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Small landlord to wind down over financial pressures of new regulation regime
A small Wiltshire-based landlord for over 55s is planning to wind down over financial concerns related to the new consumer-focused regulation regime.
David Ingram, chair of Marlborough and District Housing Association (MDHA), said that while the volunteer-led organisation supported the additional regulation, the “increased recording and reporting of compliance will result in substantially increased costs, which could only be covered by significant increases in rent and service charges”.
Another housing association, White Horse, has proposed taking over the 16 flats run by MDHA.
The new, more stringent, regulation regime, which came into full effect in April, places more obligations on landlords to prove compliance.
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Mr Ingram said MDHA had considered alternative housing associations with sufficient resources to take over management of the flats and gardens.
MDHA built the flats in 1969 for people over 55 with links to the area. MDHA was formed that year by local people “concerned about the lack of housing to rent in Marlborough and its surrounding villages for people of retirement age”.
White Horse’s transfer proposal will now be put to MDHA’s board, with the aim of making a final decision at the end of November.
The landlords said tenants have been told about the proposal and given the chance to ask questions of MDHA’s board and staff from White Horse’s leadership team, with further discussions to come.
The transfer will not affect rents or tenancies, they said. If agreed, the transfer would take effect from 1 January.
“The best interests of our residents remain our absolute priority,” Mr Ingram said. “While it is with some sadness that we relinquish our responsibilities, we do so in the confidence that this difficult decision is in the best interest of current and future residents of these properties.”
White Horse currently manages 430 properties in Swindon and villages across Wiltshire and Somerset.
In March, fresh research found that a third of councils are unprepared for an upcoming surge in demand for older people’s housing in the coming years.
The number of people aged over 65 is set to increase to one in four UK residents by 2043, up from just under one in five today.
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