Housing Solicitors

The enactment of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 (referred to as 'The 2023 Act') on July 20th, 2023, marked a pivotal moment for the housing sector.

Acknowledged by the minister for levelling up, Michael Gove MP, as a landmark, this act aims to elevate social housing standards and amplify residents' voices. It has the potential to address critical lessons from tragedies like the Grenfell Tower fire and the unfortunate passing of Awaab Ishak (the tragic toddler who died from mould), prioritising families and children facing housing concerns.

Key Innovations of the 2023 Act:

1. An Improved Social Housing Regulator

The 2023 Act advances the regulator's ability to intervene and resolve matters where landlords are found lacking in consumer-related areas. The goal is to address issues promptly and ensure tenant protection.

2. Enhanced Enforcement Powers

The regulator has improved enforcement capabilities including the authority for routine assessments of social housing premises; ensuring landlords maintain service and accommodation quality and the ability to issue significant fines for breaches.

3. Empowering Tenants

Following the tragic death of Awaab Ishak in 2020 from mould related health issues and his last year, the Government has committed to introducing Awaab’s Law, which will place a responsibility on all landlords to fix reported health and safety hazards within a strict timeframe. The introduction of strict deadlines for social landlords to rectify hazards will help tenants quickly address issues and have access to vital information concerning their residences with fewer obstacles.

4. Standards for Registered Housing Providers

The 2023 Act orders social housing administrators to either have specific credentials or are in the process of acquiring them to ensure competence within the industry. This will ensure that tenants receive the highest possible service from their housing organisations.

5. Housing Ombudsman

There will be additional housing ombudsman powers to publish best practice guidance to landlords following investigations into tenant complaints.

6. Stronger Economic Powers to Follow Inappropriate Money Transactions Outside of The Sector.

The 2023 Act presents new consumer standards that landlords will need to meet which are expected to take effect from April 2024. Under the new regime, the regulator can proactively intervene where landlords are performing poorly on consumer issues and conduct routine inspections to investigate systematic issues.

The 2023 Act presents new policy measures to increase the transparency of social landlords to their tenants, i.e. registered providers are required to collect and provide information on the Regulator’s Tenant Satisfaction Measures allowing residents to scrutinise their landlord’s performance. Section 22 (194C) of the 2023 Act confirms the regulator may set standards for registered providers in matters relating to the provision of information to their tenants of social housing and to the regulator.
The regulator is pursuing resident’s outlooks on four draft consumer standards:

• The safety and quality standard


• The transparency, influence and accountability standard


• The neighbourhood and community standard


• The tenancy standard

The regulator wants residents to let it know the following:

• Whether the consumer standards it is proposing would set the right expectations for landlords


• If the proposed Code of Practice gives helpful examples of how to meet the standards

What is next?

We are in anticipation of the following:

• Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities’ (DLUHC) consultation on the timeframes for action for Awaab's law.


• A review of existing guidance on how damp and mould impacts health with new sector guidance.


• An updated Decent Homes Standard.


• Directions from government to the Regulator on the provision of information to tenants, competency and conduct, and access to information.

We can also expect further reforms to the standards and professionalisation of the social housing sector.

Landlord Responsibilities

Whether your landlord is a local council, housing association or a private landlord, they will be responsible for the majority of repairs in your home and must ensure that major repairs are undertaken so that the property is fit for purpose.

If your landlord is failing to address serious in your home then it may be time to take expert legal advice from one of our team.

About the author: Contact Miranda Quashie is a dedicated caseworker within Duncan Lewis Solicitors' housing department.

Alongside a skilled team of solicitors and caseworkers, Miranda handles an array of social housing matters, including challenges against housing authorities, encompassing homelessness cases, suitability reviews, housing litigation, eviction proceedings, disrepair claims, harassment issues, injunction proceedings, and judicial review applications.
Miranda is committed to a collaborative approach and supports clients seeking legal aid funding and provides counsel to those opting for Conditional Fee Agreements ("no-win, no-fee").

Contact Miranda via email at MirandaQ@duncanlewis.com or via telephone on 020 7014 7320.
Miranda works under housing and property litigation director Manjinder Kaur Atwal, who has more than 15 years’ experience in her field. She is recommended in the Legal 500 directory and tackles a wide variety of housing and property law dispute cases including possession claims and eviction matters, landlord and tenant disputes, homelessness, housing disrepair, appeals relating to local authority housing decisions, boundary disputes, property nuisance/negligence claims and much more.

Duncan Lewis is an award-winning Times Top 200 law firm, which is ranked as Top Tier by both the Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 directories. The company represents clients in more than 25 practice areas across 13 key offices nationwide. This year the company was crowned Law Firm of the Year at the Modern Law Awards 2023 and awarded for its commitment to diversity and inclusion.