On Tuesday 16 March 2010, fourteen months after the launch of one of the largest tenant consultations ever conducted, the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) published the final version of the new regulatory framework for social housing in England – 'The Regulatory Framework for Social Housing in England from April 2010'.
Following extensive consultation on its draft document published in November 2009 (‘A new regulatory framework for social housing in England – a statutory consultation’), the TSA has considered and responded to the 491 written submissions received and has made a number of changes to the consultation document.
Changes include:
- the Value for Money Standard is now no longer subject to the ‘local tailoring requirement’, requiring providers to consult with local tenants;
- the content of annual reports to be provided to tenants has been specified, and providers will be required to meet the commitments for improvement set out in these reports.
- providers with fewer than 25 properties will not need to produce a separate annual report to tenants.
- providers must make their annual reports available to their tenants by no later than 1 October, rather than 1 July as stated in the November consultation document. Limited extensions may be granted in the first year only, where the provider can demonstrate it is reasonable and has advised its tenants and the TSA in advance.
- The first report in October 2010 must set out plans for developing local offers;
- an acknowledgement that, in developing local offers, providers should act reasonably and take into account their other obligations, including value for money;
- clarification that review of local offers no longer needs to be on an annual basis, and instead can be carried out periodically, at times to be agreed with tenants; and
- clarification that local delivery of the new standards will assist the TSA in formulating a view on a provider’s compliance.
The TSA has confirmed it will continue to develop elements of the framework, including working with the Charity Commission on the approach to be taken in regulation of charitable industrial and provident societies which are also registered with the TSA.
Over the coming fortnight, we will be examining the new regulatory framework in more detail in our series of briefings on the six standards.
The new regulatory framework document and accompanying annex document, is available at: http://www.tenantservicesauthority.org/server/show/ConWebDoc.20175
If you would like to discuss the contents of this email further, please contact your usual contact or:
Jonathan Cox (jonathan.cox@anthonycollins.com)
Helen Tucker (helen.tucker@anthonycollins.com)
Peter Hubbard (peter.hubbard@anthonycollins.com)
Anne Adamthwaite (anne.adamthwaite@anthonycollins.com)