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RSH office in Manchester closes
The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) office in Manchester has closed as result of the coronavirus crisis.
In a statement issued on Thursday afternoon, the English regulator asked that it not be sent any correspondence by post because of “extremely limited” access to its offices.
It said: “Please note that due to unprecedented circumstances arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, access to our offices is extremely limited.
“In particular, our Manchester office is completely closed due to circumstances outside our control and the majority of our staff are working from home.
“Please therefore avoid sending any correspondence to the regulator by post.
“Although we are putting in place mitigations where possible, there is no guarantee that correspondence sent by post to our offices will reach us in a timely fashion or at all.”
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It is understood the office was closed by the landlord, NICE, rather than the regulator.
Housing providers are being asked to phone their usual contact at the RSH to discuss possible arrangements in cases where documents need to be sent in hard copy.
Otherwise, the RSH said it should be contacted on 0300 124 5225 or enquiries@rsh.gov.uk.
The RSH has already paused its in-depth assessment programme because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, though social landlords are still being told to tell the regulator about any potential compliance issues.
The Scottish Housing Regulator has announced it will postpone the majority of its regulatory engagements as it moves its focus to “monitoring the impact of coronavirus on social landlords”.
English care regulator the Care Quality Commission has halted routine inspections.
Homes England staff were sent home on Tuesday, but the agency remains fully operational.
Update at 3.10pm on 20.3.2020:
This story was updated to make it clear that it was the office’s landlord that closed the office rather than the RSH
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