The Risks And Opportunities Of The New Regulatory Framework

Last week, and to great fanfare, the TSA published for consultation its proposed new Regulatory Framework. The Framework presents significant risks and new opportunities for social housing providers. It is crucial that your organisation gets to grips with these as quickly as possible because the clock is already ticking down towards 1 April 2010, when the new Framework comes into force. Key parts of the new Framework that will impact on you include:

The responsibility placed on providers to involve and empower residents to participate in discussions on providers' future strategic plans; The move towards co-regulation, requiring providers to consider using external validation, independent audit and peer review where appropriate; The fact that all local authority housing departments owning housing stock are to be directly regulated by the TSA and this regulation will impact on Almos; The introduction of "local area co-operation" under which providers have to identify and publish the roles they will play within areas, taking into account their presence and impact where they have properties. The TSA has said it intends to get rid of more than 50 Circulars that housing associations are currently expected to follow. They will be replaced by six "standards" covering tenant involvement and empowerment; home (including repairs and maintenance); tenancy (including allocations and rent); neighbourhood and community (including anti-social behaviour); value for money; and governance and financial viability. These national standards are to be complemented by local (area-specific) standards that are to be negotiated with tenants. As soon as possible after 1 April 2010, and by 1 October 2010, all registered providers with more than 1000 properties will be required to publish a report for their tenants setting out how they...