Decision

Norwich City Council (33UG) - Regulatory Judgement: 15 April 2026

Published 15 April 2026

Applies to England

Our Judgement

	Grade/Judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer	C1 Our judgement is that overall the landlord is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards. The landlord has demonstrated that it identifies when issues occur and puts plans in place to remedy and minimise recurrence.	First grading	April 2026

Reason for publication

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

This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grade of C1. 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 overall Norwich CC is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C1 grade for Norwich CC.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of Norwich 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 Norwich CC’s Better Homes Board, Portfolio Holder briefing and the Tenant Involvement Panel. We also met with engaged tenants, officers and councillors. In addition, we reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Norwich CC.

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

Summary of findings  

Consumer – C1 – April 2026

Norwich CC meets the outcomes of the Safety and Quality Standard. It has an accurate and up to date understanding of the condition of most of its homes, including assessment against the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. Norwich CC has a clear programme to regularly survey the condition of all of its homes, including targeted activity to increase access where surveys are outstanding. Norwich CC reports that 99.6% of its homes meet the Decent Homes Standard, reflecting planned investment in its homes and actions to remediate non-decency.

We gained assurance that Norwich CC is taking reasonable and proactive steps to comply with legal health and safety requirements. Norwich CC provided evidence of appropriate systems to ensure the safety of tenants in their homes and communal areas. Norwich CC owns and manages a number of homes in tall buildings. We gained assurance that it understands the risks associated with these buildings and has mitigations in place while programmed works are planned or underway. A large-scale fire door replacement programme is currently underway with clear timelines for completion.

During the inspection we saw evidence that Norwich CC provides an effective repairs service to tenants and takes action to improve the service and outcomes for tenants when issues occur. Emergency repairs are consistently delivered within target timescales, and performance on routine repairs has improved, providing a more timely service for tenants and demonstrating the impact of a repairs improvement programme. System changes mean that Norwich CC’s approach to repairs is now better informed by the diverse needs of tenants, using available tenant information to tailor services appropriately. Norwich CC has a proactive approach to damp and mould supported by strengthened processes and a dedicated team.

In relation to the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, Norwich CC works with relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate incidents in the communities where it provides homes. Norwich CC identified issues in the management of anti-social behaviour cases and made changes to the service, introducing a new triage and investigation model to improve prioritisation, initial assessment and signposting. We saw evidence that this approach has improved the handling of anti-social behaviour cases, supported by clearer oversight and strengthened performance monitoring.

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we saw evidence that Norwich 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.

We have assurance that Norwich CC meets the outcomes of the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard in relation to tenant engagement. It offers tenants a wide range of engagement opportunities through its established tenant engagement framework. We saw evidence that tenant feedback has positively influenced service delivery. To reach more people and respond to tenants’ preferences, Norwich CC has expanded its digital engagement offer by providing more ways for tenants to get involved. Alongside this wider engagement activity, Norwich CC is improving formal tenant influence and scrutiny. It is restructuring its Tenant Involvement Panel to form a new scrutiny model based on a tenant scrutiny board and themed panels covering the main service areas. These new arrangements are at an early stage, and delivery of the plan will be important to ensure that tenants continue to meaningfully influence and scrutinise services.

Norwich CC provides a range of clear and accessible information to tenants about its services and its performance. On its website it has a monthly dashboard offering transparent reporting across all service areas and allowing tenants to view performance trends over the previous 12 months.

We gained assurance that tenants are treated with fairness and respect and that Norwich CC has a good understanding of tenants’ diverse needs, supported by comprehensive information. We saw evidence that this insight is increasingly informing service design and improvement. Tenant Satisfaction Measures show improved satisfaction, indicating that service changes are leading to improved experiences for tenants.

We gained assurance that Norwich CC addresses complaints fairly, promptly and effectively. Norwich CC has made progress in strengthening its complaints handling, demonstrated by improved complaint handling timescales and a more developed approach to organisational learning. We saw evidence that Norwich CC analyses themes arising from complaints and uses this insight to inform service improvement. Norwich CC regularly reviews performance information and demonstrated that it takes action when issues are identified, including where complaints were not being managed within target timescales. Norwich CC has also reviewed its complaints handling arrangements and increased resources and capacity within the service to support continued improvement.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

Norwich CC is located in Norfolk and owns around 14,000 social housing 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