Having worked with nearly half of all social housing providers across England, we have developed a unique insight into the common pitfalls that organisations are making in their efforts to manage property compliance.
To help you consider your organisation’s approach to managing compliance, we’ve highlighted the top three for you to consider.
1. Governance and leadership
Top of our list is poor governance and leadership. To put it simply, this is where boards are not providing the required level of scrutiny and challenge to encourage a robust approach to managing property compliance. Usually, this is driven from a lack of knowledge, confidence or that compliance just isn’t seen as a priority.
We recommend that boards approve compliance policy principles and strategic choices to ensure that all obligations are being met. Thereafter, boards should receive transparent and accurate performance reporting that provides full assurance.
2. Data and records
Whether you are monitoring compliance programme dates, classifying properties, or recording contractor competencies, the way you handle your data is fundamental to the success of compliance programme management. Yet, data and records seem to cause our clients the most bother.
Our advice – keep it simple! Establish the basics and validate. For example, make sure you:
- know how many properties you own and manage (and what type they are),
- can clearly identify last and next inspection dates across all programmes,
- have documented reasons why properties are not on programmes.
Only after you have the fundamentals in place should you consider increasing automation and making further efficiencies.
3. Everything is okay
Really - how do you know? Reassurance culture will assert that everything is ok without supporting evidence to confirm that is the case.
Consider how you report your compliance position and think about the following questions:
- Is your compliance reporting mostly made up of percentages?
- Do you have documented evidence to show that your ‘completed’ fire risk assessment actions have been completed?
- Can you provide supporting documentation and a clear audit trail in your asbestos register for all your asbestos removal jobs?
If you answered yes to the first question and no to the last two, you should check that your organisation can evidence the compliance position that’s being reported, to ensure it is a true and accurate reflection of your actual performance.
"All organisations should strive for an assurance culture, which is founded on accuracy, transparency and supported by documentary evidence, data, and records."
How do these pitfalls manifest?
In worst case scenarios these common pitfalls (and the other pitfalls we come across) can lead to governance downgrades from the Regulator of Social Housing, serious incidents and even fatalities. Thankfully, these are rare occurrences, though they highlight just how serious the consequences could be if you don’t manage property compliance well.
Addressing the challenge
Interested in finding out more? We have a comprehensive list of common pitfalls and understand exactly what is required to deal with them, to ultimately provide full assurance that your organisation is taking the necessary steps to keep your customers safe.
Our Compliance Health Check will provide you with a position statement to show where you are now, with a supporting Compliance Roadmap to get you to where you need to be. We check against statutory requirements and best practice, drawing on HSE guidance, codes of practice and industry guidelines. The service areas covered in the health check can be tailored to meet your specific needs.
