Widely dispersed housing stock, remoteness of housing managers from tenants, and multi-landlord estates can all lead to poor service to residents, lack of involvement in neighbourhoods, and higher costs to housing providers. These are key findings of a new report from the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), commissioned by the Housing Corporation. The report calls on all housing associations to examine their patterns of property ownership and management to ensure they meet key policy objectives.
CIH was commissioned by the Housing Corporation to research the extent to which stock rationalisation within the housing association sector would produce improvements in operational efficiency, service delivery, community engagement and neighbourhood regeneration. The report includes the findings of the two independent Commissions on Rationalisation, set up by the Housing Corporation under a steering group, which included the Communities and Local Government department, the Audit Commission, the National Housing Federation, the Local Government Association, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, and the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
The Housing Corporation is also publishing the Rationalisation Guide and Toolkit to support housing associations planning to engage in this area, which was developed by the CIH.
Housing Corporation Chairman Peter Dixon said:
"We recognise that stock rationalisation is not easy to achieve. However this research demonstrates just how important it is to tackle this issue to ensure that residents receive the best possible quality of service. We encourage all housing associations to be actively engaged in those areas where they own and manage housing, and are pleased to launch our practical Toolkit today to support the sector in taking on this challenge."
The main recommendations from the report are:
All housing associations should examine whether they can rationalise their stock as part of their asset management strategy.
The Housing Corporation should articulate its expectation that associations will not retain stock when it cannot be justified from an efficiency, neighbourhood management or customer service point of view.
Local authorities should identify areas that are priorities for rationalisation as part of their strategic housing role, and develop a strategy with the Housing Corporation and relevant housing associations.
Communities and Local Government should promote and support the strategic enabling role of local authorities in relation to rationalisation.
All stakeholders should encourage the Treasury to remove the VAT payable on management agreements.
The Housing Market Renewal (HMR) Baseline Evaluation report was published, showing that the nine pathfinders have made a strong start in reviving housing markets in their areas. However, the report also concludes that there remains considerable progress to be made over the lifetime of the programme.
Vacancies and low value sales have fallen, and demand for social housing has increased. Although pathfinders cannot be credited with all these improvements, it is clear that the HMR programme has played a crucial role in rebuilding confidence amongst both communities and investors.
Key findings of the report include:
