Get it right! Housing Corporation tackles service charges

Housing Corporation News Release

Get it right!
-Housing Corporation tackles service charges-

14/03/07  Ref: 26/07

Clear and transparent charge setting should be part of a housing association's financial strategy, according to a new Housing Corporation publication launched today (Wednesday 14 March).

Launched by the Housing Corporation at the CIH South East Conference, Service charges: value for money? is a guide which for the first time explores customer expectation and service provision.  As well as providing a summary of the ways landlords set and manage service charges, the guide:

• sets out what customers - both tenants and leaseholders - want, based on survey findings;

• explains what good practice is, why landlords should implement good practice, and what landlords will gain from good practice;

• sets out the regulatory and legal framework for service charges;

• explains customers' remedies, such as the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal;

• helps to promote efficiency for landlords, for example by establishing good practice and reasonable charges in advance; and

• encourages continuous improvement in service delivery to service charge payers in the housing association sector, to increase customer satisfaction.

Housing Corporation Director of Regulation, Clare Miller said, "Service charges can cause a great deal of concern to all tenants being asked to put their hands in their pockets, particularly tenants in blocks of flats where major works have been carried out and they can be faced with huge bills.

"The consequences of not getting this aspect of a business right are severe - ranging from increased arrears, collection costs and a poor relationship with tenants.  Service charges can also make a huge impact on affordability.

"This guide is a major step forward in getting it right.  It looks at what people want, what they get, with lots of good practice examples with a customer focus aimed at stopping problems that could end at Tribunal.  It is vital that this publication is not just put away on a bookshelf, but disseminated to staff throughout housing organisations."

A copy of Service charges: value for money? can be found on the Housing Corporation website.

-Ends-

Notes to Editors:
1) For press information, please contact Naomi Evans on 020 7393 2118. 

2) The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) South East Annual Conference is taking place at the Brighton Centre, 13-15 March 2007.   The conference's aim is to bring together a range of people involved in the provision and management of affordable housing, providing the largest regional forum for debate and education.

3) Service charges: value for money? was researched and written by Lynda Hance of Training Plus Consultancy.

4) The Housing Corporation is the Government agency responsible for investing in new affordable homes and regulating nearly 2,000 housing associations across England.  Its biggest ever investment programme of £3.9 billion for 2006-08 will fund 84,000 homes;  49,000 of these will be for affordable rent, and 35,000 will be for affordable sale through the Government's new HomeBuy initiative, helping people to get a foot on the property ladder.

5) The Housing Corporation is working with English Partnerships and Communities and Local Government to establish the proposed new national housing and regeneration agency, Communities England.