Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (00AW) - Regulatory Judgement: 27 August 2025
Published 27 August 2025
Applies to England
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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 | August 2025 |
Reason for publication
We are publishing a regulatory judgement for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RB Kensington and Chelsea) following an inspection completed in August 2025.
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 is a serious failing in RB Kensington and Chelsea’s delivery of one of the outcomes of the consumer standards and significant improvement is needed, specifically in relation to the stock quality and decency elements of the Safety and Quality Standard. This is the basis of our C3 grade for RB Kensington and Chelsea. The inspection found RB Kensington and Chelsea to be delivering the other requirements in the Safety and Quality Standard, including in relation to health and safety requirements, and to also be delivering the outcomes in the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, the Neighbourhood and Community Standard and the Tenancy Standard.
How we reached our judgement
We conducted an inspection of RB Kensington and Chelsea to assess how well it is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards as part of our planned regulatory inspection programme. Prior to our inspection, RB Kensington and Chelsea had self-referred to us issues around stock condition and decency. During the inspection, we considered all four of the consumer standards: the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, the Safety and Quality Standard, the Tenancy Standard, and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard.
During the inspection we observed a council oversight and scrutiny meeting and a tenant consultative committee meeting. We met with tenants, officers, the leader of the council and two cabinet members with housing and community portfolios. We also reviewed a wide range of documents provided by RB Kensington and Chelsea.
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 through regulatory returns and other regulatory activity.
Summary of findings
Consumer – C3 – August 2025
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. RB Kensington and Chelsea demonstrated that outcomes across all main areas of health and safety compliance, including gas, fire, electric, water, asbestos, lifts, and smoke and carbon monoxide detection were good. RB Kensington and Chelsea has provided evidence-based assurance that it has appropriate systems in place to ensure the health and safety of its tenants in their homes and associated communal areas and that performance is monitored, including by councillors and tenants.
The Safety and Quality Standard requires landlords to have an accurate, up to date and evidenced understanding of the condition of their homes at an individual property level based on a physical assessment of all homes, and to ensure that homes meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard (DHS). RB Kensington and Chelsea does not currently meet these outcomes. While RB Kensington and Chelsea has a reasonable understanding of its homes from other sources of information, at present, only 40% of individual property surveys have been carried out within the last five years. RB Kensington and Chelsea reports that 33% of its homes do not meet the DHS. RB Kensington and Chelsea has taken steps to mitigate any risks to tenants in the meantime and is aiming to achieve full DHS compliance by 2030.
RB Kensington and Chelsea has made progress in undertaking a full stock condition survey of all its homes, including an assessment of Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) hazards, and has set out plans to invest in its homes to reduce non-decency. Through this work, it has also responded to any category 1 HHSRS hazards identified. The focus of our engagement with RB Kensington and Chelsea going forward will be on the continued delivery of its stock condition work and action to address the non-decency in its homes.
Overall, RB Kensington and Chelsea’s repairs and maintenance service meets regulatory requirements. It is operating an effective and efficient service. We saw that it was operating without a backlog of repairs and meeting targets on how quickly it responds to emergency and urgent repairs. RB Kensington and Chelsea takes a robust approach to monitoring the delivery of its repairs and maintenance service and how it can continue to make further improvements. It has demonstrated that it prioritises work appropriately and takes into account any relevant tenant vulnerabilities.
In relation to the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, we gained assurance that RB Kensington and Chelsea makes effective use of partnership opportunities. RB Kensington and Chelsea demonstrated that it works proactively with relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the neighbourhoods where it provides social housing. RB Kensington and Chelsea provided assurance of how its approach to ASB is victim centred and uses effective casework management to track, monitor and review cases. Tenants can report cases of ASB in a variety of formats and RB Kensington and Chelsea is using a full range of tools available, including preventative approaches and a dedicated mental health resource to provide support in more complex cases.
In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we saw evidence that RB Kensington and Chelsea 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 and 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 the housing stock. It meets all applicable statutory and legal requirements in relation to the form and use of tenancy agreements or terms of occupation and supports tenants to maintain their tenancies.
In relation to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, we gained assurance that RB Kensington and Chelsea treats tenants with fairness and respect. Throughout the inspection RB Kensington and Chelsea evidenced how tenants are important stakeholders with a range of opportunities to receive information from the council and contribute their views. RB Kensington and Chelsea holds comprehensive information about its tenants and their needs. It uses, among other methods, the visiting officer scheme, with a rolling programme of tenancy visits by a dedicated team to keep information updated. It uses tenant information to inform service delivery, to understand and take account of diverse needs and tailor services accordingly, and is responsive to new residents moving into the borough.
The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard also includes the requirement that landlords take tenants’ views into account in their decision-making about how landlord services are delivered and communicate how tenants’ views have been considered. During the inspection, we saw evidence of consultation with tenants and a range of means that offer tenants the ability to influence and shape service delivery. RB Kensington and Chelsea offers tenants a range of opportunities for tenants to share their views, including borough-wide consultations, community events and constructive engagement with a tenant consultative committee.
The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard sets out that landlords must provide information so that tenants can use landlord services, understand what to expect from their landlord, and hold their landlord to account. We saw evidence that RB Kensington and Chelsea makes detailed performance information available to tenants in a range of formats, and information is discussed regularly in elected member meetings and at events attended by tenants.
The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard states that landlords must ensure complaints are addressed fairly, effectively, and promptly. We saw evidence that RB Kensington and Chelsea recognises and uses the insight that complaints can provide to shape its services, and that it has taken action to improve service delivery and has seen some improvement in outcomes. RB Kensington and Chelsea provided evidence of how complaints are considered and monitored by elected members and senior officers, but is also aware that its processes need to be regularly reviewed to ensure that it is delivering good outcomes to tenants. RB Kensington and Chelsea has seen improvements in the timeliness of responses to complaints but is looking to deliver further enhancements by carrying out a full review across the service.
RB Kensington and Chelsea has engaged constructively with us throughout this process. We will continue to engage with RB Kensington and Chelsea as it seeks to address the issues that led to this judgement. We will seek evidence that gives us the assurance that the council is continuing to improve its understanding of its homes and resolving those issues where tenants’ homes do not meet the DHS. We are not proposing to use our enforcement powers at this time.
Background to the judgement
About the landlord
RB Kensington and Chelsea owns around 7,000 social housing homes in central London, along with approximately 2,500 leasehold properties. All of the social housing stock is directly managed by the council. From 1996, RB Kensington and Chelsea’s stock was wholly managed by the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, which was responsible for providing all housing management services to the council’s tenants. Services were bought back in-house in 2018, following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in June 2017, when 72 residents of the tower lost their lives in a devastating fire.
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.