Research and analysis

Stakeholder survey results – August 2019

Updated 7 October 2020

Applies to England

November 2019

Introduction

This is the second consecutive year that the Regulator of Social Housing has carried out a stakeholder survey and we intend to conduct a similar survey annually

We have sought the views of registered providers and other stakeholders on a range of issues

We will use the results to inform

• our performance monitoring
• continuous development of our operational approach
• corporate planning

Key findings

• 531 responses in total, up from 363 in 2018
• 91% of respondents agree that the regulator takes action to ensure confidence in the sector is maintained
• 88% of respondents agree that the regulator takes appropriate action in respect of the consumer standards
• Overall, 74% think that our approach to regulation is risk-based and assurance-based
• Overall, 84% of respondents find the range of regulator’s publications very or somewhat useful with the Codes of Practice and Regulating the Standards rated as very or somewhat useful by at least 90%

Responses

• 531 stakeholders started the survey, with 376 (71%) completing every section – this is a 59% increase in the number of completed responses (237) compared with last year’s survey
• 82% of respondents were registered providers (RPs) compared to 93% in 2018
• 131 large providers completed the survey, representing 59% of all providers within this group. 195 completed responses were received from small providers, representing 19% of this group
• Respondents also included tenant organisations, trade bodies, lenders/investors and other stakeholders

Question 1: Which stakeholder group do you fall into? (Complete responses)

Stakeholder	2019 All Responses	Complete Responses	% of total completed responses
Large registered provider	167	131	35%
Small registered provider	247	195	52%
Other	47	27	7%
Tenant organisation	28	12	3%
Trade body	9	7	2%
Lender	3	3	1%
Investor or credit rating agency	1	1	0%
Government department	1	0	0%
No answer	28	0	0%

Proportion of complete responses by stakeholder group

Stakeholder group	proportion of responses
Large RP	35%
Small RP	52%
Other	7%
Tenant organisation	3%
Trade body	2%
Lender	1%

Profile of responses

Among registered provider respondents:

• 60% represented smaller providers (<1,000 units), and
• 40% represented larger providers (>1,000 units)
• 304 providers referred to themselves as a “Housing Association”, 9 as an ALMO and 10 as for-profit providers

Complete RP respondents by stock size

Complete RP respondents by stock size
<1,000 units	195
1,000 - 9,999 units	79
10,000 - 29,999 units	31
30,000 - 49,999 units	10
50,000+ units	11

Section 1: Regulatory framework (Question 5)

Question 5: To what extent do you agree that:	% Strongly agree	% Agree	% Neutral	% Disagree	% Strongly Disagree
(a) the regulator’s approach is co-regulatory	14	52	28	3	2
(b) the regulator meets its objectives to be proportionate and minimise interference	18	57	20	3	1
(c) the regulatory framework and our approach to regulation are consistent with our objectives on economic regulation	21	53	22	2	1
(d) the regulatory framework and our approach to regulation are consistent with our objectives on consumer regulation	15	54	25	4	2
Overall	17	54	24	3	2

• 71% of respondents answered Question 5 positively, and 5% answered negatively. In 2018, these were 91% and 9% respectively, but comparisons should be treated carefully as this year, we gave the option of “neutral” answers for a number of questions
• The most positively answered question was (b) at 75%
• The least positively answered question was (a) at 66%
• Responses were fairly similar across stakeholder groups

Section 1: Regulatory framework (Question 5)

Question 5: To what extent do you agree that:	% All Agree	% All Disagree
(a) the regulator’s approach is co-regulatory	92	8
(b) the regulator meets its objectives to be proportionate and minimise interference	95	5
(c) the regulatory framework and our approach to regulation are consistent with our objectives on economic regulation	96	4
(d) the regulatory framework and our approach to regulation are consistent with our objectives on consumer regulation	92	8
Overall	94	6

• To enable comparison with 2018 we have looked at the results just for respondents who either agreed or disagreed
• Overall, 94% of respondents who gave either a positive (strongly agree/agree) answer or a negative (strongly disagree/disagree) answer agreed with the question
• 96% of respondents who gave a positive or negative answer to this question agreed to sub question (c)
• When looking only at those who gave a positive or negative response, more than 90% agreed with the question

Section 2: Regulatory approach (Question 6)

Question 6: How familiar are you with the key elements of our In Depth Assessment (IDA) model?

