Croydon Council Becomes Second Landlord To Breach Tenant Standard

Croydon Council has been found to be in breach of two of the English regulator’s key standards after an investigation by ITV News exposed terrible conditions for tenants living in some of its homes.  A regulatory notice published by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) found the council had breached the Home Standard and the Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard after it found that some of the homes the local authority managed were “uninhabitable and unsafe” and that some tenants were at “risk of serious harm” as a result of the conditions. Read the judgement online.

Regulatory judgement: London Borough of Croydon - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Revised TSA Standard Enables Tenancy Reforms

The Tenant Services Authority has published its revised tenancy standard which enables housing associations to introduce fixed-term tenancies and charge higher rents. The regulator has been consulting on changes to the standard which will give landlords the power to scrap lifetime tenancies and start raising money for new development under the affordable rent regime. The new standard says social landlords must offer ‘the most secure form of tenure compatible with the purpose of the housing and the sustainability of the community’. It says they must make it clear to tenants how they are meeting their statutory obligations in an annual report published each year. Find full details on the TSA website.

Tenancy Standard - Parliamentary Written Answer

Alison Seabeck MP: When does the Government plan to publish a draft direction on the new Tenancy Standard arising from his proposals for changes to social tenancy conditions?
Grant Shapps MP: We will publish a summary of responses to our proposals (set out in "Local decisions: a fairer future for social housing") following the end of the consultation period on 17 January, and will at that stage make clear our views on the likely content of a Tenancy Direction. Full consultation on a formal direction to the regulator on the content of a Tenancy Standard will take place later in 2011.