Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council (44UC) - Regulatory Judgement: 30 September 2026
Published 30 September 2026
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2026
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nuneaton-and-bedworth-borough-council/nuneaton-and-bedworth-borough-council-44uc-regulatory-judgement-30-september-2026
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 | September 2026 |
Reason for publication
We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council (Nuneaton and Bedworth BC) following an inspection completed in September 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 Nuneaton and Bedworth BC’s delivery of the outcomes of the consumer standards, and significant improvement is needed. These failings relate to outcomes of the Safety and Quality Standard and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, particularly repairs, elements of health and safety and Nuneaton and Bedworth BC’s failure to communicate material issues to us in a timely manner. We also found weaknesses in other areas of the Safety and Quality Standard, and in the delivery of Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard outcomes relating to diverse needs and complaints. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C3 grade for Nuneaton and Bedworth BC.
How we reached our judgement
We carried out an inspection of Nuneaton and Bedworth BC 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 a meeting of Nuneaton and Bedworth BC’s Cabinet, its Communities, Corporate Resources and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Panel and its Housing Scrutiny Panel. As part of the inspection, we met with engaged tenants, Nuneaton and Bedworth BC’s officers, and councillors, including the Leader of the Council. We also reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Nuneaton and Bedworth BC.
Our regulatory judgement is based on a review of all the relevant information we obtained during the inspection as well as analysis of information supplied by Nuneaton and Bedworth BC in its regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.
Summary of findings
Consumer – C3 – September 2026
The Safety and Quality Standard requires landlords to maintain an accurate, up-to-date, and evidenced understanding of the condition of their homes and communal areas. This knowledge must reliably inform their ability to provide good quality, well-maintained, and safe homes, and ensure that tenants’ homes meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard. During the inspection we identified weaknesses in the delivery of these outcomes.
Although over 90% of Nuneaton and Bedworth BC’s homes have had a physical survey of the condition of its homes within the last five years, we found weaknesses in its ability to maintain, integrate and make full use of the survey information due to fragmented data systems and reliance on externally hosted information. Nuneaton and Bedworth BC is not routinely using information from across its records to inform service provision. A programme is in place to move to a longer-term solution to address these weaknesses, but this has not yet been completed.
During the inspection we identified that the calculation underpinning the number of non-decent homes being reported by Nuneaton and Bedworth BC did not consider all possible criteria for non-decency, as some homes with known hazards were omitted. However, we were assured that Nuneaton and Bedworth BC was continuing to address these hazards and it has committed to addressing this weakness in future reporting.
Currently, 64% of Nuneaton and Bedworth BC’s homes do not have a valid Energy Performance Certificate and while Nuneaton and Bedworth BC intends to obtain an Energy Performance Certificate for all homes by 2028, it has not yet developed a detailed plan to address this weakness.
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 to ensure that all actions arising from legally required health and safety assessments are carried out within appropriate timescales. We found serious failings in relation to gas, fire and water safety, as well as broader weaknesses in the form of limited performance reporting, out-of-date policies, and systems not fit for purpose. In 2025, Nuneaton and Bedworth BC received audit outcomes in relation to gas and electrical safety that concluded limited assurance.
We identified serious failings relating to gas safety and the evidence showed that gas safety compliance levels had fallen to 80% earlier this year. Although Nuneaton and Bedworth BC has recently implemented a recovery plan to address this in the short term, it has yet to demonstrate improvements in the management of gas safety that will prevent further issues from arising.
Nuneaton and Bedworth BC has not provided sufficient assurance that all overdue actions arising from safety assessments are being completed within appropriate timescales. During the inspection, we identified that over 1,600 fire safety remedial actions and over 1,000 water safety remedial actions were overdue, which we consider to be serious failings.
We also identified weaknesses in Nuneaton and Bedworth BC’s preparedness for changes to requirements in relation to investigating, identifying and repairing hazards in its homes. While policies and processes are being developed and cases are monitored, it is not currently able to report accurately against the legal timescales required due to limitations in repairs and compliance systems.
The Safety and Quality Standard also requires landlords to provide an effective, efficient and timely repairs, maintenance and planned improvements service for the homes and communal areas for which they are responsible. We found serious failings in relation to Nuneaton and Bedworth BC meeting these outcomes including a lack of a repairs policy and a lack of information for tenants on target timescales for the completion of repairs.
