Progress, a commitment to improve, and completing actions in reasonable timescales are just three areas that have been highlighted following an inspection by the Regulator of Social Housing.
Mansfield District Council was inspected by the regulator in November 2024 and has received a C2 grading.
This rating means that while there are some areas of weakness that must be addressed to achieve the top rating of C1, overall, there is a good level of ‘assurance’ that the regulator’s four consumer standards are being achieved.
The purpose of the inspection was to measure the council’s compliance against the four standards—safety and quality, transparency, influence and accountability, neighbourhood and community, and tenancy.
As well as attending meetings of the council’s cabinet and housing executive board, the inspectors reviewed a wide range of documents and evidence as well as meeting with tenants, officers, and councillors.
The judgement report states that:
- Mansfield has appropriate systems in place and provided evidence to show that overall, it is meeting legal requirements that relate to the health and safety of tenants in their homes and communal areas. Risks and actions are identified and completed within reasonable timescales, and performance is actively monitored by senior officers and councillors.
- The council is currently reporting that 89% of its homes meet the Decent Homes Standard and has plans in place to achieve 100%. We saw evidence that Mansfield DC is managing the risks associated with damp and mould and has prioritised remedial works but recognises that it needs to take steps to adopt a more planned approach.
- Mansfield demonstrates a commitment to treating tenants with fairness and respect, and we saw some evidence that tenants' views have been used to influence how services, such as complaints, are improved.
- During the inspection, we observed positive interaction between staff and tenants, and we have assurance that Mansfield is committed to building on its existing arrangements to support tenants.
- We saw evidence that tenancies are allocated in line with our standard, and the inspection provided assurance about the work Mansfield does to support tenants to sustain their tenancies.
Councillor Anne Callaghan, Portfolio Holder for Housing at the council, said: “As a social housing provider, ensuring that our services meet the needs of our tenants is our top priority. The C2 grade, which is the second highest grade possible, recognises that we are meeting the regulators’ consumer standards in many areas.
“The judgement report does identify some areas where improvement is needed to make sure that we are offering the best possible services for our tenants, and based on the feedback from the regulator, we are already on the journey of transformation to help us achieve this outcome.
“We look forward to working with the regulator on our improvement journey, and we will continue to work directly with our tenants, keeping them updated and involved.”
Figures from the most recent tenant satisfaction survey, published in December 2024 (opens in new window), also showed that overall satisfaction with the council’s housing performance was 68% (out of 651 responses) - up by 7.3% on its first tenant perception survey.
In a commitment to add even more assurance to the regulator as the council moves through its transformation journey, it will be setting up a new housing board in the spring, led by an independent chair who will not work for the council. The aim is to bring additional scrutiny to the housing service and review continuing performance.
Three of the standards were identified as requiring improvement, including transparency, influence and accountability, and neighbourhood and community.
A copy of the judgement can be found on the government website here. (opens in new window)
Council tenants can keep up to date with the latest information on housing services by joining our dedicated Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/mansfieldhousing. (opens in new window)