Council owned homes (Pendleton Together PFI investment)

As the landlord, Salford City Council has a legal obligation under the Regulator of Social Housing to ensure its properties are safe, well-managed, and meet the required consumer standards. The council has entered into a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) Contract to deliver these services. Pendleton Together oversee day-to-day operations across the council's housing stock.

Download a copy of the tenancy policy (Adobe PDF format, 349kb)

Responsibilities retained by Salford City Council include: 

• Legal ownership of the housing stock

• Acting as the designated Accountable Person for Building Safety

• Ensuring services comply with the standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing

• Managing the Housing Revenue Account, which oversees the housing budget

Responsibilities delegated to the managing organisation include: 

• Managing nominations from the housing register and the allocation of void properties

• Tenant and leaseholder management including enforcement of Tenancy Agreements/ Leases

• Income (Rent and Service Charge) collection and debt recovery

• Conducting repairs, maintenance, and estate improvements

• Longer-term asset investment through lifecycle replacement works

• Supporting tenants in sustaining their tenancies

• Helping with financial wellbeing, employment, training and skills

• Maintaining clean and safe communal areas and estates including; pest control, graffiti removal, and abandoned vehicles

• Engaging with residents to gather feedback, review performance and improve services

• Collaborating jointly with the council and partners to address anti-social behaviour

• Management of complaints

• Management of shops

• Aids and Adaptations

How do we make sure PTOL delivers a good service for tenants?

The council holds monthly meetings with the PFI Contractor to review their performance against a set of required standards. Internal governance also takes place at various levels including reports to Lead Members, Cabinet and Scrutiny Panels. This could typically involve reporting on contract performance, rent and service charge setting, debt write off and fire safety works progress.

At the council, we monitor and report on housing service performance through a comprehensive framework and service agreement that reflects resident priorities and aligns with national standards. 

As a landlord, we are legally required by the Regulator of Social Housing to ensure our properties are safe, effectively managed, and compliant with official guidance. In April 2024, the Regulator introduced updated consumer standards, which social housing providers will be assessed and rated against.

These standards cover:

• Neighbourhood and Community

• Safety and Quality

• Tenancy

• Transparency, Influence, and Accountability (including tenant satisfaction measures)

Get more information about the regulatory standards for landlords.

Competence and Conduct Standard

From October 2026, social housing landlords are required to comply with the Regulator of Social Housing's Competence and Conduct Standard. The standard is designed to ensure that tenants receive services from housing professionals who are skilled, knowledgeable, professional and respectful in the delivery of their duties.

Salford City Council is committed to meeting the requirements of this standard and to ensuring residents receive high-quality housing services. We work closely with Pendleton Together Operating Limited (PTOL) and Together Housing Association who deliver housing management and maintenance services on our behalf through the PFI contract, to ensure that staff have the appropriate skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours needed to support residents effectively.

This includes promoting continuous professional development, access to training, and compliance with professional standards across housing services. We also expect organisations delivering services on our behalf to meet the requirements of the Competence and Conduct Standard and to demonstrate how they are supporting colleagues to achieve and maintain the competencies required for their roles.

In line with the standard, we are supporting colleagues across our housing services, and those delivering services on our behalf, to develop and maintain the skills, knowledge, behaviours and qualifications required to provide high-quality services and meet regulatory expectations.

Salford is home to a vibrant and diverse community. Our five-year strategy, Good Homes in Good Places (Adobe PDF format, 620kb), sets out our commitment to improving housing conditions for tenants and ensuring the sector is well-managed and effectively regulated. Housing plays a vital role in the health and wellbeing of our residents, and this strategy outlines how we will work to ensure that homes are of a good standard.

We are committed to supporting tenants by promoting awareness of their rights and responsibilities and offering appropriate support. By launching this strategy, we are clearly stating the council’s role in supporting the housing sector and driving improvements that benefit all tenants across Salford.

Get further information on the Good Homes in Good Places; Annual Action Plan (Adobe PDF format, 216kb).

