Decision

Milton Keynes City Council (00MG) - Regulatory Judgement: 13 May 2026

Published 13 May 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	May 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Milton Keynes City Council (Milton Keynes CC) following an inspection completed in May 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 Milton Keynes CC delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed, specifically in relation to the outcomes in our Safety and Quality Standard and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C2 grade for Milton Keynes CC.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of Milton Keynes CC 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 meetings of the Milton Keynes Landlord Board, the My Repairs Group and the Resident Engagement Project Board. We also met with engaged tenants, officers, the Cabinet Member for Housing, and the Cabinet Member for Adult Services, Health and Communities. Additionally, we reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Milton Keynes CC.

Our regulatory judgement is based on a review of all the information we obtained during the inspection, as well as analysis of information supplied by Milton Keynes CC in its regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.

Summary of findings  

Consumer – C2 – May 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.

Milton Keynes CC reported around 42% of its homes have had a physical stock condition survey within the last five years. Milton Keynes CC has plans in place to increase its understanding of the condition of its homes and then carry out a rolling survey programme on a five-year cycle. Milton Keynes CC’s understanding of its homes is informed by a range of other information that it holds, however the lack of up-to-date physical stock condition survey information is a weakness that the council need to address. Milton Keynes CC reported that around 96% of its homes meet the Decent Homes Standard and it has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to investing in its homes. We will continue to engage with Milton Keynes CC to monitor its progress in delivering its planned programme of surveys and works to maintain the quality of its homes.

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, Milton Keynes CC 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.

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 Milton Keynes CC is providing a repairs and maintenance service that meets regulatory requirements. Milton Keynes CC reported that 99% of routine repairs and 96% of emergency repairs are attended to within its required timescales. The repairs service is accessible, and we saw evidence of Milton Keynes CC carrying out property health checks while attending homes to identify hazards including damp and mould.

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. We gained assurance that Milton Keynes CC works proactively with relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate crime in its neighbourhoods, including using a range of tools and responses. There are a number of ways for tenants to report anti-social behaviour and hate crime, and policies are in place setting out Milton Keynes CC’s approach to managing incidents. Milton Keynes CC has a victim’s code recognising the impact of anti-social behaviour and hate crime, including access to support for victims.

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we saw evidence that Milton Keynes 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. The council operates a programme of visits for new tenants and undertakes tenancy audits. It also has plans in place to further strengthen and expand this programme.

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. Throughout the inspection, Milton Keynes CC demonstrated a respectful and positive culture towards tenants, and its engaged tenants told us that they felt listened to and valued.

Milton Keynes CC has evidenced some understanding of the diverse needs of its tenants, but further improvement is required to ensure it is delivering fair and equitable outcomes for tenants. Milton Keynes CC needs to strengthen the information it holds, improve the use of tenants’ information in informing strategic decision making, and ensure that communication is appropriate and clear. Milton Keynes CC acknowledges that this is an area of weakness and has plans to increase the pace of this work. We will continue to engage with Milton Keynes CC as it makes these improvements.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard requires landlords to provide accessible information so that tenants can use landlord services, understand what to expect from their landlord and hold their landlord to account. It also requires landlords to take tenants’ views into account when making decisions about the delivery of landlord services. A range of accessible information is available to tenants, and Milton Keynes CC offers opportunities for tenants to get involved in influencing and scrutinising services. However, most of these opportunities have only been developed over the past 12 months and need to be further developed and embedded. This is an area of weakness that Milton Keynes CC will need to address. Through our ongoing engagement with Milton Keynes CC, we will seek assurance that change has been embedded and that improved outcomes are being delivered for tenants.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard also sets out that landlords must ensure complaints are addressed fairly, effectively, and promptly. Milton Keynes CC has an appropriate policy and process in place for dealing with complaints. Milton Keynes CC has focused on improving the quality and timeliness of customer contact and understanding the causes of dissatisfaction. However, we consider that performance, satisfaction, and learning from complaints are weaknesses that Milton Keynes CC needs to improve. This will be an area of focus through our ongoing engagement.

Milton Keynes CC has engaged constructively with us throughout the inspection process; it has demonstrated that it understands the issues it needs to address and is already taking action towards rectifying the weaknesses identified. We will continue to engage with Milton Keynes CC as it works to address the issues set out in this judgement.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

Milton Keynes CC owns and manages around 11,000 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