As pressure mounts on housing providers to better understand the condition of their properties and respond faster to hazards in the home, organisations are investing in innovative and more resident-focused approaches to overcoming ‘no access’ issues. Neil Merrick reports.
Gaining timely access to tenants’ homes has never been more important for social landlords.
There are gas and electrical checks to carry out, routine maintenance and the need to comply with Awaab’s Law. Regulators, on the other hand, are urging landlords to recognise the people behind the door – not just the need to carry out repairs.
But what if the people behind the door prefer not to know the landlord? Every year, cases of ‘no access’ cost the sector millions of pounds. In 2024, the Association of Safety and Compliance Professionals estimated that the cost of failed attempts to carry out gas inspections alone easily exceeds £50 million per year.
HQN research
Research last year by HQN showed just 40% of social landlords have a definition of ‘no access’, with fewer measuring the scale of the challenge. More encouragingly, some housing associations and local authorities are taking creative steps to tackle the problem.
These include cultivating better relations with tenants, avoiding multiple visits for different reasons and offering appointments at more convenient times. Equally, landlords are also warning tenants of the consequences if they don’t open their doors to contractors and other staff.
On the back of the HQN research, A2Dominion got in touch to tell us about its decision to set up a new team of compliance engagement officers to tackle a problem that the association estimates costs it more than £1m per year.
Located in its property directorate, the four officers have begun working alongside its housing, legal, compliance and repairs team, to co-ordinate efforts to get into hard-to-access homes.
Tania Emery, building safety director at A2Dominon, says the association is keen to hear residents’ point of view and review how it communicates with them. At present, residents are notified of visits by letter, and must ring the housing association if the time offered is inconvenient. Switching to WhatsApp or text messages is among the options being considered.
A2Dominion has problems gaining entry to 2-3% of its 38,000 homes, though trials last year of evening and weekend appointments for electrical safety checks led to fewer failed visits. “We’re working with residents to look at how the process appears from their perspective,” she adds.
By law, social landlords must service gas boilers and fittings every 12 months. From next month [May], electrical safety checks will need be carried out at least every five years, though checks for new tenancies became mandatory last November.
Under Awaab’s Law, serious hazards such as damp and mould must be investigated within 10 working days. This will be extended to other hazards, including excess cold or heat and fire safety, later this year. Yet some landlords say they can still encounter problems accessing homes after a tenant complains of damp and mould.
Tenants argue they cannot always be expected to be at home for an appointment, especially if this means missing work. And they become frustrated when landlords line up multiple visits for different reasons in a short space of time.
‘Access fatigue’
Arm’s length management organisations are reporting ‘access fatigue’ among some tenants, says Lisa Birchall, head of policy at the National Federation of ALMOs, which commissioned the HQN research.
“Landlords need to go into more properties more frequently due to the changing regulatory environment,” she says. “[But] they aren’t always able to tie things together, so that they can go in for different reasons at the same time. This is something our members are working on.”
Tenants may be unwilling to allow access to their home due to rent arrears, or other disputes with their landlord. Some are afraid they will be criticised for the conditions inside, including hoarding.
“We’re increasing our presence in neighbourhoods, spending more time in people’s homes, looking at the individual as a whole, understanding the barriers they face and working with them to address those issues”
Jude Laidlaw-Magee, tenancy sustainment service manager, St Leger Homes
The HQN research found that, with most landlords wanting to avoid expensive legal action, there’s “a cultural shift” towards more empathetic relationships with tenants.
In February, St Leger Homes introduced a new tenancy agreement for the 20,000 properties it manages for Doncaster Council. While this is explicit about tenants’ responsibilities around access for compliance checks and safety, it also recognises the right of tenants to privacy and the fact that, on occasions, they are within their rights not to grant entry.
Jude Laidlaw-Magee, St Leger’s tenancy sustainment service manager, says the ALMO is keen to look into why some tenants are reluctant to open their doors to contractors or St Leger staff. Letters have been updated to reduce terminology and make it clear which firm of contractors will undertake each visit.
Developing better relations
It also sees the value of developing better relations with tenants, including three-yearly ‘keep in touch’ visits and the wider support that it offers tenants and other people in Doncaster with job training, CV writing and financial advice.
A new access team, consisting of a leader and three officers, looks at individual tenancies to see where the ALMO can extend assistance. “A tenant who sees us as an organisation that can help them is more likely to help us carry out work,” says Laidlaw-Magee.
Last year, in a report on cases of severe maladministration surrounding repairs and maintenance, the Housing Ombudsman urged social landlords to see “the person behind the repair”, rather than fixating on properties. References to ‘stock’ should be avoided, while “human-centred services that treat residents with respect and dignity is recommended,” said the report.
A consultation by the Regulator of Social Housing over a new tenant satisfaction measure (TSM) covering electrical safety checks closed in March.
