New Regulator Introduced As Building Safety Bill Published

The Building Safety Bill, published 5 July, outlines the biggest changes to building safety regulation in a generation by introducing a Building Safety Regulator to oversee a new safety regime for high-rise residential homes in response to the Grenfell fire tragedy. By simplifying the system using a ‘golden thread’ of information to be created, stored and updated throughout the building’s development, the Bill will establish clear obligations on owners and enable swift action to be taken by the Regulator. Read more on the ARLA website.

https://www.propertymark.co.uk/resource/new-regulator-introduced-as-building-safety-bill-published.html

New Watchdog Tells England's High-Rise Builders To 'Get Your Act Together'

High-rise builders with poor fire safety records will be targeted by a new watchdog with the power to mount civil and criminal prosecutions, its chief inspector has said in his first interview. Peter Baker said he was “determined that the new building safety regime prevents anything like the Grenfell tragedy from ever happening again” and he hoped to avoid any repeat of the building safety crisis that has landed hundreds of thousands of leaseholders with huge bills to fix fire safety faults. He said the regulator would deter builders from “dodging and weaving” safety responsibilities, and he warned firms to “pull their bootstraps up” or risk sanctions. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/05/peter-baker-buildings-watchdog-england-get-your-act-together-grenfell

New Regulator To Monitor Safety Of Construction Materials

Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has announced the establishment of a national regulator to guarantee that materials used to construct homes would be made safer. The construction products regulator will have the power to remove products from the market if they present a “significant safety risk” – and to prosecute companies that don’t follow the rules on product safety. The regulator will be empowered to conduct its own product-testing when investigating concerns. The government explained that establishing the regulator follows testimony at the Grenfell Inquiry which had highlighted “dishonest practices” carried out by some construction material manufacturers, such as altering the results of safety tests. Read more on the Planning Portal.

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/news/article/752/planning_news_-_28_january_2021?utm_source=PPQ+Newsletter&utm_campaign=346494a346-Newsletter_11072019_HTML_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_734e0b63a9-346494a346-7266185#one 

Social Housing White Paper Expected In Autumn

The long-awaited Social Housing White Paper is due to be published in the autumn with a focus on strengthening the powers of the regulator to intervene on consumer affairs.  It is two years this week since the government published its Social Housing Green Paper, which it intended to “be the most substantial report of its kind for a generation” and trigger major reform of the sector. But despite a consultation on its proposals closing in November 2018, the promised follow-up white paper has not yet been published. Sources close to the process have said the document was set to be published in the spring, before being put on hold again due to the coronavirus pandemic. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/social-housing-white-paper-expected-in-autumn-with-regulation-focus-67563#:~:text=Social%20Housing%20White%20Paper%20expected%20in%20autumn%20with%20regulation%20focus,-News19%2F08&text=Its%20publication%20has%20now%20been,to%20intervene%20in%20tenant%20services 

New Package Of Measures To Improve Building Safety

The Government has announced that a new building safety regulator will be established, as part of a new package of measures designed to improve building safety in residential blocks. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will begin to establish the new regulator in shadow form immediately, ahead of it being full established, following legislation. The regulator will raise building safety and performance standards, including overseeing a new, more stringent regime for higher-risk buildings. Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/mhclg-announces-new-package-of-measures-to-improve-building-safety/

Housing Recommended For Another New Regulatory Body

Housing could have another regulatory body, if proposals in a newly released report to professionalise the way property agencies do business for the government get the go-ahead. The report on regulation of property agents calls for estate agents, letting agents and managing agents to hold “compulsory” formal qualifications and abide by a code of practice policed by a watchdog they pay for. Currently, anyone can operate as a property agent regardless of qualifications or whether they are a member of an official body. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/housing-recommended-for-another-new-regulatory-body/

Social Housing Green Paper Expected By Recess

The Social Housing Green Paper is still expected to be published before parliament breaks up for summer recess next Tuesday, the government has confirmed. There had been speculation that the paper might be subject to further delays after a new housing minister was appointed recently. However, this week the government confirmed it still intended to publish before recess, which is scheduled for next Tuesday. Dominic Raab was promoted to Brexit secretary and replaced as housing minister by Kit Malthouse. Before leaving his post, Mr Raab said the green paper would include measures to “strengthen the role of the regulator, to give it more teeth” and “also to empower residents as consumers and give them the voice and ability to hold landlords to account”. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/social-housing-green-paper-expected-by-next-tuesday-57225?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

ALMOs Boss Wants New Regulator For Councils With Housing Stock

National Federation of ALMOs (NFA) managing director, Eamon McGoldrick, has confirmed talks over a new regulator or ombudsman to oversee councils with housing stock. McGoldrick says: “About 55-60% of the socially rented housing stock is managed by housing associations, but 100% of the failings on public record are through housing associations – that doesn’t seem right.” McGoldrick said he had been talking to civil servants about the possibility of creating a “light touch” regulator or ombudsman to oversee councils with homes in-house or managed by ALMOs. “If you are a housing association you will tell the regulator you have fallen behind with gas servicing, because if you don’t and the regulator finds out you will get downgraded… which in turn impacts on their ability to borrow,” he said. There is no similar impact on councils or ALMOs. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/almo-boss-wants-new-regulator-for-councils-with-housing-stock/

Social Rented Housing: Rents – Parliamentary Written Answer

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to start the consultation on his proposals to limit increases for social rents to CPI + 1 for five years from 2020.

