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Our Judgement

	Grade/Judgement	Change	Date of assessment
Consumer	C2 Our judgement is that there are some weaknesses in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed.	First grading	January 2026

Reason for publication

We are publishing aÌýregulatoryÌýjudgement forÌýSt AlbansÌýCityÌýand District CouncilÌý(St Albans CDC)Ìýfollowing an inspection which wasÌýcompleted inÌýJanuary 2026.

This regulatory judgement confirms a consumer grade of C2.ÌýThis is the first time we have issued a consumer grade in relation to this landlord.

Summary of the decision

From the evidence and assurance gained during the inspection,Ìýour judgement is that there are some weaknesses in St Albans CDC delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards. Improvement is needed across elements of allÌýfourÌýof the consumer standards.ÌýBased on this assessment, we have concluded a C2ÌýgradeÌýfor St Albans CDC.

How we reached our judgement

We carried out an inspection ofÌýSt Albans CDCÌýto assess how wellÌýitÌýisÌýdelivering the outcomes of the consumer standards as part of our planned regulatory inspection programme. During the inspection, we considered all four of the consumer standards: Safety and Quality Standard,ÌýNeighbourhood and CommunityÌýStandard, TenancyÌýStandard, and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard.

During the inspection we observed a Housing and Inclusion Committee and a meeting of the Tenant and Leaseholder Forum. We met with involved tenants, officers, the leader of St Albans CDC, the chair of the Housing and Inclusion Committee and the vice-chair of the Planning Policy and Climate Committee. We interviewed staff and reviewed a wide range of documents provided by St Albans CDC.

Our regulatory judgement is based on a review of all theÌýrelevantÌýinformationÌýwe obtainedÌýduringÌýthe inspection as well as analysis ofÌýinformation supplied byÌýSt Albans CDCÌýin its regulatory returns and other regulatory engagement activity.

Summary of findings

ConsumerÌý–ÌýC2Ìý–ÌýJanuary 2026Ìý

The Safety and Quality StandardÌýrequiresÌýlandlords to haveÌýan accurate, up to date andÌýevidencedÌýunderstanding of the condition of their homes at an individual property level based on a physical assessment of all homes. Landlords must also ensure that homes meet the requirements of the Decent Homes StandardÌý(DHS).ÌýSt Albans CDC hasÌýdemonstratedÌýit has a good understanding of its homesÌýwith 93.5% of homes having had a physical stockÌýcondition survey since 2019.ÌýSt Albans CDC reported that aroundÌý98%Ìýof its homes meet the DHSÌýand it has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to investing in its homes through its capital investment programme.

The Safety and Quality Standard alsoÌýrequiresÌýlandlords toÌýidentifyÌýand meetÌýallÌýlegal requirements that relate to the health and safety of tenants inÌýtheirÌý

homes and communal areas. We gained assurance that St Albans CDC is currently meeting the legal requirements that relate to the health and safety of tenants in their homes and communal areas.ÌýHowever, there were some weaknesses inÌýits oversight and reporting in relation toÌýsomeÌýremedial actions identified through the relevant health and safety checks.

The Safety and Quality StandardÌýalsoÌýrequiresÌýlandlords to provide an effective, efficientÌýandÌýtimelyÌýrepairs, maintenance and planned improvements serviceÌýfor the homes and communal areas for which it is responsible.ÌýSt Albans CDC is generally deliveringÌýa repairs and maintenance service that meets regulatory requirements. However,Ìýwe found some weaknessesÌýinÌýitÌýmeeting itsÌýtargetÌýin relation to theÌýtimelyÌýcompletion of routine repairs.ÌýSt Albans CDCÌýhas an improvement plan in placeÌýtoÌýimproveÌýits performanceÌýand outcomes for tenants.

The Neighbourhood and Community StandardÌýrequiresÌýlandlords to work in partnership withÌýappropriate localÌýauthority departments, the police, and other relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) and hate incidents in the neighbourhoods where it provides social housing. Through the inspection, we saw evidence that St Albans CDC worksÌýwith partner organisations and has a clear approach to how it deters and tackles ASB.ÌýThere are weaknesses in the monitoring of ASB cases and hate incidents, and we saw limited evidence of how hate crime can be reported directly to the council. St Albans CDCÌýrecognise that improvements are needed in these areas.

