Decision

Leeds City Council (00DA) - Regulatory Judgement: 25 March 2026

Published 25 March 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	March 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Leeds City Council (Leeds CC) following an inspection completed in March 2026.

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

How we reached our judgement

We inspected Leeds CC as part of our planned regulatory inspection programme to assess how well it is delivering the outcomes of our standards. 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 the Leeds Housing Board, the Tenant Scrutiny Board and a complaint working group. We spoke with tenants, held meetings with Leeds CC, including the leader of the council, and the portfolio holder for housing, interviewed staff and representatives from managing partners and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Leeds CC.

Our regulatory judgement is based on all the relevant information we obtained during the inspection as well as analysis of information received through routine regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.

Summary of findings

Consumer – C2 – March 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. Landlords must also ensure that tenants’ homes meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard. We saw there is strong oversight by Leeds Housing Board and senior leaders of Leeds CC’s approach to managing and investing in its homes. Leeds CC does not currently have complete and up to date information on the quality of some of its tenants’ homes, including any potential hazards. We saw evidence it is on track to complete the outstanding stock condition surveys by August 2027, but we found its current understanding of the condition and quality of its homes to be a weakness. After this point, it plans to maintain its understanding of the condition of its homes by surveying 20% each year, on a rolling programme. Around 2,560 homes owned by Leeds CC are part of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes. We found Leeds CC’s approach to monitoring surveys completed by the PFI schemes does not provide sufficient assurance of the quality of homes and Leeds CC has now taken responsibility for PFI stock condition surveying. Leeds CC is reporting that, as at December 2025, 9% of its homes did not meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard but anticipates this figure will reduce as it completes its remaining surveys.

We have assurance that Leeds CC meets regulatory expectations in identifying and fulfilling all legal health and safety requirements for tenants’ homes and communal areas and ensuring that all required actions arising are completed within appropriate timescales. Performance is actively monitored by councillors, senior officers and tenants. Remedial actions are reported and actioned in a timely way.

We found a weakness for Leeds CC around its electrical testing programme, with 9% of its homes having overdue tests. Leeds CC reported that these were primarily due to it being unable to access homes. Leeds CC is now actively managing this and is taking action to gain access to homes to complete electrical safety tests. We will continue to engage with Leeds CC to monitor its progress and obtain assurance that it is addressing this weakness.

We gained assurance that Leeds CC is managing fire safety across its homes, including its high-rise buildings. It has a dedicated fire safety team and effective oversight of fire safety. Leeds CC regularly communicates building safety information to tenants of its high-rise buildings, who are able to report concerns through a dedicated portal and Leeds CC’s website.

Leeds CC provided evidence of an effective, efficient and timely repairs service for its homes and communal areas. At the time of the inspection, 93% of non-emergency repairs and 95% of emergency repairs were completed on time. We saw that Leeds CC analyses repairs performance data to identify themes, and we gained assurance that it has taken steps to improve outcomes for tenants, for example by introducing more flexible repairs appointments. Leeds CC also demonstrated that it has a proactive approach to identifying and responding to cases of damp and mould in its homes, with clear oversight of damp and mould cases and regular reporting to senior leaders.

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 our inspection Leeds CC 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.

Leeds CC demonstrated that it has an understanding of the diverse needs of its tenants and provided evidence that its landlord services are accessible. It uses information on tenants’ individual needs from a range of sources to inform service provision. Leeds CC adopts a flexible approach which enables staff to adapt services to take individual needs into account.

Through the inspection we gained assurance that Leeds CC is providing a wide range of meaningful opportunities for tenants to influence and scrutinise policies and service delivery. From our observations of its scrutiny arrangements, we saw that tenant representatives are able to effectively question and challenge councillors and officers and have a demonstrable impact on decision-making. Leeds CC provides additional opportunities for all tenants to engage, such as the Tenant Voice panel and wider consultations through a dedicated feedback website.

Overall we gained assurance that Leeds CC provides regular, accessible information so that tenants can use landlord services, understand what to expect from their landlord, and hold their landlord to account. We saw evidence of a comprehensive approach to performance reporting through its tenant boards. However, Leeds CC needs to make it easier for tenants to access information about its service standards and performance, particularly through its website. We gained assurance that Leeds CC has strategic oversight of its Tenant Satisfaction Measures, and for areas which are performing below target, it is undertaking analysis and work to improve tenant satisfaction.

We have assurance that Leeds CC is ensuring complaints are addressed fairly, effectively, and promptly. We saw evidence that Leeds CC’s complaints process is accessible, simple and publicised and it is meeting timescales for most complaints. We also found that Leeds CC analyses and learns from tenant feedback and complaints.

We have assurance that Leeds CC is meeting the Neighbourhood and Community Standard in relation to anti-social behaviour. We saw evidence of partnership working around anti-social behaviour and hate incidents, including support for vulnerable tenants and use of legal powers.

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we saw evidence that Leeds CC 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. Leeds CC has a three-year programme of home visits which include a focus on property and tenancy issues, with an average of 90% of households visited in the last three years and it uses risk assessments to prioritise visits.

Leeds CC has demonstrated self-awareness throughout the inspection and there is evidence of progress being made to address the areas of weakness. We will continue to work with Leeds CC as it seeks to address these issues.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

Leeds CC is a unitary authority in West Yorkshire and owns around 52,000 social housing homes.

1,800 of Leeds CC’s homes are managed by Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation which manages all its own services. Around 2,600 homes are managed by two separate PFI contracts. These are Swarcliffe PFI with 1,250 homes and Little London, Beeston Hill, and Holbeck PFI with around 1,400 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