Notting Hill Genesis G3 Governance Downgrade: What Tenants Need to Know

On 27 November 2024 the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) downgraded Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) from G1 to a G3 governance rating, formally "non-compliant". NHG is one of London's largest housing associations, with around 67,000 homes across the capital and the South East. A G3 grade is not paperwork; it is the regulator's published view that the board does not currently have sufficient grip on what is happening inside the organisation, particularly around health and safety.

If you rent from NHG, this article explains what changed, why it matters, and what to do if your own home has been waiting on repairs that never quite arrive.

What G3 means

The RSH issues governance grades from G1 (meets standards) to G4 (serious failure, regulator intervening). A G3 means:

• The landlord does not meet the regulator's governance standard
• A formal voluntary undertaking or compliance plan has been (or will be) agreed
• The regulator will keep the landlord under closer scrutiny until things improve

NHG's published judgement pointed to weaknesses in board oversight of health and safety risk, fire safety, electrical safety, building safety, and gaps in the systems used to track and report on those risks at senior level. The downgrade to G3 was confirmed in the Regulator's regulatory judgement of 27 November 2024.

The viability grade was held at V2 (still compliant). So this is a governance and oversight problem, not a money problem. That removes the "we can't afford it" argument from any subsequent disrepair discussion.

Why this matters for tenants

When a board does not have full visibility of safety risks, three things tend to follow at the front line:

1. Repairs and safety jobs get logged but slip. EICRs go undone, fire-door inspections drift, gas safety paperwork lags behind.
2. Complaints take longer. Without strong governance, complaints are handled in silos and escalations get lost.
3. Vulnerable tenants get missed. Households flagged as needing priority response do not always reach the team that books the repair.

If you are an NHG tenant who has been chasing the same repair for months, or whose complaint has been bounced between teams, the regulator's judgement is a piece of independent evidence that you are not imagining a pattern.

What you can do now

1. Put everything in writing. Email or online portal, keep references. Never rely on a phone call.
2. Use the formal complaints process. Stage 1, then Stage 2. NHG must respond inside the published timescales in its complaints policy.
3. Ask in writing for safety certificates. EICR, gas safety, fire risk assessment for your building. These should be available on request.
4. Use our letter builder. It produces a clean, dated formal complaint that triggers NHG's Stage 1 timescale.
5. Get advice on a claim. If NHG leaves disrepair unfixed, you may have a claim for compensation. Call us free on 0800 030 4669.

For a step-by-step on the wording and structure of a complaint, see how to write a complaint letter to your housing association.

What this is not

A G3 grade is not a finding against your specific case. It does not, by itself, get your boiler fixed or your mould treated. It is a backdrop. The route to actually fixing the conditions in your home is still:

• formal complaint to the landlord → if unresolved, a disrepair claim

…all of which now sit against a more sympathetic regulatory context.

Compensation

If you have lived with disrepair that NHG has failed to fix inside a reasonable time, you may be entitled to compensation through a housing disrepair claim. Awards in social-housing disrepair cases typically run between £3,000 and £15,000 and combine a percentage of rent paid during the affected period with general damages. The limitation period is six years. For detail see our guide on how much compensation for damp and mould.

Get help

If you rent from Notting Hill Genesis and you are dealing with damp, mould, leaks, electrical safety failings, or a complaint that has been ignored, call Support for Tenants on 0800 030 4669 for a free assessment. We are a regulated company, not a law firm, we connect tenants with solicitors who run housing disrepair cases on a no-win-no-fee basis.

Support For Tenants is a trading name of Cyntex Group Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a Claims Management Company. FRN 1020217. Registered in England and Wales.