An official statement from the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), published on July 30, 2025, confirms that five councils have been given a C3 grading for failing to meet consumer standards. This grading signifies “serious failings” that require “significant improvements.”

The councils named are:

• East Suffolk Council
• Ipswich Borough Council
• Leicester City Council
• North Kesteven District Council
• Redditch Borough Council

The document details the specific issues for each council:

• East Suffolk Council: Around 50% of its homes do not meet the Decent Homes Standard. The council also failed to fully track the resolution of hazards, damp, and mould cases.
• Ipswich Borough Council: The RSH found gaps in its data regarding the assessment of hazards using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) and a lack of comprehensive data about the diverse needs of its tenants.
• Leicester City Council: Approximately 70% of its homes had not had an electrical safety test. The council also lacks up-to-date information on the condition of most of its homes, with its last comprehensive survey conducted in 2009, and those surveys did not include HHSRS hazard assessments.
• North Kesteven District Council: This council is not meeting its targets for routine repairs or managing void properties. Only a third of its homes had an HHSRS assessment.
• Redditch Borough Council: It had a significant backlog of fire safety actions, with around 2,900 overdue, including 800 high-risk issues that had been overdue for more than a year. It also had almost 3,000 overdue repairs.

The RSH also published regulatory judgements for 18 other landlords, including first gradings for Grainger Trust, Heart of Medway Housing Association, and M&G UK Shared Ownership. Additionally, Bromsgrove District Housing Trust Limited and Empowering People Inspiring Communities Limited were upgraded to G1 for governance after demonstrating improvements in their risk management, internal controls, and financial governance.

Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement at the RSH, emphasized that the issues highlighted in the judgements need to be addressed promptly and that the RSH is working with each landlord to “put things right for their tenants.” She also stressed the importance of strong governance for private registered providers.

A full list of all landlords:

1. On 1 April 2024 RSH introduced new consumer standards for social