The RSH has identified a number of key insights from its casework

According to the English regulator's Annual Casework Review, published on 28th July, RPs should:

• Know that tenants are safe in their homes, with complete and accurate data on health and safety compliance, property condition and the diverse needs of tenants
• Have an effective risk management culture, with clear board oversight supported by high-quality assurance to evidence that internal controls are effective and delivering improved outcomes for residents
• Use data and insight to drive continuous improvement, with good quality data used to identify emerging issues, target interventions, provide good quality landlord services and deliver service improvements
• Demonstrate that they deliver strategic value for money, optimising resources to deliver favourable outcomes for current tenants and homes, contribute appropriately to the delivery of new homes, and maintain financial resilience
• Ensure the strong governance of financial risks and performance, with boards provided with good quality information, supplemented by stress testing and mitigation planning, enabling them to understand current and emerging risks
• Work with the RSH to make improvements, self-referring issues at an early stage, demonstrating a clear understanding of root causes, and implementing credible recovery plans
• Listen to tenants' views to shape services and inform decision making, using tenant insight directly to inform priorities, improve services and strengthen accountability.

The RSH concluded that landlords with strong governance are best placed to deliver more and better social homes

Writing in Social Housing, Karen Doran of the RSH identified the key themes that they regulator had identified through its casework:

• Good, up-to-date data is needed on both homes and tenants to ensure that homes remain safe for their residents
• Boards should listen to tenants and integrate their views into decision making
• To drive value for money, RPs should set clear objectives, together with a clear risk appetite, linking their spending decisions to those objectives
• Strong management of financial risk and performance is needed to deliver planned outcomes
• Boards need to know enough about the strategic risks to be able to challenge before outcomes worsen, and to drive continuous improvement
• When things go wrong, making a self-referral to the regulator at an early stage will help to ensure effective and sustained improvements.