Financial implications of the Act
- An Impact Assessment has been prepared for the Act and covers the implications of the Act for the regulator and both private registered provider and local authority landlords.
- The majority of the measures do not have monetisable costs and are aimed at ensuring there is behavioural change in the sector. There are however non-monetisable costs associated with these measures. Some of the measures covered by the Impact Assessment require further development to identify exactly how they will be put into practice; this further work will affect costs and benefits. The regulator will produce a fuller Impact Assessment for the impact of revisions to the regulatory standards.
- It is not anticipated that there will be any costs for social housing tenants.
- Though the majority of the measures in the Act do not have monetisable costs, there are monetisable costs associated with some of these measures. Based on the analysis conducted for the Impact Assessment, financial implications arising from the Act are likely to include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Introducing new requirements for social housing landlords relating to electrical safety checks. The largest source of cost is predicted to come from the requirements on registered providers to perform 5 yearly electrical safety checks. The total cost for the electrical safety policy over the initial 10-year period is estimated at around £56.04 million for private registered providers and £31.37 million for LAs.
- Requiring landlords to identify a nominated person responsible for compliance with their health and safety requirements. It is estimated that the policy will cost the sector approximately £4.15 million in the year it is introduced. Between 2025 and 2035, it is estimated that this measure will cost housing associations £35.8 million and LAs £5.9 million.
- Requiring the regulator to establish a set of Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs). The regulator has carried out its own Impact Assessment for the introduction of these measures.
- Any changes to the existing fees regime to reflect the new role of the regulator in relation to consumer regulation will be subject to further consideration in the development of the new regime, including further consultation with stakeholders, and is not in the scope of this impact assessment.
- The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities estimates that the cost to providers of social housing as a result of the combined effect of the measures in the Act is £173.90 million over the 10-year appraisal period.