Alok Sharma: The Government has announced plans to set a long term rent deal for housing associations and councils. Under the proposal announced in October, annual social rent increases will be limited to CPI+1 per cent for 5 years from 2020. This will be reflected in a draft direction from the Secretary of State to the Social Housing Regulator, which the Government will consult on in 2018 with a view to issuing the direction before the end of 2018.

Regulator Publishes Fees Statement Setting Out Priorities

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) introduced a fee system this month under which providers pay a one-off registration fee of £2,500 and, if they own more than 1,000 homes, an annual fee of £4.72 per home. Providers with fewer than 1,000 homes pay a flat fee of £300 a year. The statement sets out the HCA’s regulatory priorities and gives a breakdown of how the regulator’s £7.5m budget will be spent. The regulator intends to make more use of automated data analysis, invest in its staff through recruitment and training and prepare to become a standalone regulator once the legislation has been passed in parliament. Read more on the HCA website.

Social Housing Regulator To Charge Fees From October 2017

The regulator of social housing will delay the introduction of fees for regulation to October 2017. Providers will pay 50% of the annual fee for 2017 to 2018. The regulator was granted powers to charge fees under the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008. It set out initial proposals in a discussion paper in 2014 and held a further statutory consultation at the end of 2016. Following the outcome of the consultation, the regulator will introduce:

·         a one-off flat-rate registration fee of £2,500 for successful registration with the regulator

·         a fixed annual fee of £300 for providers with fewer than 1,000 social housing units

·         an annual per unit fee of £4.72 for large providers with 1,000 or more social housing units – with the fee charged at group level rather than for each individual entity on the register.

Read more on the HCA website.

CML Supports Launch Of New Social Housing Regulator

The Council of Mortgage Lenders says it supports a new regulator for the social housing sector, independent of the Homes and Communities Agency. The CML says "independent and effective regulation is crucial in safeguarding lender investment and in encouraging firms to continue to fund the sector. The proposal to separate the regulator from the HCA and establish it as a stand-alone non-departmental public body would be consistent with the principles of better regulation. The funding of social and affordable housing is becoming increasingly complex, which reinforces the case for a regulatory body that is clearly independent". Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

'New Regulator Is Not A Return To TSA,'

Senior leaders at the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) have hit back at criticisms over regular changes to the social housing regulator over the past decade.  The announcement that the government intends to separate the regulator from the HCA’s commercial arm was greeted with scepticism by some in the housing sector who said this would mean a return to an earlier model that was previously rejected. The regulator started life as the Housing Corporation, was changed to the TSA, was replaced by the HCA and will now return to being an independent regulator. Read more on Inside Housing.

Regulator Warns Housing Associations On Value For Money

Housing associations must improve their performance on value for money evidence, or the regulator will step in, the housing sector has been warned. Fiona MacGregor, executive director of regulation at the HCA, told the Homes 2016 event that the regulator remained ‘very strongly interested’ in value for money and called on social landlords to provide a common framework against which to measure their performance. She said: ‘We are very keen that the housing sector comes up with its own value for money metrics. If it doesn’t though, we will take a look ourselves.’ MacGregor added that she remained ‘concerned’ on the transparency of value for money statements by housing providers and said that many were still ‘weak’. Read more on the Homes Event website.

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.

New Regulator Likely Following HCA Review

A new English social housing regulator is likely to be created following a government review of the Homes and Communities Agency. Inside Housing understands the review, which launched in March and is due to report its findings soon, will recommend splitting the Homes and Communities Agency’s (HCA) regulation function off into a separate body. The new regulator would have the power to set its own fees and control its own budget. The move follows increasing concern about the potential for conflicts of interest caused by the HCA carrying out both regulation and investment activities. Read more on Inside Housing.

Complaints About Social Landlords Ease Off

The number of complaints and enquiries about social landlords received by the Housing Ombudsman Service has levelled off following a huge increase over the last few years. The ombudsman’s annual report and accounts show the ombudsman received 15,984 complaints and enquiries in 2015/16, a slight decrease on the 16,337 received the previous year. The figure appears to signal an end to a recent trend of spiralling complaints and enquiries, which surged 66% in two years between 2012/13 and 2014/15. This rise was fuelled by an increase in the ombudsman’s role to cover an extra 2.1m council tenants in 2013, and a scaling back of the English social housing regulator’s consumer role in 2012. 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.

Bank Of England Set For New Buy-To-Let Powers

The Bank of England seems set to be given greater powers over the buy-to-let market, after the Chancellor expressed concern about the housing "bubble". A consultation was launched late last year after the Financial Policy Committee, which is part of the Bank of England, recommended it should be granted the power to direct regulators to require lenders to restrict buy-to-let loans. The powers included allowing the FPC to cap the maximum loan-to-value ratio (the size of the loan relative to the value of the property), as well as the costs of debt servicing relative to rents. The FPC, whose role is to identify and head-off possible risks to the financial system, has had similar powers over residential mortgages since April last year. Read more on the Sky News website.

Landlords Mull 'Sister Companies' To Swerve Policies

Housing associations are consulting lawyers about setting up ‘sister companies’ to free stock from the effect of government policies. Deregulatory measures contained in the Housing and Planning Bill give landlords the freedom to sell stock without the regulator’s oversight. This would allow associations to create sister companies and sell stock to them, effectively removing them from measures such as the rent cut and Right to Buy. Lawyers have fielded initial queries from a range of landlords and are understood to be formally advising some on the move. The move would likely prove controversial with the government if it was seen as a way to evade reforms. Read more on Inside Housing.