Salford City Council and Pendleton Together are committed to supporting you through a wide range of services and support networks. As part of our commitment to improve our residents’ life chances as well as providing a first-class housing service, we are here to support you in staying safe, well and financially afloat. 

Below are links from both Salford and Pendleton, providing additional information to support you:

• Salford – BetterOff in Salford

• Pendleton Together – Supporting You

Pendleton Together leads on tenant engagement for customers living in our properties. There are various ways for residents to share their views, and they aim to involve them in all aspects of their work, from shaping policies to organising community events. 

Opportunities include joining the scrutiny pool, participating in local clubs and groups, and getting involved in wider volunteering activities. Get further information about how you can have you say. You can also explore some of the previous engagement work.

To explore Pendleton Together performance and management standards, please visit the Our Responsibilities page. This section also features the Residents’ Charter, which sets out the expected service levels for tenants. Pendleton Together publishes a variety of performance data, including Tenant Satisfaction Measures, the Residents’ Charter, and other key Performance Indicators.

Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) 

In April 2023, the Regulator of Social Housing introduced a new set of performance indicators for all social housing landlords, including local authorities. These indicators, known as Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs), focus on areas that matter most to tenants, such as satisfaction with services, repairs, safety, and complaints handling.

TSMs help us assess how well we’re performing and identify areas for improvement. Starting from April 2024, these results will be submitted to and published by both the Regulator of Social Housing and Pendleton Together. You can view the latest TSM results on Pendleton Together website. You can also view the historic data.  

Residents Charter 

Pendleton Together Residents’ Charter sets out the levels of service you should expect from them. It makes their commitments clear to both residents and our staff.

Performance Indicators 

As well as the above Pendleton Together have a number of targets for performance that are not covered by the TSMs or the Residents’ Charter, for example, how quickly repairs are carried out, or the number of maintenance visits to grassed areas. These performance targets are recorded online, and updated regularly, so you can see how they are doing. 

Please note that Pendleton Together deals with complaints and comments about the council housing service they provide.

Housing complaints – Pendleton Together

Pendleton Together is responsible for handling all housing complaints relating to council owned homes managed under the Pendleton PFI contract. If you report a problem or express dissatisfaction for the first time, Pendleton Together will give you the choice of whether you would like the issue to be treated as a service request or handled as a formal complaint, in line with the Complaint Handling Code. You do not need to use the word “complaint” for your concerns to be treated as one.

Complaints may be made directly by residents, or by a third party or representative acting on a resident’s behalf, and will be handled in line with Pendleton Together complaints policy.

The council does not directly handle housing complaints for homes managed by Pendleton Together. However, the council assures itself that Pendleton Together operates a complaints process that complies with the Complaint Handling Code.

This assurance includes:

• regular monitoring of complaints performance and outcomes

• review of Pendleton Together complaints policies and procedures

• oversight of learning and service improvements arising from complaints

If you remain dissatisfied after completing Pendleton Together complaints process, you can escalate you complaint to the Housing Ombudsman Service, in line with the Complaint Handling Code.

The Housing Ombudsman Service 

The Housing Ombudsman Service is an independent and impartial organisation set up by the government to resolve disputes between tenants and social landlords. All social housing providers have to be members of the scheme, and the scheme has the power to hold both the council and Pendleton Together to account and force us to take action if they decide that we haven’t handled your complaint properly.

You can ask the Housing Ombudsman Service to investigate your complaint if you are not satisfied with the response from Pendleton Together. We do ask that you kindly allow us the opportunity to complete our complaints process first. 

You can also contact the Housing Ombudsman Service at any time for free help, support and advice. They can explain how the complaints process works and what options are available to you. The service is independent and free to use, and many residents choose to seek advice from the Ombudsman before considering legal routes.

Pendleton Together manage complaints in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaints Handling Code. Each year they undertake an annual assessment of their complaints process. This is then revised for compliance by the council, prior to publishing the following documents on the Pendleton Together webpage.

