Decision

City of Wolverhampton Council (00CW) - Regulatory Judgement: 28 January 2026

Published 28 January 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	January 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for City of Wolverhampton Council (Wolverhampton Council) following an inspection which was completed in January 2026.

This judgement confirms a consumer grade of C2. 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 provided during the inspection, our judgement is that there are some weaknesses in Wolverhampton Council delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed, specifically in relation to the outcomes in the Safety and Quality Standard. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C2 grade for Wolverhampton Council.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out a planned inspection of Wolverhampton Council to assess how well it is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards, as part of our regulatory inspection programme. We considered all four 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 Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet. We also observed a number of meetings of Wolverhampton Council’s arm’s length management organisation (ALMO), Wolverhampton Homes (WH). As part of the inspection, we met with engaged tenants, officers, and councillors, including the leader and deputy leader (portfolio holder for housing). We also reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Wolverhampton Council.

Our regulatory judgement is based on a review of all the information we obtained during the inspection, as well as analysis of information received from Wolverhampton Council in its regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.

Summary of findings 

Consumer – C2 – January 2026

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 and to ensure that tenants’ homes meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard (DHS). 

Wolverhampton Council has only carried out a physical internal stock condition survey for around 40% of its homes within the last five years. Wolverhampton Council has plans in place to increase stock condition survey coverage and then carry out a rolling stock condition survey programme on a five-year cycle. Although Wolverhampton Council’s knowledge of its stock is also informed by a range of other information and data it holds, we have concluded that the lack of up-to-date stock condition survey information on more than half of its stock is a weakness that the council needs to address. We will continue to engage with Wolverhampton Council to monitor its progress in delivering its planned programme of stock condition surveys.

Wolverhampton Council reported at 31 March 2025 that 4.75% of its homes did not meet the DHS, however  plans are in place to ensure all homes meet this standard. Wolverhampton Council records the causes of non-decency and draws upon a wide range of information to understand its decency position; this understanding will be further enhanced as the pace of the stock condition survey programme increases.

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 required actions arising from legally required health and safety assessments are carried out within appropriate timescales. During the inspection, Wolverhampton Council 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 found that although improvements could be made in the reporting of low and medium risk fire remedial actions, Wolverhampton Council was sighted on these with proposals in place as part of its improvement plan.

While the inspection found evidence that systems have been strengthened and oversight has been enhanced over the past two years, there is a need to further improve the quality and consistency of its information management. Wolverhampton Council recognises this and has plans in place to strengthen the accuracy and quality of the information it holds, and to make sure that it is kept up to date. This includes external validation to ensure the information held in different places is effectively moved to a single system. We will continue to engage with Wolverhampton Council as it progresses these improvements.

The Safety and Quality Standard also requires landlords to provide an effective, efficient and timely repairs service for the homes and communal areas for which they are responsible. During the inspection we saw evidence that Wolverhampton Council is providing a repairs and maintenance service that meets regulatory requirements. In 2024/5 Wolverhampton Council completed 95.4% of non-emergency repairs and 98.7% of emergency repairs within set timescales. The repairs service is accessible, and we have seen evidence that Wolverhampton Council has made improvements to its communication with tenants through the use of technology. Wolverhampton Council needs to continue to improve communication with tenants and particularly ensure that information on repairs timescales is consistently available to tenants of its Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs).

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 (ASB) and hate incidents in the neighbourhoods where they provide social housing. Through the inspection, we saw evidence that Wolverhampton Council has an effective approach to dealing with ASB and hate crime, such as through the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership and that it meets regulatory requirements. However, improvements are needed to ensure oversight of ASB is robust, communication with tenants is consistent, and that Wolverhampton Council has assurance that its managing agents act promptly in response to ASB and hate crime. Wolverhampton Council recognised the need to further develop its approach.

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we saw evidence that Wolverhampton 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. Wolverhampton Council’s Tenancy Strategy and accompanying policy outline its approach to tenancy management and we saw evidence of appropriate procedures and systems being in place to ensure the policy is applied.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard sets out that landlords must treat tenants and prospective tenants with fairness and respect and take action to deliver fair and equitable outcomes for tenants. During our inspection Wolverhampton Council demonstrated a respectful, fair and positive culture towards tenants. Senior leaders, including the cabinet member for housing, are visible and accessible to tenants and at the meetings we observed, tenant representatives were able to question and challenge performance.

Wolverhampton Council has an understanding of the diverse needs of some of its tenants but needs to broaden the information it holds, both to improve the use of tenants’ information in informing strategic decision making and to ensure communication with tenants is appropriate and clear. Wolverhampton Council recognises that this is an area of weakness that requires ongoing progress and oversight and has plans in place to improve how it tailors its services to tenants.  We will engage with Wolverhampton Council as it makes these improvements.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard also requires landlords to provide accessible information so tenants can use landlord services, understand what to expect from their landlord and hold their landlord to account. We have assurance that the quality and range of information that Wolverhampton Council makes available to tenants meets the expectations set out in the standard overall, however it could improve the consistency of information available to tenants of its TMOs. Wolverhampton Council’s introduction of its mobile application for repairs and other tenant services has enhanced communication with tenants, but Wolverhampton Council recognises the need to continue to progress with its work in this area to ensure that communication with tenants is relevant and timely.

Wolverhampton Council publishes performance measures on its website, in addition to its Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM) publications. We gained assurance that Wolverhampton Council has strategic oversight of its TSMs, and although there has been a drop in performance overall for 2024/25, it is undertaking analysis and work to identify any learning and themes from its latest surveys.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard requires that landlords take tenants’ views into account when making decisions about the delivery of landlord services. The primary route for tenant scrutiny at the council is through the tenant representatives who sit on its involvement and oversight panels. Tenant representatives play a central role as key consultees in policy development and service reviews. From our observations, tenant representatives are able to effectively question and challenge councillors and officers and have a demonstrable impact on decision-making. In addition, Wolverhampton Council provides additional opportunities for tenants to engage, such as through task and finish groups, community drop-in events and ‘Let’s Talk’ tenant feedback sessions at a range of locations. Overall, we have assurance that there are effective arrangements to enable tenants to engage. Wolverhampton Council also has plans in place to review and enhance its approach.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard sets out that landlords must ensure complaints are addressed fairly, effectively, and promptly. Wolverhampton Council’s complaints process is accessible, simple and publicised. For 2024/25 Wolverhampton Council reported that 98.9% of stage 1 complaints and 100% of stage 2 complaints were responded to within the timescales set by the Housing Ombudsman Service. We also found that Wolverhampton Council analyses and learns from tenant feedback and complaints, continuously striving to improve its services.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

Wolverhampton Council owns 21,247 homes. Management of Wolverhampton Council’s housing stock is delivered by its ALMO, Wolverhampton Homes, and three TMOs.

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 Regulating the standards.

 

Further information 

• Regulating the standards 

• Regulatory standards for landlords