“There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. What works best is a flexible, resident-led approach that recognises different needs and avoids unnecessary escalation”
Robin Nower, director of building compliance, L&Q
Nic Bliss, director of the Stop Social Housing Stigma campaign, says some landlords have lost contact with tenants and need to show them more respect. Blanket letters stating a landlord will be in the area during the next week and needs access for a stock condition survey are unlikely to gain a positive response, he says.
“Landlords need to re-engage with their tenants and make them feel they understand their concerns and explain what they are trying to do,” says Bliss.
Back at A2Dominion, all its new compliance engagement officers have backgrounds in housing. Three are female, meaning they can be on hand if any female residents are concerned about male contractors being in their home. “They understand the customers,” says Tania Emery.
A2Dominion isn’t the first housing association to adopt this approach. In December, L&Q set up a team to support access for essential safety checks, including fire risk assessments, as well as liaising with residents in communities. Its work will soon expand to cover damp and mould.
Robin Nower, L&Q’s director of building compliance, says such conversations can make a real difference in building trust. “There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution,” he adds. “What works best is a flexible, resident-led approach that recognises different needs and avoids unnecessary escalation.”
It’s not just social landlords that are increasing pressure on tenants to allow access to their homes. In January, the Electrical Safety Roundtable, a trade body, launched the ‘Let Me In’ campaign, ahead of safety checks becoming mandatory for all social housing this spring.
Court action
Despite the change in approach to gaining access, court action cannot be ruled out of the picture completely. In the case of Awaab’s Law, HQN’s research found many landlords feel the government created confusion by not specifying the legal routes they should take where a tenant fails to provide access. Landlords, it said, feel ‘trapped’ by legal and regulatory requirements placed on them and the “ponderous court system”.
Last year, Bromley County Court blocked an attempt by Southern Housing to gain entry for a gas safety check. As the tenant had an assured tenancy, the judge ruled the association didn’t have the power to enter the property without permission.
In a more recent case, not involving Southern, the judge ruled against a tenant, suggesting landlords have the right to enter a property. As both judgements were non-binding, Southern says they make little practical difference to the association and that it continues to seek injunctions where needs be.
But landlords also stress they want to avoid legal action at all costs and anything that smooths relations with tenants is advantageous. This approach is likely to benefit landlords and tenants more widely, especially where tenants face financial and other problems, and perhaps view any type of authority or intrusion with mistrust.
“The legal process can take time, and so there are rarely quick wins,” says Jude Laidlaw Magee at St Leger Homes. “That’s why we’re increasing our presence in neighbourhoods, spending more time in people’s homes, looking at the individual as a whole, understanding the barriers they face and working with them to address those issues.”
Case study: Dacorum’s safe homes team
Dawn Martin has spent much of the past year going in and out of tenants’ homes. As Dacorum Borough Council’s first lead officer for access, she is responsible for reducing the number of times contractors and staff fail to gain entry to a property while winning over the confidence and respect of tenants.
Martin’s appointment came after the council, in Hertfordshire, vowed to alter the narrative around ‘no access’ and focus on the person behind the door.
As part of a newly created safe homes team, she works with other internal teams, such as community safety and tenancy sustainment, as well as external agencies, including adult social care and mental health.
Ricky Lang, Dacorum’s deputy assistant director of property, says the issue of accessing council homes became starker when the council began carrying out electrical checks ahead of this becoming a legal requirement [see main article].
“It’s not about pushing the door in or saving money. It’s about trying to engage with tenants and achieving better building and resident safety”
Ricky Lang, deputy assistant director of property, Dacorum Borough Council
While access is only a problem at 1%-2% of Dacorum’s 10,000 homes, the cost adds up. “We were losing money because contractors were making appointments and then turning up when tenants were not in,” adds Lang. “We were wasting money on aborted calls.”
Martin’s appointment as lead officer for access means the council can co-ordinate its operations with services such as social care, while tenants are given a single point of contact. On occasions, she attends visits at the homes of more vulnerable tenants, including women who may be wary of being alone with male contractors.
At the end of February, the council did not have a single case of non-compliance. The new approach also allows for improved data and record keeping, including reviewing how information on households is used by the council.
Lang stresses that Dacorum is still willing to take legal action where needs be but prefers to work with tenants and see the bigger picture. “It’s not about pushing the door in or saving money,” he says. “It’s about trying to engage with tenants and achieving better building and resident safety.”
How landlords can reduce access problems – what the HQN research tells us
- Create a culture of support and empathy towards tenants that acknowledges individual circumstances
- Adopt a blame-free term for failing to gain access to homes that can be used by residents, staff and contractors
- Be clear with tenants about their responsibilities to grant a landlord and any contractors access and the consequences of not doing so
- Streamline visits wherever possible
- Create a single database of information on each property and residents
- Focus on persistent and complex cases using flexibility and the ‘human touch’.
