The new team in charge of the affordable housing regulator, the Tenant Services Authority (TSA), told MPs they will use new powers to drive up the quality of services provided by social landlords and make sure tenants have a say in how their estates are run.
The TSA comes into force at the beginning of December 08. The new powers will include the ability to name and shame poor landlords through improvement notices and move the management of estates to a different landlord.
Speaking to the Communities and Local Government Select Committee, the Chief Executive of the TSA, Peter Marsh said:
Peter Marsh also explained that the TSA would reward good landlords with a non-intrusive approach - but that it would not be shy in acting where action was required. He said:"Fundamentally the name says it all - we are the Tenant Services Authority, we exist to champion what consumers want. We are certain that the TSA needs to be an organisation with tenants at its heart.
"I am familiar with the concern that tenants have around the difference in performance between one estate and the next. Housing is a local service. You need to know locally how people are feeling, and the best way of finding that out is to get their feedback. That's why I believe the TSA standards, which we will be consulting on with tenants from January, need to go far beyond the rather sterile debate about tenants on boards.
"I think tenants on boards are a good thing but it's not just about tenants on boards. It's about the local engagement with a tenants' forum on each block, it's about tenant-led inspection and giving tenants more choice about management and maintenance contracts that are being delivered on their behalf with their rent."
Explaining the difference between TSA and the Housing Corporation, Chairman of the TSA, Anthony Mayer, told the Committee:"I am not an advocate of light touch regulation. What I am an advocate of is proportional regulation. I am telling boards and executives that if you are an organisation that has a healthy balance sheet, whose management costs per home are reasonable, that has good governance and whose tenants are satisfied with the deal, you should not see TSA from year to year. But our staff will need to spend time assessing information on performance on viability, engagement and customer service.
"The new Act gives us a whole set of graduated powers. It will start off with an Improvement Notice; go through to an Enforcement Notice - both being able to be applied on an estate level. Ultimately, the new tenant triggers will allow the TSA to move the management of that estate to another landlord - being able to move the management without having to move the ownership. Moving the ownership can be a very long winded process, moving the management should be a far more effective and speedier tool.
"I think any provider that is providing a bad service locally should be reviewing that, because I know that their tenants will be shouting to us - to achieve the sorts of service levels that those on neighbouring estates enjoy."
"Next year we will issue our standards framework, the standards we expect housing associations to achieve.
"If an association fails to meet a management standard and shows no intention or ability to meet that standard, that will trigger regulatory action by the TSA. That was a world the Housing Corporation never lived in. I’m looking forward to a step change."
Notes
Following the passage of the Housing and Regeneration Act in July 2008, the Housing Corporation's regulatory functions will be carried out by the Tenants Services Authority. The TSA will be responsible for the regulation of social housing across England. Initially responsible for the regulation of housing associations, in time, the development of the TSA is set to mean that local authority owned and ALMO managed stock will be under a common regulatory regime - giving the same protection to four million households in England.
The Tenants Services Authority has been established to:
Swale Borough Council
The strategic housing services at Swale Borough Council are 'poor', according to a new report released during October by the Audit Commission. The inspection team gave the service a poor Zero-star rating, with promising prospects for improvement.
Services that were covered by the inspection included homelessness and housing advice, private sector housing and work to deliver new affordable housing.
The inspection identified a number of weaknesses in the approach to strategic housing, including poor delivery of new affordable homes, a lack of up-to-date information on the housing market, an inconsistent approach to customer care across key services and a limited focus on meeting rural housing needs.
However, the report also notes that the Council has made good progress in reducing levels of homelessness through an effective approach to prevention.
To help the service improve, inspectors made a number of recommendations, including:
Other LA Inspection Reports
Other local authority inspection reports issued during October included:
Purbeck Housing Trust
The housing services provided by Purbeck Housing Trust are 'poor' but have promising prospects for improvement, according to an October report from the Audit Commission. The inspection team gave the service a poor Zero-star rating.
The poor rating was because improvement works do not always meet the standards that tenants expect, repairs are not completed on time, and the standard of grounds maintenance and communal cleaning service provided is inconsistent.
The inspectors did identify some strengths:
To help the service improve, inspectors made a number of recommendations, including:
Other RSL Inspection Reports
Other registered social landlord inspection reports issued by the Audit Commission during October 2008 included:
Following an inspection earlier in the year, Whiteinch and Scotstoun Housing Association was awarded a 'D' or (Poor) grade for Housing Management and 'C' (Fair) grade for Property Maintenance.
To assess the Association's progress against its improvement plan, Scotland Housing Regulator carried out a full re-inspection of its services in order to award a single grade to the Association, in line with its current Guide to Inspection.
The Regulator awarded Whiteinch and Scotstoun a 'C' (Fair) grade overall.
The inspection report concludes that Whiteinch and Scotstoun has improved its performance in some of the areas of weakness identified in the earlier inspection, but not in all. It identifies a number of areas where the Association still needs to make improvements:
