Drafts standards for social housing welcomed

The National Housing Federation has welcomed the publication of a new regulatory framework for the social housing sector – but it warned some proposals raised concerns and should be amended.

The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) has launched its official consultation on the proposed standards, which cover six key areas: tenant involvement and empowerment; the home; the tenancy; neighbourhood and community; value for money; and governance and financial viability.

Each standard sets out first the high-level outcome that landlords should achieve, then a series of "specific requirements" related to that outcome.

The consultation document , ‘A new regulatory framework for social housing in England’, also makes a series of proposals on registration, performance monitoring, and the use of enforcement powers.

Commenting on the new regulatory framework, NHF chief executive, David Orr, said:

“We welcome the publication of these new draft standards for the sector and will now consult widely with our membership as we prepare a detailed response to the framework.

“The Federation has argued consistently for a co-regulatory approach that recognises and supports the independence of associations and the primacy of boards. And to achieve this, the standards should focus on outcomes, not process.

“The Federation welcomes statements by the TSA in general support of this approach and regards the consultation document as a constructive contribution by the TSA to the development of the new regulatory framework.

“The TSA has clearly addressed a number of key concerns raised by the sector.”

Orr, however, said housing associations were concerned about some potential flaws in the draft standards.

“The value for money standard is inherently concerned with matters of process and its presence undermines the more positive approach in much of the rest of the proposed framework,” he added.

The framework will apply across the social housing sector but will in practice be applied differently to housing associations than to local authorities in some specific areas. The NHF argues that some of the differences between the housing association and local authority sectors are not justified, and create a risk that the different groups of social housing tenants may receive unequal protection by the regulator.

The consultation period runs to 5 February 2010.