Question 6 responses
Very familiar	29%
Quite familiar	22%
Not very familiar	31%
Not at all familiar	18%

• 51% of respondents are very or quite familiar with the IDA model
• Large RPs (91%) are very familiar with the IDA model, while other stakeholders and small RPs are less aware

Q6 by stakeholder type

Stakeholder type	% Very familiar	% Quite familiar	% Not very familiar	% Not at all familiar
Large RP	78	13	8	1
Small RP	3	26	45	26
Other stakeholders	10	27	33	30

Section 3: Delivery and practice (Question 8)

Q8 responses by sub question

Question 8: To what extent do you agree that:	% Strongly agree	% Agree	% Neutral	% Disagree	% Strongly disagree
(a) our approach to regulation is risk-based and assurance-based	24	50	21	3	1
(b) this approach is reflected in your experience of being a regulated RP or how you understand RPs are regulated	20	51	26	2	1
Overall	22	50	24	3	1

Q8 by stakeholder type

Stakeholder type	% Strongly agree	% Agree	% Neutral	% Disagree	% Strongly disagree
Small RP	12	53	31	3	1
Large RP	36	55	7	1	1
Other stakeholders	22	31	39	7	1

• Overall 72% of respondents agree, with 74% of respondents agreeing with (a)
• Overall 4% disagreed with these statements
• 91% of large RPs agree overall with the statements

Section 3: Delivery and practice (Question 9)

Question 9: How clear are you about any information and/or evidence you are asked to provide by the regulator and why?

Question 9 responses
Very clear	50%
Somewhat clear	27%
Neutral	16%
Not at all clear	7%

Q9 by stakeholder type

Stakeholder type	% Very clear	% Somewhat clear	% Neutral	% Not at all clear
Large RP	70	25	2	3
Small RP	43	30	19	8
Other stakeholders	28	19	37	16

• 77% of respondents (and 95% of large RPs) answered positively, while 7% were not clear
• A smaller proportion of other stakeholders answered positively; however this may be explained by them receiving fewer requests for information or evidence

Section 3: Delivery and practice (Question 10)

Question 10: From engaging with our regulatory staff, how knowledgeable are they about the nature and complexity of the sector?

Question 10 responses
Very knowledgeable	38%
Somewhat knowledgeable	31%
Neutral	25%
Requires improvement	6%

Q10 by stakeholder type

Stakeholder type	% Very knowledgeable	% Somewhat knowledgeable	% Neutral	% Requires improvement
Large RP	52	37	7	4
Small RP	28	31	35	6
Other stakeholders	42	18	30	11

• 69% of respondents answered positively, while 6% answered negatively
• 89% of large providers answered positively

Section 4: The regulator (Question 12)

Question 12: Please indicate how useful you find the following publications:	All useful
Codes of practice	93%
Consumer Regulation Review	88%
Fees statement	81%
Global Accounts	69%
Quarterly Survey	80%
Regulating the Standards	90%
Regulatory notices / judgements	86%
Sector Risk Profile	86%
Statistical Data Return	82%

• Overall, 84% of respondents find the range of regulator’s publications very or somewhat useful
• The Codes of Practice and Regulating the Standards were rated as very or somewhat useful by at least 90%
• 69% find Global Accounts and 80% find Quarterly Survey useful – these cover large providers only (which account for a majority of the sector’s financing). These publications are therefore principally targeted at these providers and their lenders, rather than the sector as a whole.

