Decision

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (00AX): Regulatory Judgement - 14 October 2026

Published 14 October 2026

Applies to England

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	October 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RB Kingston upon Thames) following an inspection completed in October 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 how RB Kingston upon Thames is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and significant improvement is needed, specifically in relation to outcomes in our Safety & Quality Standard. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C3 grade for RB Kingston upon Thames.  

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of RB Kingston upon Thames 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: 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 People Committee meeting, a Housing Services Group and Tenant Scrutiny Group meeting. We spoke with tenants, held meetings with RB Kingston upon Thames including the leader of the council, and the portfolio for holder for housing, interviewed staff, and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by RB Kingston upon Thames.

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 through routine regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.

Summary of findings  

Consumer – C3 – September 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. It also requires landlords to ensure that tenants’ homes meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard. We identified serious failings in relation to this outcome.

Through our inspection, we saw evidence that RB Kingston upon Thames does not hold accurate and up-to-date information on the condition of most of its homes. While RB Kingston upon Thames last completed a survey of the condition of its homes in 2020-21, this did not include a physical, internal inspection of every home. RB Kingston upon Thames has recently started a programme to survey  all of its homes, which will be completed within the next 18 months. At the time of the inspection, 15% of its homes had been surveyed. RB Kingston upon Thames reports that 16% of its homes do not meet the current Decent Homes Standard. However, this figure reduces to 10% when homes that have recently been brought up to the standard, and homes awaiting imminent demolition as part of the regeneration programme, are considered.

The Safety and Quality Standard requires landlords to identify and comply with all legal requirements relating 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 completed within appropriate timescales. During the inspection, RB Kingston upon Thames provided evidence that it is currently meeting the legal requirements relating to the health and safety of tenants in their homes and communal areas. However, we identified weaknesses in RB Kingston upon Thames’ reporting and oversight of remedial actions and statutory timescales to investigate and respond to significant or emergency hazards, which requires improvement.

We saw evidence that RB Kingston upon Thames provides an effective, efficient and timely repairs service for its homes. At the time of the inspection, 100% of emergency repairs and 86% of routine repairs were completed within target timescales. This reflects continued improvement in performance following the appointment of a new repairs contractor. RB Kingston upon Thames has taken steps to strengthen contract management and oversight of service delivery and plans to further improve tenant insight and feedback on repairs through the introduction of additional satisfaction surveys. However, there are weaknesses in the delivery of repairs to communal areas. RB Kingston upon Thames has identified the root causes of these issues and is taking action to improve performance.

We have assurance that RB Kingston upon Thames is meeting the requirements of the Neighbourhood and Community Standard in relation to anti-social behaviour. We saw evidence of effective partnership working to address anti-social behaviour and hate incidents, including the provision of support to vulnerable tenants and the appropriate use of legal powers.

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we saw evidence that RB Kingston upon Thames offers tenancies and 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 homes. RB Kingston upon Thames has arrangements in place to support tenancy sustainment, including a dedicated tenancy support team.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard requires landlords to be open and accountable to tenants, provide clear and accessible information, and ensure that tenants can influence and scrutinise services. We have assurance that RB Kingston upon Thames demonstrates a positive culture of fairness and respect towards tenants. Through our engagement with tenants and observation of meetings, we saw evidence that tenants are treated respectfully and that their views are valued. RB Kingston upon Thames provides a range of opportunities for tenants to engage with and influence services, including formal governance arrangements such as the Housing Services Group and topic-specific scrutiny groups, as well as wider consultation and engagement activities. We also saw evidence that tenant feedback has informed service improvements, including changes to repairs arrangements and improved information sharing for tenants.

However, there is a weakness in RB Kingston upon Thames’ ability to demonstrate it understands and responds to the diverse needs of its tenants. While RB Kingston upon Thames holds some information about its tenants, there are gaps in coverage across some protected characteristics. RB Kingston upon Thames has recognised this as an area of weakness and plans to expand its information about tenant’s diverse needs  and use this information for assurance on accessibility, equity and impact.

There are also weaknesses in RB Kingston upon Thames’ complaint handling. At the time of the inspection, 62% of stage 1 complaints and 74% of stage 2 complaints were responded to within the timescales set out in the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code. RB Kingston upon Thames recognises the need for improvement and has implemented measures to address these issues. We will continue to engage with RB Kingston upon Thames and seek assurance that progress is being made to improve outcomes for tenants.

RB Kingston upon Thames has been engaging constructively with us and has demonstrated self-awareness through the inspection. It has recognised the need for improvements and has put in place a programme to rectify the failures and weaknesses identified, including work to complete surveys to understand the condition of its homes, improving the volume and use of the information it holds about its tenants, and making improvements to its complaint handling processes.

We are engaging with RB Kingston upon Thames as it continues to address the issues set out in this judgement. Our engagement will be intensive, and we will seek evidence that gives us the assurance that sufficient change and progress is being made. Our priority will be that risks to tenants are being adequately managed and mitigated. We are not proposing to use our enforcement powers at this stage but will keep this under review as RB Kingston upon Thames seeks to resolve these issues.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

RB Kingston upon Thames owns and directly manages approximately 4,500 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.

Further information

• Regulating the standards
• Regulatory standards for landlords

Related documents

• Decent Homes Standard