The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG), that regulates the social housing sector to ensure it is viable, efficient, and well-governed.
The RSH works to make sure social landlords (including local authorities and private registered providers of social housing, such as housing associations and charitable housing providers) provide homes that are safe, warm, and well-maintained, they deliver good quality services to tenants, and they hear and respond to tenants’ voices.
The RSH does this by setting standards and carrying out inspections and other regulatory activities. Local authorities and private registered providers are subject to the RSH’s consumer standards (which cover the landlord services to tenants) and its Rent Standard, and private registered providers are additionally subject to the RSH’s economic standards which are focused on governance, financial viability, and value for money.
From 1 April 2024 the RSH has had expanded powers under the law, and it now delivers an inspection programme of large landlords on its consumer standards. Large landlords are those that own 1,000 or more social homes. Opendoor Homes presently owns fewer than 1,000 social homes.
TBG Open Door (known by its trading name of Opendoor Homes), as the landlord, is registered with the RSH as a private registered provider of social housing. Opendoor Homes engages its parent organisation, Barnet Homes, to provide tenancy and property management services on its behalf. In doing so, Barnet Homes must make sure Opendoor Homes complies with the RSH’s consumer standards.
Responsible Persons
In April 2024, the RSH published information about its consumer standards which includes requirements to provide safe and quality homes, as well as describing the responsibilities landlords have to their tenants. Opendoor Homes has appointed two members of staff to monitor that it is meeting the requirements.
Consumer Standards Responsible Person
Elliott Sweetman, Interim Chief Executive of The Barnet Group (note: Opendoor Homes is an organisation within The Barnet Group), has overall responsibility for ensuring Opendoor Homes is meeting the requirements set out in the regulator’s Consumer Standards.
To make contact with Elliott about this, you can email customercare@opendoorhomes.org.
Health and Safety Lead
Elliott Sweetman, Interim Chief Executive of The Barnet Group, is responsible for monitoring Opendoor Homes’ compliance with health and safety regulations.
If you have any concerns about the safety of your home, please contact us.
Frequently asked questions
The RSH has two sets of standards – economic standards and consumer standards.
Economic standards
The economic standards are to make sure social housing landlords are financially viable, properly managed, and perform their functions efficiently, effectively, and economically.
You can read more about the economic standards on the Government’s website:
Governance and Financial Viability Standard
Consumer standards
The consumer standards aim:
- to support the provision of social housing that is well-managed, safe, energy efficient, and of appropriate quality;
- to ensure actual or potential tenants of social housing have an appropriate degree of choice and protection;
- to ensure tenants of social housing have the opportunity to be involved in its management and hold their landlords to account;
- to ensure registered providers and private registered providers act in a transparent manner in relation to their tenants of social housing; and
- to encourage registered providers and private registered providers to contribute to the environmental, social, and economic well-being of the areas in which the housing is situated.
There are four consumer standards, which you can read more about on the Government’s website:
Safety and Quality Standard – requires landlords to provide safe and good quality homes and landlord services to tenants.
Related information on Opendoor Homes’ website:
- Fire safety
- Gas safety
- Repairs
- Electrics
- Damp, mould and condensation
- Report damp and mould
- Major works
- Adaptations
Transparency, Influence, and Accountability Standard – requires landlords to be open with tenants and treat them with fairness and respect so tenants can access services, raise complaints, influence decision-making, and hold their landlord to account.
Related information on Opendoor Homes’ website:
Neighbourhood and Community Standard – requires landlords to collaborate with other parties to create safe and well-maintained neighbourhoods where tenants feel safe in their homes.
Related information on Opendoor Homes’ website:
- Anti-social behaviour
- Domestic abuse
- Grounds maintenance
- Caretaking
- Estate inspections
- Communal areas
Tenancy Standard – sets requirements for the fair allocation and letting of homes and responsible tenancy management and ending practices.
Related information on Opendoor Homes’ website:
Our performance section gives you more information about how we’re performing and how tenants think we’re performing. We also publish an Annual Report for Residents each year, which you can find in our publications section.
Once a year, we complete a self-assessment against the consumer standards. We share this self-assessment with our Board. We will be completing the self-assessment again in April and May 2025.
The RSH’s programmed inspections are undertaken of large landlords with over 1,000 homes. Opendoor Homes is a small provider as it owns fewer than 1,000 social homes. It is therefore not subject to the RSH’s inspection programme.
In the future, if Opendoor Homes grows to exceed 1,000 social homes it will be inspected at least once every four years. The RSH usually gives six weeks’ notice that it will carry out an inspection.
The RSH also carries out inspections that are not programmed, for example if it becomes aware of an issue or potential issue that it assesses as material to the delivery of the consumer standards, or because it considers an inspection is an appropriate way to investigate a matter.
You can read more about the RSH’s inspection plan on its website.
Tenant Satisfaction Measures are a set of 22 standard measures that all social housing landlords have to collect in a standardised way and share with the RSH by 30 June each year. The TSMs are intended to make landlords’ performance more visible to tenants, and help tenants hold their landlord to account.
There are 10 TSMs that show landlord management information and 12 that show tenant satisfaction. Our results are regularly reported to our Board and to the council, and we publish them on our website in June each year. You can find our latest results in our performance section.
You can read more about the Tenant Satisfaction Measures on the government’s website.
The RSH encourages tenants to make complaints directly to their landlord, as the RSH’s role is not to resolve individual disputes between the landlord and the tenant. If you have a complaint, please contact Opendoor Homes so we can work with you to fix things. Find out more in our Complaints section.
The Housing Ombudsman Service is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the MHCLG, which can review and make decisions on disputes between tenants and social housing landlords if tenants are not satisfied once the landlord’s internal complaints process has been exhausted. You can find out more about the Housing Ombudsman Service in our Complaints section.
The RSH does accept referrals regarding social housing landlords not delivering the outcomes of its standards. These are different to individual disputes affecting one tenant.
You can find out more about making a referral to the RSH on its website.