely way.

In relation to fire safety, Basildon BC has identified around 4,600 fire safety remedial actions arising from fire risk assessments, but has been unable to evidence their completion. Although Basildon BC reported that none of the actions were high risk and it has mitigations in place, we are not assured that there is a plan in place to address the outstanding work in a timely manner.

The Safety and Quality Standard also requires Basildon BC to provide an effective, efficient, and timely repairs, maintenance and planned improvements service for its tenants. We have limited assurance that Basildon BC is delivering this outcome and found there were serious failings. During the inspection we found evidence of unresolved issues with the accuracy of information and Basildon BC does not have sufficient assurance of repairs performance, or effective oversight of its contractor.

Taking into account the significance of the issues across a number of areas, we have concluded there are very serious failings in Basildon BC delivering the outcomes of the Safety and Quality Standard, and that it must make fundamental changes so that improved outcomes are delivered for tenants. Basildon BC has not provided evidence to assure us of its ability to put these matters right, although it has begun to take steps to address these issues. We will work with Basildon BC to ensure that any relevant risks to tenants are effectively managed and mitigated as a priority, while it undertakes the improvements required.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard sets out the outcomes landlords must deliver around transparency, fairness and respect so that tenants can access services, raise complaints, influence decision making and hold their landlord to account. Through our inspection, we found serious failings in Basildon BC delivering some of the required outcomes in this area.

We saw some evidence that Basildon BC is treating tenants and prospective tenants with fairness and respect, but there are weaknesses in Basildon BC’s approach to involving tenants and taking their views into account. We identified serious failings in Basildon BC’s understanding of the diverse needs of its tenants. Although Basildon BC has started a new programme to collect tenant information, this information is not yet being used to shape or tailor services. There is a lack of comprehensive information to allow Basildon BC to fully understand the diverse needs of tenants, assess whether fair and equitable outcomes are being delivered, and ensure that services and information are truly accessible and tailored to individual needs and preferences.

We also identified serious failings in relation to Basildon BC’s engagement with tenants. While there are some mechanisms in place for tenants to engage with Basildon BC and to get involved with the newly formed Housing Improvement Board, Basildon BC was unable to provide assurance that these activities offer meaningful opportunities for tenants to scrutinise or influence landlord services, policies and strategies. Limited performance information is shared with tenants and the quality and range of information available to tenants about landlord services is insufficient to allow them to understand what standard of service they can expect, and to hold Basildon BC to account for delivering this.

During the inspection, we saw evidence that complaints handled directly by Basildon BC are addressed fairly, effectively and promptly, but we found that there were issues with the accessibility of Basildon BC’s complaints process. Basildon BC needs to make improvements to ensure that tenants are able to easily follow the complaints process.

We also identified a very serious failing in respect of Basildon BC’s communication with us regarding its performance against the consumer standards. Landlords must tell us in a timely way about any material issues that might result in their failure to deliver the outcomes of our standards. Evidence gathered during the inspection demonstrated that Basildon BC was aware that it was not delivering a range of outcomes in the consumer standards for a significant period of time, following an external review in March 2025, but it did not self-refer to us, and instead sought to resolve the issues prior to our inspection. Due to the seriousness of the issues we identified during the inspection, including the scale and breadth, we consider the lack of self-referral to be a very serious failing.   

Basildon BC did not fully meet the Tenant Satisfaction Measure (TSM) requirements in its 2023/24 or 2024/25 return. In 2024/25, Basildon BC failed to address or publish details of the part of the assessment that had identified the survey sample was not representative of the wider population. Basildon BC also made changes to the survey collection methodology but did not publish a rationale for the changes or an assessment of responses by collection method. The inspection found that there was no evidence of any analysis, learning or actions from the TSM results to improve landlord services, information or communication. We consider this to be a serious failing.

In relation to the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, we gained assurance that Basildon BC works in partnership with appropriate local authority departments, the police and other relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents, collaborating effectively with partners at both a strategic and an operational level. However, we identified weaknesses in relation to the reporting, management and oversight of anti-social behaviour cases that sit outside of its specialist team.  

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we saw evidence that Basildon BC offers tenancies or terms of occupation that are compatible with the purpose of its accommodation, the needs of individual households, the sustainability of the community, and the efficient use of its housing stock. We have identified that improvements are needed in relation to the information provided to tenants about this.

Basildon BC has been engaging constructively with us. It still needs to develop a full understanding of current risks to tenants and of the root causes of the failings identified. This will enable Basildon BC to develop its improvement plan to drive the fundamental changes that are needed to deliver sustained improvement for tenants. Our engagement will be intensive, and we will seek assurance that Basildon BC understands and is mitigating risks to tenants, is making sufficient progress to improve outcomes for tenants, and is sharing its improvement plan and progress with its tenants.

Our priority will be for Basildon BC to provide us with evidence-based assurance that risks to tenants are adequately managed and mitigated during this period. We are not proposing to use our enforcement powers at this stage but will keep this under review as Basildon BC seeks to resolve these issues.   

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

Basildon BC is a district council in South Essex and owns around 10,750 social housing homes.

Our role and regulatory approach

We regulate for a viable, efficient, and well governed social housing sector able to deliver quality homes and services for current and future tenants.  

We regulate at the landlord level to drive improvement in how landlords operate. By landlord we mean a registered provider of social housing. These can either be local authorities, or private registered providers (other organisations registered with us such as non-profit housing associations, co-operatives, or profit-making organisations). 

We set standards which state outcomes that landlords must deliver. The outcomes of our standards include both the required outcomes and specific expectations we set. Where we find there are significant failures in landlords which we consider to be material to the landlord’s delivery of those outcomes, we hold them to account. Ultimately this provides protection for tenants’ homes and services and achieves better outcomes for current and future tenants. It also contributes to a sustainable sector which can attract strong investment. 

We have a different role for regulating local authorities than for other landlords. This is because we have a narrower role for local authorities and the Governance and Financial Viability Standard, and Value for Money Standard do not apply. Further detail on which standards apply to different landlords can be found on our standards page. 

We assess the performance of landlords through inspections and by reviewing data that landlords are required to submit to us. We also respond where there is an issue or a potential issue that may be material to a landlord’s delivery of the outcomes of our standards. We publish regulatory judgements that describe our view of landlords’ performance with our standards. We also publish grades for landlords with more than 1,000 social housing homes. 

The Housing Ombudsman deals with individual complaints. When individual complaints are referred to us, we investigate if we consider that the issue may be material to a landlord’s delivery of the outcomes of our standards.  

For more information about our approach to regulation, please see Regulating the standards.

Further information

• Regulating the standards.

• Regulatory standards for landlords