PFI investment into council homes

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.

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.

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 Pendelton 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.

Making a complaint to Pendleton Together 

Please note that in most cases Pendleton Together will need to have been notified of a problem before you make a complaint about it. For example, if your home has a problem with damp or mould, you need to let them know and give them a chance to investigate and fix it. If they then fail to do so to your satisfaction, that would be the time to make a formal complaint.  

Making a complaint to the council 

If you are not satisfied with the service or response you have received from Pendleton Together, you can make a complaint direct to the council. We will then investigate this complaint with Pendleton Together.

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 to 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 happy with the response from either the council or Pendleton Together, as long as you have allowed us the chance to follow our complaint process first. However, you can contact the Housing Ombudsman Service for help, support and advice at any time, and in fact they strongly recommend that you go to them for advice (for free) rather than solicitors (who will take a fee, often out of any compensation that may be paid to you). 

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 their 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.