Lease-Based Providers Found To Have Breached Rent Standard

Two lease-based providers of specialised supported housing (SSH) have been found to be in breach of the regulator’s new Rent Standard in what was described by the watchdog as “a serious matter”. Trinity Housing Association and Westmoreland Supported Housing both breached the standard after their respective boards agreed that there was insufficient evidence that they should be exempt from rent-setting because they provide either SSH or, in the case of Trinity, temporary supported housing (TSH). “It is a serious matter if an exception from rent requirements is inappropriately applied,” said the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in its regulatory notices. Read more on the Social Housing website.

https://www.socialhousing.co.uk/news/lease-based-providers-found-to-have-breached-rent-standard-68177?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

 

New Rent Standard Set For Launch In April 2020

Feedback from the Rent Standard consultation sees RSH “confident” its proposal reflects the government’s direction. As a result of the consultation, the new Rent Standard has been finalised and will come into force on 1st April 2020. “Having consulted with a wide range of stakeholders and taken into account their feedback, we are confident that our new Rent Standard reflects the government’s direction, which it had previously consulted on,” said RSH chief executive Fiona MacGregor. “It updates our role with regards to monitoring local authority registered provider rents.” Read the full decision statement on the GovUK website.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/843498/Decision_Statement___Consultation_on_the_Rent_Standard.pdf

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

Regulator Launches Consultation On 2020 Rent Standard

The Regulator of Social Housing has launched a 12-week consultation on a revised Rent Standard that will come into effect from 1 April 2020. The consultation is as a result of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Direction to RSH, which was published in February 2019, following the Government’s consultation in autumn 2018. The Regulator is also required to have regard to the Government’s Policy Statement on rents, which was published alongside the Direction. Read more on the GovUK website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-launches-consultation-on-2020-rent-standard