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New regulation chair warns sector: ‘Don’t lose sight of public value’
The sector should be careful not to lose sight of the public value of social housing as it gets to grips with deregulation, the new interim chair of the regulation committee at the Regulator of Social Housing has warned.
Simon Dow, who will serve as Julian Ashby’s replacement at the Regulator for a year, made the remarks yesterday at the Social Housing Finance Conference to an audience of sector professionals.
He said: “Government deregulated you because it wanted your debt off its balance sheet, not because it wanted you to do anything new or different or pick up particularly new or different opportunities.
“There are some associations who are experimenting with the opportunities for deregulation: moving stock to different rent regimes, trading stock etc.
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“Nothing wrong with that, but whenever you do this, try to get the telescope, turn it around, and see what it looks like from the other end. Just make sure we don’t lose sight of the wider perceived public value of social housing.”
A package of deregulation measures has been passed by government over the last couple of years, largely aimed at persuading the Office for National Statistics to reclassify housing associations as private organisations, thus moving their debt off the government’s books.
Julian Ashby, the former chair of the regulation committee, tended to use this conference to convey key messages to the sector and his successor appeared to continue the tradition.
Mr Dow warned that if associations come to be perceived as pursuing profit-driven activities and losing sight of their social purpose, they could quickly encounter reputational problems.
Mr Dow added: “In the way that you’ve brought real expertise to deal with other risks, constantly think about those political risks.”
Regulatory judgements published on 25 April
| Provider | Governance rating | Viability | Change |
| Cornerstone Housing | G1 | V1 | No change |
| Jigsaw Homes Group | G1 | V1 | Merger (first judgement) |
| Lincolnshire Housing Partnership | G2 | V2 | Merger (first judgement) |
| Local Space | G1 | V1 | No change |
| North Devon Homes | G1 | V1 | Governance upgrade |
| Origin Housing | G1 | V2 | No change |
| Paragon Asra Housing | G1 | V1 | Governance upgrade |
| Park Hill Housing Co-Operative | N/A | N/A | Non-compliant |
| Southway Housing Trust (Manchester) | G1 | V1 | No change |
| Sovereign Housing Association | G1 | V1 | No change |
