Decision

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (5069) - Regulatory Judgement: 28 January 2026

Published 28 January 2026

Applies to England

Our Judgement

	Grade/Judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer	C1 Our judgement is that overall the landlord is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards. The landlord has demonstrated that it identifies when issues occur and puts plans in place to remedy and minimise recurrence.	First grading	January 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP Council) following an inspection completed in January 2026.

This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grade of C1. This is the first time we have issued a consumer grade for this landlord.

Summary of the decision

From the evidence and assurance gained during the inspection, we have concluded that overall, BCP Council is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and is making effective use of its systems to identify and address potential issues and areas for improvement. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C1 grade for BCP Council.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of BCP Council to assess how well it is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards, as part of our planned regulatory inspection programme. 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.

As part of the inspection, we observed meetings of the Cabinet, the BCP Homes Advisory Board, the Environment and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and the People and Neighbourhood Panel. We also met with engaged tenants, officers and councillors. In addition, we reviewed a wide range of documents provided by BCP Council.

Our regulatory judgement is based on all the relevant information we obtained during the inspection, as well as analysis of data received from BCP Council through its regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.

Summary of findings

Consumer – C1 – January 2026

BCP Council meets the outcomes of the Safety and Quality Standard. It has an accurate, up-to-date understanding of the condition of most of its homes, including assessment against the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. BCP Council uses this data to inform its strategic approach to asset management. It has a clear programme in place to achieve full stock condition survey coverage by April 2026 and to maintain this position afterwards through a rolling programme.

BCP Council reports that only 20 of its homes do not meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard (DHS). These homes are included in the council’s planned works programme and scheduled to be brought up to the DHS by the end of March 2026. BCP Council has an established and comprehensive framework in place to monitor decency levels, which draws upon a range of sources of information. Performance on progress against stock condition and decency is reported in detail to the BCP Homes Advisory Board as part of a quarterly property compliance update.

BCP Council is providing an effective, efficient and timely repairs, maintenance and planned improvements service. At the time of the inspection, 94% of emergency repairs, and 82% of non-emergency repairs, were being completed on time. BCP Council is seeking to improve the repairs service further, in part to deal with an increased number of repairs relating to damp and mould. It has increased its repairs budget to support this for 2025/26 and subsequent years.

BCP Council takes a proactive approach to dealing with damp and mould. A dedicated team and case management system is in place with specialist damp and mould operatives attending initial visits. A customer satisfaction survey is then conducted 12 weeks after resolution. Staff identify and report about a third of damp and mould works, which is indicative of BCP Council’s proactive approach.

BCP Council has nine buildings between 11 metres and 18 metres in height and six buildings of at least 18 metres in height. All buildings have had fire risk assessments, none of which identified life-critical fire-safety defects that require remedial works. BCP Council has produced, in consultation with tenants, a Resident Engagement for High-Rise Buildings Strategy that is available on the BCP Council website.

BCP Council is taking all reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of its tenants by identifying and meeting all legal health and safety requirements and carrying out required actions. Following a self-referral to the regulator in June 2024 regarding overdue remedial actions relating to fire, electrical and water safety, BCP Council was able to quickly resolve the issues and implement appropriate mitigations in the meantime. It now demonstrates compliance across the six key health and safety areas and smoke/carbon monoxide alarms. Remedial actions are reported and actioned promptly across all areas. BCP Council makes regular use of both internal and external assurance reviews of compliance and has a track record of implementing recommendations arising.

In relation to the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, we gained assurance that BCP Council works in partnership with other organisations, including the police, to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) and hate incidents in the neighbourhoods where it provides social housing. BCP Council has an up-to-date ASB policy that incorporates its approach to hate crime and incidents. It has recently strengthened the capacity of its ASB team by recruiting additional staff and integration with the council’s wider community safety team. A new approach to triage enables more timely intervention and the consistent prioritisation of cases. The changes that BCP Council has made have resulted in improved outcomes and higher levels of tenant satisfaction with the service.

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we saw evidence that BCP Council 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. BCP Council’s strategic housing team conducts periodic checks on a 10% sample of allocations to make sure properties have been allocated fairly and in accordance with the Allocations Policy. These audits have provided assurance that the policy is being followed but have also triggered some refresher training, for instance, on preventing fraud awareness.

BCP Council supports tenants to maintain their tenancies by putting in place tailored support plans. We have assurance that its approach supports effective housing management, helping to ensure that tenants are living in appropriate, secure, and well-maintained accommodation.

BCP Council meets the outcomes of the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard. It is committed to treating tenants with fairness and respect. Throughout our inspection we saw a respectful, fair and positive culture evidenced towards tenants by both officers and councillors. This was also reflected in BCP Council’s Tenant Satisfaction Measures 2024/25 where 84% of the tenants who responded felt that BCP Council treated them fairly and with respect.

BCP Council understands the diverse needs of its tenants. It holds data for most tenants on age, gender and ethnicity, as well as some data on sexual orientation, health conditions and religion/belief. Work is underway to enhance data across all the different protected characteristics, and this will enhance its approach. BCP Council supplements the tenant profile data it currently holds with external data sources to help ensure it delivers fair and equitable outcomes for tenants. Implementation of its Vulnerable Residents Policy enables BCP Council to make service adjustments and tailor support to best meet the needs of tenants and help them sustain their tenancies. We have assurance that BCP Council actively considers the impact of new policies and service changes on tenants with protected characteristics.

BCP Council takes tenant insight into account in its decision-making and communicates how tenants’ contributions have been considered. It offers tenants a wide range of meaningful engagement opportunities that align with the council’s wider governance arrangements. At the meetings we observed, it was evident that BCP Council welcomed tenants’ input and considered the representatives’ views. Tenant insight impacts BCP Council’s policies, services and its wider approach. Tenants have been actively involved in reviewing the performance of the call centre, the development of a new fire safety policy and contributed to BCP Council’s new tenancy agreements. BCP Council communicates how tenant insight is shaping landlord services through a regular ‘you said, we did’ section in tenant newsletters.

The quality and range of information that BCP Council makes available to tenants meets the expectations set out in the consumer standards. BCP Council provides tenants with an accessible range of written information, in both digital and non-digital formats. Engagement groups receive quarterly performance information that is benchmarked and includes targets. At the meetings we observed, tenants were provided with detailed performance information and were able to challenge officers.

BCP Council addresses complaints fairly, effectively, and promptly. Tenant Satisfaction Measure results indicate that the council is improving its handling of complaints. In 2025, 94% of Stage 1 complaints (2024: 67.3%), and 96.7% of Stage 2 complaints (2024: 86.4%) were handled within Housing Ombudsman Service timescales. BCP Council promotes the complaints process through several channels to ensure that tenants know how to make a complaint. Learning from complaints is captured and reported to Cabinet.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

BCP Council owns approximately 9,550 homes. The homes are mainly located in the areas previously served by Bournemouth Borough Council and Poole Borough Council, with an even split between the two.

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. In-Depth Assessments (IDAs) were one of our previous assessment processes, which are now replaced by our new inspections programme from 1 April 2024. 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 How we Regulate.

Further information

• Regulating the standards
• Regulatory standards for landlords