To be or not to be regulated...
It was with some interest that the team at Pathmeads and those within the Registered Social Landlord (RSL) movement looked upon the recent Carsberg review. The main points of the review were: information needs to be straightforward and clear to customers and consumers; control over the practitioner, by making it simple and; a consistent form of redress that is universal. For those of us in the RSL industry, participation with our customers and consumers, guidance to the practitioner and a universal form of redress are the hallmarks of how Pathmeads has operated since the inception of tough audit regimes set out by the audit commission.
The private sector may view the work that housing associations undertake as of a very different nature to their own, however, Pathmeads (part of the Genesis Housing Group) has broad similarities to private sector counterparts.
Pathmeads is a pioneer organisation in the RSL movement in that it owns no assets and acts solely as managing agents on behalf of local authorities, private landlords and private investors. It is the main provider of temporary accommodation in the capital whereby it leases properties from private landlords and uses these assets to meet the housing demands of homeless families in London.
Softer skills
We feel that if you are open and honest to your customers, explain key processes so that they better understand the services they are less likely to be disgruntled and complain. At the heart of what we do is trying to learn from our mistakes and put things right so that it’s less likely to occur again in future and should it occur again, we know exactly how to put it right the next time.
The new Housing and Regeneration Bill that recently received Royal Assent introduced a new regulatory body for RSLs – the Tenants Services Authority. If we as an organisation fail to live up to our customers’ expectations they can appoint members to our Board and outsource our services. Many in our industry see this as another form of control from central government, however, for others, like Pathmeads we see this as an opportunity for growth and for us to continue to raise the bar in terms of standards to our customers.
Positive benefits
Pathmeads was recently inspected by the audit commission and was awarded two out of three stars with promising prospects for improvement. They described our approach as having an “emphasis on providing an excellent service with the tenant at its heart, rather than a service aligned along the minimum standards of a contract…Leadership is highly effective; strategies and plans are inclusive and well understood and there is strong working across the Group to both inform and challenge improvement plans.”
We would therefore tell our counterparts in the private sector, do not worry about regulation for if you are an excellent service provider like us, you will have nothing to fear.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.