Decision

Charnwood Borough Council (31UC) - Regulatory Judgement: 8 July 2026

Published 8 July 2026

Applies to England

Our Judgement

	Grade/Judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer	C2 Our judgement is that there are some weaknesses in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed.	First grading	July 2026

Reason for publication

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

This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grade of C2. 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, our judgement is that there are some weaknesses in Charnwood BC delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed, specifically in relation to outcomes in our Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard and Neighbourhood and Community Standard. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C2 grade for Charnwood BC.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of Charnwood BC to assess how well it is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards 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 Housing Management Advisory Board and a Finance and Performance Committee meeting. We spoke with tenants, held meetings with Charnwood BC officers and the portfolio holder for housing, interviewed staff, and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Charnwood BC.

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

Summary of findings  

Consumer – C2 – July 2026

The Safety and Quality Standard require landlords to have an accurate, up-to-date and evidenced understanding of the condition of their homes and to meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard. Through our inspection, we gained assurance that Charnwood BC has a reasonable understanding of the condition of its homes. Charnwood BC has completed surveys on approximately 87% of its homes within the past five years and has a defined programme in place to achieve full coverage. Charnwood BC also provided evidence of sustained attempts to access the remaining homes.

Charnwood BC reports that 3.85% of its homes do not meet the Decent Homes Standard, and it has plans in place to address non-decency through its planned maintenance programme. We saw evidence that hazards are identified and managed, with remedial works either completed or scheduled within defined timescales.

The Safety and Quality Standard 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 required actions arising from legally required health and safety assessments are carried out within appropriate timescales. During the inspection, Charnwood BC provided evidence that it is currently meeting the legal requirements that relate to the health and safety of tenants in their homes and communal areas.

We saw evidence of Charnwood BC providing an effective, efficient, and timely repairs service for its homes and communal areas. At the time of inspection, 92% of emergency and non-emergency repairs were completed within target timescales, and we saw evidence of improving performance following the implementation of a repairs improvement plan. Charnwood BC has taken steps to strengthen contract management, improve the quality of the information it holds on repairs, and respond to tenant feedback, including the introduction of a tenant liaison team.

The Neighbourhood and Community Standard requires landlords to work in partnership with relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and to support safe and cohesive communities. We have assurance that Charnwood BC works in partnership with a range of agencies, including the police and multi-agency groups to manage anti-social behaviour and related issues. However, we identified weaknesses in how Charnwood BC monitors, reports and uses information on its anti-social behaviour service. While Charnwood BC collects a range of operational data, it does not currently report consistently against defined performance measures or service standards, and its ability to analyse case trends, duration, outcomes, and accessibility is limited.

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we have assurance that Charnwood BC is meeting the required outcomes in relation to tenure. Charnwood BC offers tenancy types that are appropriate to the purpose of its homes and the needs of its tenants, and it has arrangements in place to support tenancy sustainment, including a tenancy support service.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard requires landlords to be open and accountable to tenants, to provide clear and accessible information, and to ensure tenants can influence and scrutinise landlord services. We have assurance that Charnwood BC demonstrates a positive culture of fairness and respect towards tenants. Through our engagement with tenants and observation of meetings, we saw evidence that tenants are treated respectfully and that their views are valued. Charnwood BC provides a range of opportunities for tenants to engage and influence services, including formal governance arrangements such as the Housing Management Advisory Board and tenant panels, as well as wider consultation and engagement activities. We also saw evidence that tenant feedback has informed service improvements, including changes to repairs and communication.

However, there are weaknesses in Charnwood BC’s ability to demonstrate that it understands and responds to the diverse needs of its tenants. While Charnwood BC holds some information about its tenants, there are gaps in coverage across protected characteristics, and Charnwood BC does not have a systematic process to ensure this information is complete and up to date, or to use the information to ensure its services are accessible and equitable. Charnwood BC has recognised this as an area for improvement and has started a tenant census, with plans to develop a customer insight strategy to address the weaknesses. We will continue to engage with Charnwood BC and seek assurance that progress continues to be made so that outcomes for tenants are improved.

Charnwood BC provides a range of opportunities for tenant scrutiny, including its Tenant Voice Panel and the Charnwood Residents’ Housing Forum, and provided evidence that these groups have scrutinised and influenced service delivery. Charnwood BC cannot currently demonstrate that its formal engagement structures are representative of the wider tenant population, but it has plans in place to review this and take any action required.

We have assurance that Charnwood BC handles complaints effectively, with processes that are broadly aligned to the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code. Complaints are responded to within timescales in most cases and there is evidence that learning from complaints has resulted in service improvements. However, Charnwood BC does not currently analyse complaints data alongside tenant characteristics to assess accessibility or identify any disproportionate outcomes. Charnwood BC has recognised this as an area of weakness and plans to analyse it going forward.

Through the inspection, Charnwood BC demonstrated that it understands improvements are needed, and we have assurance that it is addressing the areas of weakness identified. We will continue to engage with Charnwood BC as it implements its programme to ensure that it delivers sustained improvements in outcomes for tenants.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

Charnwood Borough Council has around 5,400 social 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

Related documents

• Decent Homes Standard