Wealden awarded highest grading for council landlord services

Wealden District Council has been recognised as one of England’s best performing council landlords after receiving the highest grade, C1, from the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).

Wealden is the only council landlord across Sussex and Brighton to hold a C1 grade, placing it among the top 20% of councils in England to achieve the top rating. The award follows a detailed 5-month long inspection by the RSH who found that the council delivers strongly against all four consumer standards.

Inspectors praised the Council’s understanding of its homes and tenants and how it uses tenant feedback to shape services. Repairs were highlighted as a particular strength, alongside good health and safety performance, meaningful tenant involvement and effective learning from complaints. The Council also identifies issues and puts plans in place to address them, with tenants treated fairly and with respect.

Other strengths included improvements to anti-social behaviour services, strong partnership working and effective support to help tenants stay in their homes, backed by a five-year programme of improvements to council homes.

Councillor Daniel Manvell, Alliance for Wealden (Labour Party) and lead councillor for Housing, Benefits and Revenues, said: “This is a tremendous achievement for Wealden. The top grading recognises the dedication of our housing team, who work hard every day to provide high-quality services, as well as the valuable contribution of tenants who share their views and help us improve.

We are helping to keep homes safe, shape better services and ensure tenants are treated fairly and with respect. We are continuing to provide energy efficiency upgrades to hundreds of our tenants’ homes, lowering their energy bills and making them warmer as we enter colder months. We are also delivering much-needed council homes, supporting more people to have a safe, affordable place to call home.

We are very proud of achieving this grading and remain committed to working with tenants, learning from their experiences and continuing to improve in the years ahead.”

For more information about the inspection, visit https://www.wealden.gov.uk/housing/council-housing/im-an-existing-tenant/regulation-of-social-landlords/outcome-of-regulatory-inspection-2026/