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Ofsted-style regulation of tenant services proposed in green paper
The government is considering expanding the Regulator for Social Housing’s remit to intervene over tenant services and give it a more “proactive approach to enforcement, like… Ofsted”.
In the long-awaited Social Housing Green Paper, published today, the government set out several areas it will review relating to the regulator’s power to intervene over consumer standards.
The new regulator was told to focus on economic and governance regulation, with its power to intervene in consumer affairs – such as poor repairs – limited by statute to instances of “serious detriment” to tenants. The government said it would consider dropping this threshold.
In today’s green paper, the government said: “We wish to consider a number of possible regulatory changes to enable consumer standards to be enforced in a similar way to the economic standards.
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“This would enable the regulator to take a more rigorous and proactive approach to enforcement, like other regulators such as [education watchdog] Ofsted. We want to ensure the ’serious detriment’ bar does not prevent the regulator from taking a more proactive approach, and if it does, then we will consider removing it.”
The regulator will seek to recruit a board member with experience of consumer regulation as these changes are embedded.
It came as a separate consultation on the regulator’s role – including its economic regulation of governance and viability – was launched by government.
Julian Ashby, the previous chair of the regulator, told Inside Housing in June that the regulator was “constrained by regulation” in the build up to Grenfell, and often felt unable to intervene in consumer affairs.
The green paper added: “Resident dissatisfaction with their landlords could stem from the adequacy of the standards, the way in which they are enforced or a combination of the two”.
It said it is seeking responses on whether the regulator has “the right objective on consumer standards” and also asked whether a new “code of practice” should be published to explain what is expected from the standards.
The document said that the introduction of new league tables could help the regulator focus on landlords which it should target for intervention.
“Our current thinking is that the regulator should monitor the key performance indicators to identify where there may be issues of concern with performance,” it said. “The regulator would then be able to make a risk-based assessment of how and where to intervene, including through more regular or phased interventions.”
The paper also asks for views on whether the regulator should have more powers over local authority landlords, ALMOs and tenant management organisations (TMOs).
Currently ALMOs and TMOs are subject to oversight from the local authority, but not from the housing regulator.
The document added: “These proposals will mean a greater role for the regulator in ensuring landlords deliver better services to their residents. We want to make sure that the board of the regulator contains the right level of experience and skills to cover the functions that it carries out.
“As the existing Homes and Communities Agency Regulation Committee looks to make new appointments, it will seek to recruit someone with extensive experience of consumer regulation.”
Both consultations run until 6 November.
Social Housing Green Paper: full coverage
All our Social Housing Green Paper coverage in one place:
Green paper measures are not enough to create May’s ‘new generation’ of council homes Green paper proposals are welcome but much more is needed to support councils to build, writes John Bibby
Green paper shows ministers now see associations as trusted partners Focusing on the failure of the green paper to address supply misses the point, writes Boris Worrall
Government should focus on building on what is already strong Philippa Jones considers the Social Housing Green Paper through a slightly different lens
We need more than a week of delayed announcements bundled together Jules Birch reflects on the government’s ‘Housing Week’ announcements
The regulator should monitor how associations assist homeless people Government announcements this week are positive, but any enhanced role for the English regulator should include looking at homelessness prevention work, argues David Bogle
The regulator’s role should be limited to dealing with systemic failures Julian Ashby suggests the Housing Ombudsman Service should deal with all complaints
The green paper shows ministers are in listening mode Despite some glaring omissions, the government appears to be in listening mode and it is important the sector takes advantage, argues Emma Maier
A short history of social housing league tables Attempts to create league tables for housing associations are nothing new. Mervyn Jones looks at how they have worked in the past
League tables could prove blunt and counter-productive, sector warns Housing figures criticise government proposals to measure social landlords against performance indicators
Government ‘must decide how proactive regulator should be’ on consumer standards Ministers now face a dilemma over the regulator’s focus, sector figures say
The Green Paper: a golden opportunity missed? Melanie Rees assesses the Social Housing Green Paper against recommendations drawn up by the Chartered Institute of Housing and finds the government comes up short
Longer strategic partnerships and guranteed debt to boost social housebuilding The Social Housing Green Paper outlines key ways of boosting supply
The green paper is remarkable progress but it is still not enough The green paper suggests the government appears to be re-writing much of its policy since 2010, but more needs to be done, writes Jules Birch
Green paper marks a ‘milestone’ on resident involvement The government’s recognition residents need clear information is to be welcomed, now it up to the sector to embrace tenant involvement, writes Paul Hackett
Ministers consider stock transfer programme to community-led associations The stock transfer programme could be revived under proposals in the housing green paper
Access to housing grant could be tied to new league tables Grant could be awarded according to how well landlords meet performance indicators, the paper suggests
Ofsted-style regulation of tenant services proposed The government is considering expanding the Regulator for Social Housing’s remit to intervene over tenant services and give it a more “proactive approach to enforcement”
Government proposes dropping one-for-one Right to Buy replacement commitment A consultation paper published alongside the green paper proposes a broader measurement to replace the one-for-one pledge
A list of recent housing policy U-turns The green paper confirms yet more housing policy U-turns from the government, which has spent the past two years dropping policy ideas developed under the David Cameron government. Here is a rundown of the major changes in policy direction
Sector welcomes green paper but calls for more ‘ambitious investment’ Reaction to the proposals, from the National Housing Federation, Chartered Institute of Housing and more
Morning Briefing: reaction to green paper announcements how the media reported the proposals trailed by the government overnight
Government drops plans to force councils to sell higher-value stock The government drops plans to force councils to sell higher value homes
League tables and ‘sharper teeth’ for regulator in social housing green paper Ministers reveal some of the things in the paper ahead of its publication
Grenfell survivors: green paper does not go far enough survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire have said the measures published in the Social Housing Green Paper do not do enough to rectify issues in the social housing sector
KEY PROPOSALS IN THE SOCIAL HOUSING GREEN PAPER
- New 'league tables' of housing providers based on key performance indicators, surrounding services such as repairs and neighbourhood management. This could be linked to housing grant.
- Consideration to scrapping of the current 'serious detriment' test, to allow 'Ofsted-style' tougher consumer regulation
- New home ownership options such as allowing tenants to buy as little as 1% of their property each year through shared ownership. This would only apply to new shared ownership purchases.
- Ditching of plans to force social landlords to offer fixed term tenancies rather than lifetime tenancies in social housing
- Ditching of plans to force councils to sell off their most valuable social housing when it becomes vacant
- The potential introduction a new stock transfer programme from councils to 'community-led' housing associations
- The return of guaranteed debt funding to help the development of affordable homes, and longer term 'strategic partnerships' for developing housing associations