Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason the Interim Chair of the Social Housing Regulator decided against appointing any tenants of social landlords when the regulator expanded its board in April 2018; and if he will ensure that the regulator now undertakes a process to make such appointments.

The Assessment Panel considered applications against the essential criteria set out in the published candidate pack. Recommendations were made for appointments, which the then Housing Minister, on behalf of the then Secretary of State and the Prime Minister, agreed to.

Work has begun to launch a further recruitment campaign to strengthen the board of the Regulator of Social Housing. In the recent Social Housing Green Paper, we committed to recruit someone with extensive experience of consumer regulation.

Section 80B of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (as amended) sets out how new members of the board are recruited and the criteria they must meet: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/1040/schedule/made.