Social Housing Sector ‘Under Scrutiny’, Warns Regulator

Social landlords face significant risks to their reputations, with the sector “under scrutiny” as it confronts tough choices on standards, safety, decarbonisation and housebuilding, the English regulator has warned. Speaking to the National Housing Summit, Fiona MacGregor, chief executive of the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), noted that “the backdrop against which providers are working in is one of increasing pressures, heightened expectations and, in some areas, significant uncertainty”. She added: “The sector is under scrutiny and the choices and decisions providers are and will be making speak to the culture of sector and individual organisations and will significantly impact reputation.” Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/social-housing-sector-under-scrutiny-warns-regulator-70138#:~:text=Social%20landlords%20face%20significant%20risks,the%20English%20regulator%20has%20warned. 

Developers Face Backlash For Avoiding Scrutiny Due To Lockdown

There are concerns housebuilders are pushing through developments without facing proper scrutiny due to the current lockdown period. One proposed development which prompted a heated response from some locals was in a semi-rural location near Penistone, South Yorkshire. The plan from Barratt & David Wilson Homes is for a 460-home development, which would increase the size of the market town by 10% if given the green light by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. While the plans for the development were submitted before the lockdown occurred, the situation has made it hard for some elderly residents to scrutinise the plans online, while others only found out about the proposal at the 11th hour. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/developers-could-be-circumnavigating-the-planning-process-during-lockdown/

More Freedom On Rents Will Mean Greater Scrutiny, Says Regulator

The ability to raise rents under the new Rent Standard will be accompanied by greater scrutiny, including from government, the chief executive of the Regulator of Social Housing has said. With the end of the four-year rent cut and the implementation of the regulator’s new Rent Standard, which applies to housing associations and local authorities, providers will be able to increase rents by up to Consumer Price Index plus one per cent over the 2020 to 2025 period. This greater freedom in rent-setting will come with greater scrutiny by stakeholders, “including government”. Read more on the Social Housing website.

https://www.socialhousing.co.uk/news/more-freedom-on-rents-will-mean-greater-scrutiny-says-regulator-63474?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Planning Bill Makes Parliamentary Progress

MPs have completed their line by line scrutiny of the Government’s flagship housing and planning bill. The amended legislation has emerged unscathed from opposition attempts to change the measures. The bill will now have its report stage in the Commons on 5 January before being passed on to the Lords. During the final exchanges MPs queued up to urge ministers to ensure planning departments were better resourced, including allowing councils to set their own planning charges. Planning minister Brandon Lewis reminded them that section 303 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 already provides for the Secretary of State to permit local planning authorities to set their own level of fees up to cost recovery. Read more on the Planning Portal.

Sanctions Deaths 'Should Be Independently Investigated'

Suicides which occur following a benefit sanction should be investigated by an independent commission, a parliamentary committee has said. The Work and Pensions Committee report into benefit sanctions recommends suicides linked to sanctions should be scrutinised in a similar manner to deaths in police custody. The report also called for a review of the systems of benefit sanctions – which see unemployment benefits stopped or reduced if claimants fail to adhere to a wide range of criteria – in the next parliament. The government previously rejected a call for an independent review in January. Read more on the Parliament website.

MPs: Universal Credit Inquiry 'Hampered By Ministers'

A Commons committee has accused the government of "hampering" its scrutiny of the Universal Credit welfare policy. The government had not always provided accurate and timely information on changes to the flagship benefit reform, the Work and Pensions Committee said. It also warned the single benefit was being rolled out at a "snail's pace". But the government said it had given "regular updates" to MPs and its plans were being implemented in a "slow, controlled and safe" fashion. In its latest report, the cross-party committee said there remained "worrying uncertainty" over the computer systems being developed to implement the reforms. Read more on the BBC website.

Don't Miss the Boat on Free Tenant Training

The National Tenant Training programme offering free training places for tenants on co-regulation and scrutiny must end in January 2012. Informal sessions where tenants can network, share good practice and take away some good ideas of how to take scrutiny forward.
29 November - Barnsley
12 December - London
19 January - Birmingham
31 January - Manchester
23 January - Southampton
Book a place or find out further details on the HouseMark website.

Don't Miss the Boat

Growing Together’ is a programme of FREE Training for tenants in co-regulation and tenant scrutiny. There are three courses to choose from:
*Preparing the Ground – giving tenants an overview of co-regulation
*Sowing the Seeds - providing an introduction to tenant scrutiny
*Reaping the Rewards – offering an advanced course in tenant scrutiny
HouseMark are currently organising training at local venues so contact them to make sure that you book a session soon. Places are limited and bookings are filling up. The public open-access courses, and larger ‘HotHouse’ workshops will be advertised in August and will take place in the autumn. Tenants will also have the opportunity to take part in an ‘Introduction to Scrutiny’ e-learning course, accredited by the National Open College Network. Find more details on the HouseMark website.

Self-Assessment – A Key Co-Regulatory Tool

Masterclasses 28 and 30 June
28 June - London
30 June – Coventry
Regulatory requirements for social housing providers from 2012 explicitly require robust and honest self-assessments to be undertaken. Ask yourself if you are:
*as self aware about your performance as you could be?
*able to demonstrate how your performance compares to others, particularly ‘best in class’, to your board, to tenants panels and others involved in scrutiny arrangements?
This masterclass will assist those who want to plan and develop effective arrangements for ensuring self-assessment and self-awareness are built in as part of business planning processes. Find more details on the HouseMark website.

Residents Band Together To Scrutinise Social Landlords

The Norfolk Housing Alliance has recently launched a residents arm which aims to scrutinise landlords, provide feedback and raise standards. Now, the residents of housing providers in the county have banded together to scrutinise and compare neighbouring landlords' performance in order to drive up standards at their own. The residents decided at a conference to launch their own county-wide residents arm of the Norfolk Housing Alliance, an initiative their landlords were already running. The NHA, formed in 2008, is a pan-county network of 12 housing associations where the landlords pool best practice and share services to cut costs. Taking back some of that power for themselves, the residents plan to have their own scheme running by summer. They have voted to set up an alliance scrutiny panel with two representatives from each provider to meet quarterly and decide what needs to be improved. Read more on The Guardian website.

Forthcoming Events – Click on the Hyperlinks for More Information

Tenants’ and the board’s role in handling customer complaints –HQN_Event London 26 Jan and Manchester 27 Jan
The government, in its recent review of regulation, has said there is scope to increase the involvement of councillors, MPs and tenants panels in resolving complaints. But are they ready to meet the challenge? Have your board members been trained to assist them in the role that they should play in the process?
Are you ready to be scrutinised? – HQN_Event
Tuesday 1 February 2011 London
Thursday 3 February 2011 Manchester
Wednesday 9 February 2011 Leicester
Thursday 10 February 2011 Bristol
Tuesday 15 February 2011 Leeds
In these masterclasses, you‘ll hear how other organisations have gone about setting up their scrutiny arrangements.
The way ahead after the Spending Review and Localism Bill – HQN_Event
Tuesday 8 February 2011 Manchester
Thursday 10 February 2011 London
Wednesday 16 February 2011 York
How can we keep delivering excellent services in the teeth of these changes?