Decision

City of London Corporation (00AA) - Regulatory Judgement: 25 February 2026

Published 25 February 2026

Applies to England

Our Judgement

	Grade/Judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer	C3 Our judgement is that there are serious failings in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and significant improvement is needed.	First grading	February 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for City of London Corporation following an inspection completed in February 2026.

This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grade of C3. 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 serious failings in how City of London Corporation is delivering the outcomes of the Safety and Quality Standard and significant improvement is needed. We also found weaknesses requiring improvement in how City of London Corporation is delivering some of the outcomes of the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C3 grade for City of London Corporation.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of City of London Corporation 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.

During the inspection we observed meetings of the Community and Children’s Services Committee, the Housing Management and Almshouses Committee, the Housing Improvement Board, and Resident Voice Group. We also met with tenants, officers and members and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by City of London Corporation.

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

Summary of findings  

Consumer – C3 – February 2026

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 to ensure that all actions arising from required health and safety assessments are carried out within appropriate timescales. We identified serious failings in relation to this outcome. There have been longstanding issues with City of London Corporation meeting all legal requirements relating to some areas of health and safety, and while it is responding to some issues at pace, further improvement is required.

Prior to the inspection, City of London Corporation self-referred its failure to meet legal and regulatory requirements in relation to electrical safety and fire safety. At the time of inspection, City of London Corporation reported significant numbers of overdue remedial actions relating to electrical safety checks, and over 1,000 overdue fire safety remedial actions. While most were assessed as medium risk, there are a number of high-risk actions that have been overdue for over a year. City of London Corporation is strengthening its approach to managing remedial actions and during the inspection we saw evidence of improving performance, but the number of overdue actions and some timescales for remediation remain a regulatory concern and will be a key part of our future engagement with City of London Corporation.

The Safety and Quality Standard also 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, and to ensure tenants’ homes meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard. City of London Corporation does not currently have accurate and up-to-date information on the quality of all its tenants’ homes, including any potential hazards. A full, physical stock condition survey began in 2025 and is due to be completed by March 2026. At the time of the inspection, 64% of homes had been surveyed in the last six months. City of London Corporation acknowledges that there has been considerable historic under-investment in its homes. Based on its current information, 18% of homes do not meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard. While funding has recently been secured to deliver a major programme of improvements, based on current forecasts City of London Corporation does not anticipate meeting the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard in all of its homes until 2035. We consider that the proportion of non-decent homes and long timescales for resolution is a serious failing that has resulted in poor outcomes for tenants.  

City of London Corporation had recognised the need to improve the timeliness, effectiveness and efficiency of the repairs and maintenance services provided to tenants prior to the inspection, and this has clearly been an area of recent focus. While there are some signs of improvement, systems and processes are still being embedded and there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that service outcomes have consistently improved for tenants. Combined with the slow pace of completing some planned improvements, we have concluded that overall, there are serious failings in City of London Corporation delivering the required outcomes of the Safety and Quality Standard relating to repairs, maintenance and planned improvements. We will continue to monitor City of London Corporation’s progress in this area through our future engagement.

The Neighbourhood and Community Standard requires landlords to work in partnership with appropriate local authority departments, the police and other relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents in the neighbourhoods where they provide social housing. Landlords must also cooperate with local partners to promote social, environmental and economic wellbeing in these areas, and to take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of shared spaces.

We saw evidence that City of London Corporation deals effectively with anti-social behaviour and hate incidents in line with its policy and procedures and in partnership with relevant organisations, delivering positive outcomes for tenants in neighbourhoods where it provides homes. The safety of shared spaces is considered as part of the approach to estate management, and there are a wide range of effective partnerships in place to promote social, environmental and economic wellbeing. However, City of London Corporation needs to strengthen its assurance that outcomes for tenants are fair and equitable across all areas where their homes are located.

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we have assurance that City of London Corporation is offering tenancies and terms of occupation that are compatible with the purpose of the accommodation, the needs of individual households, the sustainability of the community, and the efficient use of their housing stock. The allocations policy sets out the approach to ensuring all properties are let in a fair and transparent way and how the needs of tenants and prospective tenants are accounted for. Through the inspection we also obtained assurance that City of London Corporation supports residents to sustain their tenancies.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard sets out the outcomes landlords must deliver about being open with tenants and treating them with fairness and respect so that tenants can access services, raise complaints, influence decision making and hold their landlord to account.

During the inspection we gained some assurance that City of London Corporation is committed to treating tenants with fairness and respect. We saw examples of local knowledge being used to deliver appropriate services, but City of London Corporation does not have a comprehensive understanding of tenants’ diverse needs, and so cannot robustly assess that service outcomes for tenants are fair and equitable. This also limits City of London Corporation’s ability to demonstrate that relevant information about landlord services and performance is accessible so that all tenants understand what to expect from their landlord and can hold it to account. We saw evidence that plans are in place to improve the quality of tenant information and will monitor progress through our ongoing engagement.

We have assurance that City of London Corporation takes tenants’ views into account when making decisions about landlord services but improvement is needed to ensure tenants have meaningful opportunities to both influence and scrutinise City of London Corporation’s decision-making and service provision. We saw some examples of tenant feedback influencing policy development and landlord services, but scrutiny opportunities have been more limited. Following an external review and tenant feedback, City of London Corporation has recently adopted an updated Resident Involvement Strategy, and we saw evidence of improvements in progress, although further work is required to ensure these are embedded.

City of London Corporation has placed significant focus on improving its approach to complaints and we have assurance that overall, complaints are being handled fairly, effectively and promptly. We saw evidence that City of London Corporation recognises the insights that complaints can provide to improve services, and that it is taking action to promote a positive complaint handling culture.

City of London Corporation has been engaging constructively with us, understands the issues it needs to address, and is taking action to rectify the failings identified. We will work with City of London Corporation as it continues to address the issues set out in this judgement. Our engagement will be intensive, and we will seek assurance that City of London Corporation is making sufficient and timely progress, including ongoing monitoring of its improvement action plans. Our priority will be that risks to tenants are adequately managed and mitigated. We are not proposing to use our enforcement powers at this stage but will keep this under review as City of London Corporation seeks to resolve these issues. 

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

City of London Corporation owns and manages around 1,900 social housing homes in central London, most of which are located across six other London boroughs.

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