Decision

Westmorland and Furness Council (5177) - Regulatory Judgement: 25 February 2026

Published 25 February 2026

Applies to England

Our Judgement

	Grade/Judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer	C2 Our judgement is that there are some weaknesses in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed.	First grading	February 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing a regulatory judgement for Westmorland and Furness Council following an inspection completed in February 2026.

This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grade of C2. 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 some weaknesses in Westmorland and Furness Council delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed, specifically in relation to outcomes in our Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard. Based on this assessment, we have concluded a C2 grade for Westmorland and Furness Council.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection of Westmorland and Furness Council 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 Locality Board meeting, a meeting of the Tenants’ Forum, and we spoke with engaged tenants. We held meetings with the leader of the council, the cabinet member and portfolio holder for housing and community safety, and senior officers. We also reviewed a wide range of documents provided by Westmorland and Furness Council. 

Our regulatory judgement is based on a review of all the relevant information obtained during the inspection, as well as analysis of information supplied by Westmorland and Furness Council in its regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.

Summary of findings  

Consumer – C2 – February 2026

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. In addition, landlords should ensure that homes meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard. Through our inspection we obtained assurance that Westmorland and Furness Council has a clear and evidenced understanding of the condition of its homes. Westmorland and Furness Council has carried out recent stock condition surveys covering over 95% of its homes. Westmorland and Furness Council reports that all its homes meet the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard based on this information, and has clear plans in place to ensure all remaining properties are surveyed.

Westmorland and Furness Council has demonstrated that it is taking all reasonable steps to comply with legal health and safety requirements in line with the Safety and Quality Standard. During the inspection, Westmorland and Furness Council provided evidence that it has appropriate systems in place to help ensure the health and safety of tenants in its homes and associated communal areas. Westmorland and Furness Council has plans to strengthen its approach to radon testing and monitoring. Its approach to damp and mould reflects a clear understanding of legal requirements, with timely investigation and completion of remedial works.

The Safety and Quality Standard also requires landlords to provide an effective, efficient, and timely repairs service for the homes and communal areas for which they are responsible. We have assurance that the repairs service provided by Westmorland and Furness Council meets these requirements. We saw evidence that Westmorland and Furness Council responds to, and actions repairs appropriately, and reports high levels of tenant satisfaction with the service.  

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. We gained assurance that Westmorland and Furness Council manages anti-social behaviour and hate incidents effectively in line with its policies. It introduced a new Anti-Social Behaviour and Hate Incident Policy in August 2025. This sets out a victim-centred and trauma-informed approach and has enhanced monitoring that has led to improved outcomes.

We saw evidence that Westmorland and Furness Council is meeting the outcomes of the Tenancy Standard, offering 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.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard includes the requirement for landlords to consider the diverse needs of tenants in the delivery of services, provide information so that tenants can use landlord services, understand what to expect from their landlord, and hold their landlord to account. It also requires landlords to ensure complaints are addressed fairly, effectively, and promptly. We identified weaknesses in relation to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard that are material to our judgement. While we observed respectful interactions and a culture of putting tenants first, we have limited assurance that Westmorland and Furness Council understands the diverse needs of all its tenants. This is because tenant information is collected at the start of each tenancy but is not routinely updated. Therefore, Westmorland and Furness Council is limited in its ability to use this to inform service design, monitor outcomes or evaluate accessibility.

We also saw evidence throughout the inspection that Westmorland and Furness Council listens to tenant feedback from an individual perspective. However, despite a range of engagement opportunities offered through estate-based and local community engagement and the Tenants’ Forum, there was limited evidence that effective scrutiny by tenants was taking place at a more strategic level. Westmorland and Furness Council recognises the need to improve this and has plans to introduce a new tenant engagement strategy and tenant-led scrutiny panels, including training for involved tenants.

Evidence was provided during the inspection that Westmorland and Furness Council shares service and performance information with tenants, although this is limited in some areas, it has begun to implement plans to strengthen this. Overall, we found Westmorland and Furness Council ensures complaints are addressed fairly, promptly and effectively. Westmorland and Furness Council has demonstrated a commitment to analysing and learning from complaints and implementing service improvements.

Westmorland and Furness Council has engaged constructively with us and is addressing the weaknesses identified. We recognise the positive steps Westmorland and Furness Council has already taken and its commitment to continued improvement.

We will continue to engage with Westmorland and Furness Council as it implements its improvement plans, with particular focus on establishing and embedding a broader range of tenant scrutiny activities, improving the accuracy, completeness and routine updating of tenant information, and developing its approach to using tenant insight to support fair, equitable and accessible services.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

Westmorland and Furness Council is a unitary council formed in 2023 following a local government reorganisation in Cumbria. It covers a large and predominantly rural area including the towns of Penrith, Barrow and Kendal. Westmorland and Furness Council owns 2,575 social homes comprising of traditionally constructed houses, low-rise flats, and bungalows. Westmorland and Furness Council does not own any supported housing.

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