This marks the first of the changes introduced under the new Regulatory Framework which went live today. The Regulator also published a summary of its engagement plans for social landlords this year.

The main areas of engagement with local authorities will be the delivery of services for people who are homeless and the standards within sites provided for Gypsy/Travellers.

The main areas of engagement with registered social landlords (RSLs) will be financial health, governance and delivery of services for tenants and service users. The Regulator has identified significant increases in the scale of the planned development programmes of some RSLs and a corresponding increase in debt, and it is engaging with a number of RSLs about their development and funding plans.

The new Framework introduces changes in social housing regulation. The main changes include new assurance statements for all social landlords and the publication of a Regulatory Status for each RSL.

Michael Cameron, chief executive, said: “We want to see well-run social landlords, that deliver good services and good outcomes for tenants, people who are homeless and Gypsy/Travellers. And our new Regulatory Framework has been designed to promote openness, transparency and self-assurance.

“Landlords will soon be thinking about preparing their first Annual Assurance Statements. These are due by October. We’ve published guidance and frequently asked questions to support landlords to do this. We will consider the Annual Assurance Statements as part of our risk assessment in the coming year. We will publish a regulatory status for every RSL from April 2020.”

The Regulator’s engagement plans, a summary of the outcome of its risk assessment, its new Regulatory Framework, Statutory Guidance and frequently asked questions on Assurance Statements are available on its website.