Nuneaton and Bedworth BC is currently unable to accurately report on repair completion times and, as a result, cannot provide assurance that repairs are being completed within target timescales. In 2024, Nuneaton and Bedworth BC made a self-referral to us about a repairs backlog. Through the inspection we identified limited evidence of progress made to address this issue and limited reporting on repairs performance over the previous two years.
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. Through the inspection, Nuneaton and Bedworth BC provided assurance that overall, it deals effectively with anti-social behaviour and hate incidents. An anti-social behaviour policy is in place, underpinned by procedures and reporting that enable effective oversight of delivery against the expected outcomes of the standard. While reporting arrangements are established, Nuneaton and Bedworth BC has recognised that current reporting does not routinely analyse vulnerabilities, protected characteristics, support needs or broader tenant outcomes. However, plans are in place to strengthen the use of tenant insight and performance information through enhanced reporting arrangements.
In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we saw evidence that Nuneaton and Bedworth BC allocates and lets its homes in a fair and transparent way that takes the needs of tenants and prospective tenants into account. It offers tenancies or 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 homes, and meets all applicable legal requirements relating to the form and use of tenancy agreements or terms of occupation.
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, Nuneaton and Bedworth BC’s officers and councillors demonstrated a fair and respectful culture towards tenants. At the Housing Scrutiny Panel meeting that we observed, tenants were able to ask questions and shape plans. However, Nuneaton and Bedworth BC’s poor performance in its repairs and complaints services, and lack of pace in addressing issues, indicates a weakness in its treatment of tenants with fairness and respect.
Nuneaton and Bedworth BC has some understanding of the diverse needs of its tenants but further work is needed to strengthen its approach to data collection, in relation to collecting, updating and maintaining information on the diverse needs of its tenants. Nuneaton and Bedworth BC has acknowledged that this is an area of weakness and has already developed a plan to improve the information it holds about its tenants. We saw evidence of Nuneaton and Bedworth BC using the information it holds to make decisions to support individual service delivery for tenants, but more work is required to use this information in a systematic way to inform decision making.
Nuneaton and Bedworth BC has recently adopted a new approach to tenant engagement, and through the inspection we gained assurance that a wide range of opportunities for tenants to influence policy and service delivery are offered. This includes estate walkabouts and events for tenants, as well as a formal tenant scrutiny structure which is focused around the Housing Scrutiny Panel and its sub-groups. We have assurance that tenants are listened to and given the opportunity to engage with their landlord, and that this has led to positive outcomes for tenants.
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 saw evidence that Nuneaton and Bedworth BC makes performance information available to tenants in a range of formats, although it has identified a need to make its website more accessible.
The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard sets out that landlords must ensure complaints are addressed fairly, effectively, and promptly. Nuneaton and Bedworth BC does not always address complaints in a timely way, and the poor performance of its repairs service has impacted on the performance of the complaints service. Nuneaton and Bedworth BC is taking steps to make improvements in this area.
The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard requires landlords to communicate in a timely manner with us, as the regulator, on all material issues that relate to how well it meets the consumer standards. Nuneaton and Bedworth BC made a self-referral in 2024 relating to a repairs backlog, but no further self-referral was made relating to issues with the repairs service despite limited progress being made over the period. Nuneaton and Bedworth BC also did not communicate with us in a timely manner in relation to its water safety position, or following limited assurance from recent audits that all legal requirements relating to health and safety were being met. We consider this to be a serious failing.
During the inspection, Nuneaton and Bedworth BC engaged constructively with us. It understands the issues it needs to address and is taking action to rectify the weaknesses identified. We are engaging with Nuneaton and Bedworth BC as it continues to address the issues set out in this judgement. Our engagement will be intensive, and we will seek assurance that Nuneaton and Bedworth BC is making sufficient change and progress, including ongoing monitoring of how it delivers its improvement programme. We are not proposing to use our enforcement powers at this stage but will keep this under review as Nuneaton and Bedworth BC seeks to resolve these issues.
Background to the judgement
About the landlord
Nuneaton and Bedworth BC is a district council in Warwickshire and owns around 5,600 social 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.