In relation to the Tenancy Standard, we saw evidence that St Albans CDC offersÌýtenancies or terms of occupation that are compatible with the purpose of its accommodation, the needs of individual households, the sustainability of the community, and the efficient use of its housing stock.ÌýHowever,ÌýSt Albans CDC needs to do more to ensure that it has effective monitoring and oversight in place to achieve the required outcomes of thisÌýstandard.ÌýSt Albans CDC recognises this and has plans in place to make improvementsÌýto its reporting and oversight.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability StandardÌýsets out that landlords must treat tenants and prospective tenants with fairness and respect andÌýtake action to deliverÌýfair andÌýequitableÌýoutcomes for tenants. Throughout the inspection, St Albans CDCÌýdemonstratedÌýa respectful and positive culture towards tenants, and engaged tenants told us that they felt listened toÌýand valued.

St Albans CDCÌýhasÌýevidencedÌýsome understanding of the diverse needs of its tenants but needs to strengthen the information it holds to improve the use of tenants data to ensure it is delivering fair andÌýequitableÌýoutcomes.ÌýSt Albans CDC acknowledges that it needs to develop its approach in this area to improve the level of information its holds about its tenants and this should enhance its ability toÌýmonitorÌýconsistent and equitable outcomes.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard alsoÌýrequiresÌýlandlords to provide accessible information so tenants can use landlord services, understand what to expect from their landlord and hold their landlord to account.ÌýIt also requires landlords to take tenants’ views into account when making decisions about the delivery of landlord services.ÌýSt Albans CDCÌýprovidesÌýa range of performance and service information to tenants through its website and annualÌýsummaryÌýto tenants, and tenants’ views are consideredÌýinÌýall Housing and InclusionÌýCommittee reports. However,Ìýwe saw limited formal meaningful opportunities for tenants to influence and scrutinise information.ÌýSt AlbansÌýCDC acknowledges more work isÌýrequiredÌýto embed recent improvements in this areaÌýand hasÌýevidencedÌýplans in place.

The Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard sets out that landlords must ensure complaints are addressed fairly, effectively, and promptly.ÌýThe inspection found weaknesses inÌýhow StÌýAlbans CDC delivers these outcomes.ÌýIt is not consistently meeting relevant timescales for responding to complaints and we saw limited evidence of learning from complaints.ÌýSt AlbansÌýCDCÌýhas taken steps to improve its complaintsÌýhandling processes,Ìýand we will continue to engage with the St Albans CDC as it works to embed changes and improve outcomes for tenants.

StÌýAlbans CDC has engaged constructively with us throughout the inspection process, has demonstrated that it understands the issues it needs to address, and is already taking action towards rectifying the weaknesses identified. We will continue to engage with StÌýAlbans CDC as it works to address the issues set out in this judgement.

Background to the judgement

About the landlord

St AlbansÌýCDCÌýis located inÌýthe south-west of Hertfordshire. St Albans CDCÌýowns and manages aroundÌý4,800Ìýhomes.

Our role and regulatory approach

We regulate for a viable, efficient, and well governed social housing sector able to deliver quality homes and services for current and future tenants. Ìý

We regulate at the landlord level to drive improvement in how landlords operate. By landlord we mean a registered provider of social housing. These can either be local authorities, or private registered providers (other organisations registered with us such as non-profit housing associations, co-operatives, or profit-making organisations).Ìý

We set standards which state outcomes that landlords must deliver. The outcomes of our standards include both the required outcomes and specific expectations we set. Where we find there are significant failures in landlords which we consider to be material to the landlord’s delivery of those outcomes, we hold them to account. Ultimately this provides protection for tenants’ homes and services and achieves better outcomes for current and future tenants. It also contributes to a sustainable sector which can attract strong investment.Ìý

We have a different role for regulating local authorities than for other landlords. This is because we have a narrower role for local authorities and the Governance and Financial Viability Standard, and Value for Money Standard do not apply. Further detail on which standards apply to different landlords can be found on our standards page. 

We assess the performance of landlords through inspections and by reviewing data that landlords are required to submit to us. We also respond where there is an issue or a potential issue that may be material to a landlord’s delivery of the outcomes of our standards. We publish regulatory judgements that describe our view of landlords’ performance with our standards. We also publish grades for landlords with more than 1,000 social housing homes. 

The Housing Ombudsman deals with individual complaints. When individual complaints are referred to us, we investigate if we consider that the issue may be material to a landlord’s delivery of the outcomes of our standards. Ìý

For more information about our approach to regulation, please see Regulating the standards.