'Regulator's RTB Powers May Need Reviewing After ONS Decision'

The government may need to “look again” at the regulator’s proposed powers over Right to Buy to ensure housing associations do not remain public bodies, David Orr has said. This would be to ensure housing associations can escape their public sector reclassification.  He said the powers included in the Housing and Planning Bill would now need to be “looked at very closely”. It follows the ONS decision to reclassify housing associations as part of the public sector, based on regulatory changes introduced in 2008. Mr Orr said he was confident the issues raised by the ONS, particularly the regulator’s power to consent to sales, “would go” in the bill. However, he added that the introduction of a new regulatory standard for home ownership introduced to help enforce the Right to Buy extension would also have to be analysed. Read more on Inside Housing.