Regulator awards Eastlight top marks for resident experience
We’ve been awarded a C1 grade by the Regulator of Social Housing – the highest consumer grading available under the Consumer Standards.
The Regulator of Social Housing has today confirmed that Eastlight meets all the required outcomes of the Consumer Standards, awarding the highest grading: C1.
This is an important milestone for Eastlight and, most importantly, our residents. It means we are delivering the outcomes the regulator expects from social landlords, including providing safe and high-quality homes, treating residents fairly, listening and acting on feedback, and managing homes and communities effectively.
The announcement follows our previous judgement in July 2025, when we were awarded a C2 grade. This recognised that we met the regulator’s expectations, while also identifying areas where improvement was needed and had to be sustained over time.
These areas focused on strengthening our repairs performance, reporting more clearly and regularly to our Board and Committees, and maintaining other high-quality services so residents continue to get the support they need, when they need it.
What work did we do?
Over the past 12 months, teams from across Eastlight have worked closely with residents, our Board and the regulator to act on this feedback and make meaningful improvements to the services you receive from us. Our work included:
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Improving repairs, ensuring these continued to be completed on time, without significant delays, and to a high standard
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Introducing new ways of working and technology to help us respond more effectively during periods of high demand
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Strengthening how we report transparently on our performance to ensure your services are regularly monitored and scrutinised by our Board, including by our resident Board Members and Customer Influence Committee
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Maintaining strong performance in other important services, including empty homes, planned home improvements, and resolving damp and mould to the strict timelines set under Awaab’s Law.
Independent reviews by our external advisor Savills also provided assurance that Eastlight’s improvement programme was sustainable and aligned with both resident needs and regulatory expectations.
How you shaped our work
Resident feedback was central to the improvements we made. We used insight from our Tenant Satisfaction Measures, surveys and complaints data, as well as your views from activities under our Resident Members Charter, to understand where services were working well and what we could do to make them better.
One example was our scrutiny workshop on complex repairs, which brought together Eastlight’s Repair teams and residents to highlight opportunities to enhance communication, provide clearer updates, strengthen diagnosis of repairs, and improve the overall resident experience with more complicated repair issues – recommendations that are now helping to shape what this service looks like.
About the new C1 grade, Acting Chief Executive, Dan Jones, said:
“We are delighted to have secured a C1 consumer grade, which reflects the commitment, professionalism and determination shown by Eastlight colleagues over the past 12 months.
“This outcome recognises the significant improvements we have made, the strength of our governance and assurance arrangements, and, most importantly, our continued focus on delivering better outcomes for Eastlight residents and communities.
“Listening and acting on resident feedback has been key, helping us understand where we needed to improve and ensuring we have the right structures in place to continue providing high-quality homes and services that meet residents’ needs today and in the future.”
Chris Cheshire, Interim Chair of Eastlight’s Board, said:
“The Board welcomed the challenge set by the regulator last year, and the organisation has remained focused on ensuring improvements were not only delivered, but embedded and sustainable.
“Achieving C1 is an important endorsement of the work carried out across Eastlight, supported by strong Board oversight, independent assurance and constructive resident engagement. It demonstrates what can be achieved when an organisation responds openly to scrutiny, while innovating and collaborating with partners to ensure positive outcomes.”
This is not the end of the journey for Eastlight. We will continue listening to you, acting on your feedback, strengthening services, and working to provide homes and services that you can trust and rely on in the future.
If you’d like to get involved in shaping Eastlight for the better, why not become a Resident Member and take part in a range of activities that suit you, your needs and interests?
Click here to start making a difference: www.eastlighthomes.co.uk/activities/
