Social Housing Regulator ‘Constrained’ By Government Before Grenfell

The social housing regulator was “constrained” in its ability to investigate residents’ fire safety concerns by the direction of travel imposed by government, its former chair has said. Julian Ashby, who stepped down as chair of the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) this year, said “with hindsight” the regulator could have been “more aggressive” over health and safety. But he said its actions were “constrained” by legislation which limited its power to intervene in consumer affairs, after the government scrapped its predecessor, the Tenant Services Authority (TSA), amid the ‘bonfire of the quangos’ in 2010. The HCA was only allowed to intervene in ‘consumer’ or tenant affairs when it was satisfied that the concerns passed the ‘serious detriment test’ of potential harm to residents. Read more on Inside Housing.

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HCA Plans Fees Of £5 Per Home

The social housing regulator will seek to charge English housing associations annual fees of £5 per social housing unit owned to make up the costs of regulation, its chair has confirmed. Julian Ashby says the regulator is “ready to go” with a consultation on fees as soon as it gets the green light from government. The chair of the HCA Regulation Committee said the fees would be set at £5 per social housing unit, meaning an organisation with 20,000 homes would expect to pay £100,000 per year. Mr Ashby told delegates he did not know if the formal implementation would be “1 April 2017, October 2017 or April 2018, but it will come and I hope you support it”. He said fees were necessary because of the increasing cost of regulation, amid the climate of budget cuts at the HCA. Read more on Inside Housing.

HCA Announces Tougher New Approach To VFM

The English social housing regulator has announced a tougher new approach to value for money, as research shows “concerning” unexplained cost variations in the sector. Julian Ashby, chair of the HCA’s Regulation Committee, wrote to the chairs of the 350 largest housing associations this morning over his concerns about the sector’s approach towards efficiency. The letters point out the individual landlord’s social housing costs per unit, compared to sector averages. Mr Ashby sets out how the HCA will “reinforce” value for money regulation. Currently, housing associations are required to set out transparently how they measure value for money. However, the HCA will now also look more closely at how well landlords are obtaining value for money in practice. Read more on Inside Housing.

Regulator Drops Ring-Fencing Plans

The social housing regulator has dropped controversial plans to make landlords ring-fence their social housing assets.  Julian Ashby, chair of the HCA, has confirmed the change of approach.  A HCA discussion paper published in April suggested ring-fencing measures to protect social assets from riskier activities. These included limits on non-social activity as a percentage of turnover and restrictions on using social housing assets as loan security.  However, following widespread concern from landlords, the regulator has now ditched the plans for all non-profit associations which have parent companies registered with the HCA. Landlords had warned the plans would restrict their ability to carry out mixed-tenure developments and community projects. Read more on Inside Housing.

MPs to Investigate Social Housing Regulator

The group of MPs that monitors the work of the CLG has launched an inquiry into the regulation of social housing in England.  The Committee will call Julian Ashby, the chair of the regulation committee of the Homes and Communities Agency, to appear before the inquiry, and is inviting written submissions from interested parties.  The inquiry will examine the work of the regulation committee since it replaced the previous social housing regulator, the Tenant Services Authority, in April 2012. It will also look at the risks facing the social housing sector, and whether the regulator has the resources it needs to effectively police social landlords. Read more on Inside Housing.

Social Housing Regulator Recognises Challenge of More Diverse Sector

Speaking at the NHF Conference, Regulation Committee Chair, Julian Ashby, highlighted the importance of regulation.  He called for a more tailored approach as the regulator’s remit expands to cover both for profit and not for profit Registered Providers, in what is an increasingly risky operating environment.  As a result, the HCA’s Regulatory Framework will need amendment to take account of different approaches – regulation needs to be tailored in order to achieve a comparable outcome.  The areas that will need amendment or elaboration include ringfencing and the consents regime.  Building on the regulator’s existing risk based approach he said: “This is a new and riskier world.  Social housing assets, and public value, are more at risk.  And failure of one provider will affect the sector as a whole.  So where providers fail to meet our standards or are at risk of doing so, we can and must act.  The sector needs the regulator to be on the case more than ever.”  Read more on the HCA website.

HCA Seeks Help on Regulation

The Homes and Communities Agency regulatory committee is seeking advice from watchdogs in other sectors on how to regulate for-profit social landlords. The committee, which took over social housing regulation on 1 April, is currently reviewing how it intends to regulate the first wave of for-profit providers. This could lead to a consultation about changes to its regulatory framework later in the year.  At a meeting in April, committee members discussed plans for regulating for-profit providers and how to ‘ring-fence’ risk and prevent value leaking from social housing assets into shareholders’ pockets. Committee members suggested the HCA should speak to other regulators.  Julian Ashby, chair of the HCA regulatory committee, said the regulator hoped to learn lessons and techniques from other sectors.

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HCA Promises Transparency

The new social housing regulator has pledged to be transparent, despite not holding meetings in public.  A Homes and Communities Agency regulatory committee took over economic regulation of housing providers, monitoring governance and viability, following the abolition of the Tenant Services Authority on 1 April.  Unlike TSA board meetings, which were held partially in public, the HCA committee’s monthly meetings will not be open to the public or the press. Julian Ashby, chair of the committee, said most discussions will be commercially sensitive - covering matters previously discussed in the closed part of TSA board meetings.  Mr Ashby said: ‘We are committed to transparency and will improve openness in other ways, such as publishing redacted minutes.’  Read more on Inside Housing.