• Complaints handling code self-assessment document

• Complaints policy

• Compensation policy

• Annual complaint, performance and service improvement report

• Board response to annual complaint, performance and learning report

If you need a repair to your council property these will need to be reported to Pendleton Together and a convenient appointment time will be arranged.

Report a repair

When a repair is reported to the Help Desk each repair will be categorised into the following response times:

• Emergency – 24 hour response

• Urgent – three or ten day response

• Routine – 21 day response

Emergency repairs can be reported immediately by phone on 0300 555 5567.

Non-emergency repairs can be booked online using My Account with Pendleton Together.

Overview 

Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the government established the Building Safety Programme. The programme was established to make sure that residents of high-rise buildings are safe, and feel safe, now, and in the future. The Building Safety Act was introduced to improve safety standards in buildings, protect residents and leaseholders, and ensure developers and building owners are held accountable for addressing safety issues. The Accountable Person under the Building Safety Act within Salford City Council is the Executive Director of Place.

Below are links offering further information on the regulations, along with a link to the Pendleton Together website where you can access support and resources.

• The Fire Safety Act 2021

• The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022

• Pendleton Together – Fire Safety

Building Safety Cases

The council is required to produce and maintain Building Safety Cases for nine of its high rise blocks. Thorn Court and Spruce Court have been called for assessed by the Building Safety Regulator and Building Assessment Certificates were issued in September 2025.

In January 2026, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) carried out its first inspection of Salford City Council's housing services. As part of the inspection, the regulator reviewed a wide range of documents, met with tenants, councillors and staff, and observed several meetings, including tenant engagement and contract management arrangements. The inspection covered the council-owned homes managed through the Pendleton Together Private Finance Initiative (PFI).

The council received its regulatory judgement in May 2026. Following the inspection, the Regulator of Social Housing awarded Salford City Council a C2 Consumer Grade. A C2 rating means that there are some weaknesses in delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is required.

What the Regulator found we do well

The inspection highlighted a number of positive areas, including:

• An effective, efficient and timely repairs service.

• A proactive approach to identifying, responding to and resolving damp and mould.

• Compliance with legal health and safety requirements within tenants' homes and communal areas.

• A comprehensive stock condition survey programme, with survey results indicating that homes continue to meet the Decent Homes Standard.

• Effective tenancy management arrangements, including regular visits to new and existing tenants.

• Fair, effective and accessible complaints handling processes.

• A commitment to treating tenants with fairness and respect.

• Positive partnership working to tackle anti-social behaviour and support residents.

Areas for improvement

The regulator identified a number of areas where further improvements are required, including:

• Strengthening tenant-led scrutiny arrangements and ensuring feedback from scrutiny reviews is provided promptly.

• Improving how tenant information is collected, maintained and used to assess whether services are delivering fair and equitable outcomes.

• Enhancing reporting and oversight of health and safety compliance information for tenants and councillors, including remedial actions and safety equipment installation.

• Improving awareness and reporting arrangements for hate incidents.

• Using complaints information more effectively to identify trends and support service improvements.

• Completing the remaining stock condition surveys and updating Energy Performance Certificates, to provide a fully up-to-date understanding of the condition and energy performance of all homes.

What we are doing

The council had already identified a number of these areas before the inspection and has been working closely with Pendleton Together to implement improvements. This includes strengthening tenant scrutiny arrangements, improving tenant data collection, enhancing safety reporting, completing stock condition surveys and supporting the reporting of hate incidents.

The regulator recognised that Salford City Council worked constructively throughout the inspection process, demonstrated self-awareness and had already made positive progress in addressing identified weaknesses.

We will continue to work closely with the Regulator of Social Housing and Pendleton Together to address the areas identified through the inspection and strengthen compliance with the consumer standards. We remain committed to delivering safe, high-quality homes and services for our residents and to continuously improving our performance as a social landlord.

Further information

You can read the full regulatory judgement issued by the Regulator of Social Housing.