Q12 responses by sub-question

Publication	% Very useful	% Somewhat useful	% Not very useful	% Not at all useful
Codes of Practice	52	42	5	2
Consumer Regulation Review	40	47	10	3
Fees statement	22	59	17	2
Global Accounts	32	37	25	6
Quarterly Survey	23	56	16	4
Regulating the Standards	60	30	7	3
Regulatory judgements/notices	44	41	11	3
Sector Risk Profile	53	32	10	4
Statistical Data Return	28	55	13	5

Q12 by stakeholder type

Stakeholder type	% Very useful	% Somewhat useful	% Not very useful	% Not at all useful
Large RPs	55	38	6	1
Small RPs	29	49	17	5
Other stakeholders	39	44	12	6

• As in 2018, large providers are most likely to find the regulator’s publications very useful (55%) and very useful or somewhat useful (93%)
• 83% of other stakeholders and 78% of small RPs also find the publications useful
• 1 in 20 small providers and 1 in 17 other stakeholders do not find the regulator’s publications useful

Section 4: The regulator (Question 13)

Question 13: To what extent do you agree that the Regulator takes action where possible to ensure that confidence in the sector is maintained, and access to finance on competitive terms continues?

Question 13 responses
Strongly agree	34%
Agree	57%
Disagree	7%
Strongly disagree	2%

Q13 by stakeholder type

Stakeholder type	% Strongly agree	% Agree	% Disagree	% Strongly disagree
Large RPs	45	52	2	1
Small RPs	24	65	10	1
Other stakeholders	42	44	8	6

• 91% of respondents agree with this statement
• 97% of large RPs agreed with this statement (a 4% increase from 2018), with 89% of small RPs and 86% of other stakeholders also agreed

Section 4: The regulator (Question 14)

Question 14: To what extent do you agree that the Regulator takes appropriate action in response to referrals where the Regulator finds consumer standards have been breached and tenants, or potential tenants, have been at significant risk of serious detriment?

Question 14 responses
Strongly agree	21%
Agree	67%
Disagree	10%
Strongly disagree	2%

Q14 by stakeholder type

Stakeholder type	% Strongly agree	% Agree	% Disagree	% Strongly disagree
Large RPs	29	66	4	2
Small RPs	14	74	11	1
Other stakeholders	28	44	20	8

• This is a new question in the 2019 survey
• 88% of respondents agreed, with 67% agreeing and 21% strongly agreeing
• 96% of large RPs agree with this question, with 88% of small RPs and 72% of other stakeholders agreeing

Section 4: The regulator (Question 15)

Question 15: The Regulator of Social Housing became a standalone body on 1 October 2018. Do you think this change has had a positive or negative impact on effective regulation of the sector?

Question 15 responses
Positive	28%
Neutral	48%
Negative	3%
No impact	21%

Q15 by stakeholder type

Stakeholder type	% Positive	% Neutral	% Negative	% No impact
Large RPs	34	46	2	18
Small RPs	22	53	4	21
Other stakeholders	34	34	2	30

• 28% stated the impact was positive and only 3% considered the change to be negative
• 48% of respondents feel the change has had a neutral impact, with 21% stating it has had no impact
• Large RPs and other stakeholders were equally positive

Section 4: The regulator (Question 17)

Question 17: Which of the following do you find helpful in getting information about the requirements of our standards, publications and any other news?

Method	All positive
Letter / email	93%
Website information / alert	80%
Stakeholder event	73%
Trade press article / column	66%
Twitter / LinkedIn	37%

Q17 responses

Method	% Very helpful	Quite helpful	Not very helpful	Unhelpful
#Letter/email	62	31	5	2
Website information/alert	37	43	17	3
Stakeholder event	30	43	21	6
Trade press article/column	18	48	27	7
Twitter/LinkedIn	8	28	47	17

• 93% of respondents find direct contact via letter or email helpful
• Although social media channels was not as popular overall, 47% of other stakeholders found this method of contact helpful, compared to 35% of providers.
• A different question was asked in 2018 so direct comparison is not possible.

Next steps

• We aim to conduct another survey in 2020
• Some of the questions will remain the same to enable comparison
• In the meantime we will use the results of this survey to inform the Regulator of Social Housing’s performance monitoring, corporate planning and regulatory engagement
• We will be conducting a separate survey of registered providers on our regulatory engagement with providers, including IDAs
• Building on the changes that we have made to the 2019 Statistical Data Return we will consider whether we can make further changes to improve the accessibility of our publications
• We have communicated the results internally and will reflect on the results in our work planning and development plans

Regulator of Social Housing

0300 124 5225

enquiries@rsh.gov.uk

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The Regulator of Social Housing regulates registered providers of social housing to promote a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver homes that meet a range of needs.