First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO) has been given a C2 consumer grade by the Regulator of Social Housing in judgements published on Wednesday 30 September 2026.

It was the landlord's first consumer grading, issued after an inspection. FCHO's governance grade and financial viability grade were both assessed and left unchanged, at G1 and V1 respectively.

The regulator, known as the RSH, oversees social housing landlords in England. Consumer standards cover things tenants experience day to day, such as repairs, safety, complaints and how a landlord communicates with residents. Governance grades look at how well a landlord is run, and viability grades at its financial health.

FCHO was one of five landlords to receive a C2 following inspection. The others were Brighter Places, Cornwall Council, Freebridge Community Housing Limited and NSAH (Alliance) Homes.

The same set of judgements brought a much tougher outcome for two councils elsewhere in England. Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council in Warwickshire and Thanet District Council in Kent both received a C3 consumer grade, which followed inspections that found serious failings in how they deliver the consumer standards.

At Nuneaton and Bedworth, the regulator said significant improvement was needed on repairs, health and safety, and on transparency and accountability, including a failure to tell the RSH about material issues promptly. Weaknesses were also identified in how the landlord meets tenants' diverse needs and handles complaints.

At Thanet, the most significant issues concerned the quality and condition of homes and a lack of timely or appropriate action to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour. The council met expectations in areas including repairs, health and safety, tenancy services, and transparency and accountability, but the regulator found weaknesses needing further action.

Two housing associations, Northamptonshire-based Greatwell Homes Ltd and Stockton-on-Tees-based North Star Housing Group, received a C1 grade on first grading. Paragon Asra Housing Limited, which owns 24,000 homes across London, Surrey and the East Midlands, was upgraded to C1 from C2. All three had unchanged G1 governance and V2 financial viability grades.

Kate Dodsworth, the RSH's Deputy Chief Executive, said: "Landlords are responsible for providing safe, decent homes and listening to residents.

"Our inspections found serious failings that are having a real impact on tenants. Where standards fall short, we will hold landlords to account and expect swift and sustained improvement."

The regulator introduced revised consumer standards for social housing landlords on 1 April 2024, alongside a programme of inspections, following the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023.