Housing Corporation News Release

-Housing Corporation announces new study aimed at piloting new approaches-

10th October 2006 Media Contact: Naomi Evans 020 7393 2118 Ref: 102/06

A major research initiative aimed at piloting new approaches to regulation based on accountability to tenants was announced today by the Housing Corporation.

The research will focus on how associations can develop self regulation regimes based on their tenants views and how these might fit with existing and future approaches to regulation and inspection.

The project is led by the Chartered Institute of Housing, working with Tribal Consulting and TPAS, with a steering group that will include representatives of the Housing Corporation, the Audit Commission and the National Housing Federation.

The research is in response to one of the recommendations of the recent review of regulation conducted by Sir Les Elton - that “the Corporation, the Audit Commission and the NHF should work with the CIH to progress proposals for resident-led inspection as a potentially valuable model for self assessment which would promote accountability and service improvement and, specifically, offer the prospect of reduced regulation and inspection.”

Launching the project, Matt Leach, Housing Corporation Director of Policy and Communications said, “Our Neighbourhoods and Communities Strategy will place residents and communities right at the heart of our work as investor and regulator.  Our ambition should be to explore models of housing regulation based around accountability to tenants.”

Sarah Webb, Director of Policy and Practice at the Chartered Institue of Housing, commented, "There is a perception around at the moment that housing associations aren't properly accontable to their customers.  This cutting edge project will help to address this by finding a central role for tenants in the regulation of their landlords."

Jeff Zitron of Tribal Consulting added, “There is a real possibility of developing mechanisms which empower tenants in driving improvements in service delivery and potentially change the way regulation of associations is achieved.”

Ends.

Notes to Editors

1. The study, to be funded by the Housing Corporation’s Innovation and Good Practice Programme, will:

- identify examples of existing good practice of resident involvement that have enhanced accountability and control, particularly where these have led to service improvements by housing associations;
- work with groups of tenants and housing associations to develop new approaches that enhance the accountability of housing associations to their tenants and residents and examine how these could inform the framework for regulating and inspecting housing associations;
- pilot new approaches with a number of HAs to provide clear evidence of the impact on responsiveness, accountability and levels of service delivery;
- report in Summer 2007.

2. Speaking in September at the NHF Annual Conference, Jon Rouse, Chief Executive of the Housing Corporation, highlighted the importance of tenant choice, raising the long term prospect of tenants gaining the power to choose who delivers landlord services.  Earlier this summer, he announced a crackdown on housing associations failing to deliver acceptable levels of resident involvement.

3. The Housing Corporation’s forthcoming Neighbourhoods and Communities Strategy,  to be launched later this week,  includes proposals around:

- partnership working between housing associations and local government

- delivery of mixed communities

- the growing role of housing associations as social entrepreneurs and neighbourhood-level delivery agents

- the critical role of housing associations in tackling anti-social behaviour and delivering the Respect agenda

- Resident and community empowerment

4. The Corporation will be consulting on a revised Resident Involvement Policy later this year, which is likely to include a requirement that all associations have at least one tenant representative on every board with landlord responsibilities.

5. The Housing Corporation is the Government agency responsible for investing in new affordable homes and regulating over 1,500 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.