A landmark piece of legislation to strengthen regulation of social landlords has received Royal Assent.

The Social Housing Regulation Act, drawn up following media reports about standards in some social properties, is now law. The legislation overhauls consumer regulation in the social housing sector.

Under the new legislation, the Regulator of Social Housing will be given the power to routinely inspect social landlords. The RSH is gearing up to inspect every large social landlord, including local authorities on a rolling four-year basis.