A guide to the new consumer standards regulations for housing providers – Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard

Posted: 11/04/2024

The new Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard (TIAS) came into force on 1 April 2024, replacing the old Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard.

This new TIAS contains some of the biggest changes under the new consumer standards and highlights the government’s and the regulator’s requirement for positive relationships between the tenant and the landlord. The key concept reflected throughout the new TIAS is the need for transparency. This will in turn require registered providers (RPs) to treat all tenants with fairness and respect so that they can:

• access services;
• raise complaints;
• influence their landlord’s decision making; and
• hold their landlord to account.

The previous Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard had just three outcomes, whereas the new TIAS has six outcomes, which are:

• fairness and respect;
• diverse needs;
• engagement with tenants;
• information about landlord services;
• performance information (including the tenant satisfaction measures); and
• complaints.

Fairness and respect

Firstly, all tenants must be treated with fairness and respect, with it being recognised as a ‘central pillar’ to how RPs function, and underpinning services going forward. If RPs do not treat their tenants with fairness and respect, then they cannot comply with the consumer standards.

Diverse needs

In conjunction with ‘fairness and respect’ is the requirement for RPs to take into account the diverse needs of its tenants. This outcome goes further than previously seen, with the use of information and data to understand tenants’ needs, and to ensure fair access to services, along with communications and information provided to tenants needing to be accessible.

Engagement with tenants

Previously RPs only had to ensure that tenants were given the opportunity to be involved in the landlord’s decision making; this now goes much further, as RPs must take tenants’ views into account in their decision making about how to deliver landlord services, and they will need to be able to demonstrate this to the regulator.

For RPs to achieve successful engagement it is fundamental that consideration of tenants’ views are at the heart of every decision made, with opportunity for tenant scrutiny of landlords’ strategies, policies and services.

Information about landlord services

This is a new outcome and requires RPs to provide tenants with information about:

• the available landlord services;
• how to access those services;
• how to contact their landlord;
• how to make complaints; and
• the relevant roles and responsibilities of senior employees and officers;

all whilst considering the diverse needs of tenants. Tenants should be able to understand what to expect from their landlord so they can hold them to account.

Self-referral

This new expectation mirrors the regulator’s requirement that RPs self-refer as regards potential/actual breaches of the economic standards. It requires RPs to self-refer to the regulator on all material issues that relate to non-compliance or potential non-compliance with the consumer standards.

The key question here is what is material, which is a subjective matter, and it may well be that the RP officer responsible for compliance with the consumer standards and the regulator come to different conclusions about this. As ever, it is best to keep a clear record of the reasons for deciding whether a matter was considered to be material or not, so that the RP can defend itself should the regulator take a different view.

Performance information

As well as setting out the requirements pursuant to the tenant satisfaction measures, RPs are now required to produce detailed information about their performance and make it available to their tenants. The information required is quite extensive and RPs should check that they have the systems in place to do this.

Complaints

RPs must ensure that complaints are addressed fairly, effectively and promptly.

What should RPs be doing?

It is recommended that RPs do the following:

• ensure they have a specific person within the organisation who is responsible for the consumer standards, and who monitors and reports on them, bearing in mind the requirement to self-refer for all non-compliance;
• ensure that where they are dealing directly with a tenant, that tenant is kept up to date from the start through to completion of that service, for example where there is a complaint, or a repair is required;
• ensure they have robust data about their tenants, including in relation to protected characteristics, and their support and communication needs;
• they will need to be able to demonstrate that tenants’ views are taken into account around services, and they need to be able to provide examples of how feedback has shaped services.

For further information on this topic, please contact Caroline Leviss or Hugo Stephens.

Related articles

• A guide to the new consumer standards regulations for housing providers – introduction
• A guide to the new consumer standards regulations for housing providers – Safety and Quality Standard
• A guide to the new consumer standards regulations for housing providers – Tenancy Standard
• A guide to the new consumer standards regulations for housing providers – Neighbourhood and Community Standard

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