A landlord's essential checklist for the RSH consumer standards

Since the new consumer standards came into force in April 2024, the RSH has been inspecting all large social landlords. Non-compliant grades have already been published across the sector, and the consequences of a C3 or C4 aren’t just reputational. They bring intensive regulatory scrutiny, mandatory improvement requirements, and a level of intervention that stretches teams and disrupts operations for months.

The problem is that most organisations don’t find out where their weaknesses are until an inspector points them out. By then, it’s too late to get ahead of it.

This checklist is designed to change that. It covers every major area the RSH will look at, from the non-negotiables of health and safety compliance to the harder questions around culture, data, and governance. It’s honest, it’s direct, and it doesn’t let you off easy. That’s the point.

Inside this free checklist:

An RSH inspection can come with little warning. This checklist helps you find the gaps before they do:

• The Big 5 health and safety areas, and what the RSH will actually look for. Gas, electrical, fire, water hygiene, and asbestos. We work through each one with the specific questions an inspector is likely to ask, so you can find the gaps before they do.
• Awaab’s Law, explained clearly. The regulations came into force in October 2025 and the timescales are tight. We break down what’s required for emergency hazards, significant damp and mould cases, written summaries to tenants, and remediation works, so you know exactly where you stand.
• Stock condition and data integrity. Having the data isn’t enough if you can’t trust it or access it quickly. We look at the questions you should be asking about your systems before an inspector asks them for you.
• Repairs, complaints, and the tenant experience. Speed matters, but it isn’t everything. We cover what good looks like across repairs performance, complaint handling, and how you’re engaging tenants in decisions that affect them.
• Board oversight and governance. Inspectors don’t just look at what’s happening operationally. They want to know the board is genuinely in control. We cover what good reporting and scrutiny looks like at that level.

Essential for procurement professionals in social housing!

• Chief executives, directors, and senior leaders in social housing who want an honest picture of where their organisation stands before an inspection arrives.
• Board members and non-executives who need to understand what the RSH is looking for at governance level and whether the right questions are being asked.
• Operational managers and compliance leads who want a structured way to stress-test their processes and evidence trails before they’re put under scrutiny.

Inspections aren’t announced far in advance. The organisations that come out of them well aren’t the ones that scrambled at the last minute. They’re the ones that had already done the hard work of being honest with themselves about where the gaps were.

This checklist is a good place to start that conversation.

Download your copy and let’s get started.