Whoever forms the next government must get on with the promised but much-delayed post-Grenfell reform of social housing regulation, write Mark Henderson and Valerie Oldfield
Since the Social Housing Green Paper was published in 2018, we haven’t heard much about next steps towards improving the resident-landlord relationship. And with a general election just a day away, it’s not particularly high on any party’s list of priorities. However, this issue isn’t going away and as action from within the sector accelerates, the next government must join the conversation.
The green paper asked some important questions about how to address the stigma that residents experience from living in social housing and whether residents are listened to by their social housing landlord. It was based on significant consultation events with residents up and down the country and it raised expectations among those residents that change, where it was needed, was on its way.
It is nearly a year since we all responded to the ideas put forward by the then-government, such as more proactive consumer regulation, and submitted ideas of our own, such as politicians and the media changing their own language to help tackle stigma.
But we couldn’t sit back and wait for the green paper to begin building the stronger, more balanced relationship between residents and social housing landlords that it promised to deliver.
Working in partnership, and with the National Housing Federation (NHF), residents and housing associations began testing the Together with Tenants plan in July this year. There are now 133 housing associations in the early adopters programme, and many more who are taking the plan forward in their own way.
In these organisations, Together with Tenants has already been a catalyst for change. We’ve seen housing associations reinvigorate their resident engagement and involvement, boards challenging themselves about how they make decisions, and residents working with their landlord to decide what the charter, part of the Together with Tenants plan, means to them.
The NHF has promised to take the learning from the early adopters and use it to inform a wider roll-out of the Together with Tenants plan later in 2020.
There is a long way to go until we can say confidently that relationships between residents and housing associations are as strong as they could be across the sector. However, we are confident that we are on the right track and as the chairs of the Tenant Advisory Panel and Housing Association Steering Group, we are proud of the role we have played in keeping this important work moving in the right direction.
What is most encouraging is that housing associations recognise there is more they can do to be accountable to residents and are prepared to work hard to get there.
However, we still think there is a gap. And that gap is stronger, more proactive consumer regulation. It was an idea that was in the Social Housing Green Paper, and one that residents and housing associations alike responded positively to.
To ultimately protect the rights and interests of residents, there needs to be an independent body that can step in and insist that things are put right when they have gone badly wrong. Being able to identify a lack of compliance with the consumer standards that doesn’t rely on what the regulator currently refers to as ‘serious detriment’ seems to be a good place to start.
There is a long way to go until we can say confidently that relationships between residents and housing associations are as strong as they could be across the sector. However, we are confident that we are on the right track and as the chairs of the Tenant Advisory Panel and Housing Association Steering Group, we are proud of the role we have played in keeping this important work moving in the right direction.
What is most encouraging is that housing associations recognise there is more they can do to be accountable to residents and are prepared to work hard to get there.
However, we still think there is a gap. And that gap is stronger, more proactive consumer regulation. It was an idea that was in the Social Housing Green Paper, and one that residents and housing associations alike responded positively to.
To ultimately protect the rights and interests of residents, there needs to be an independent body that can step in and insist that things are put right when they have gone badly wrong. Being able to identify a lack of compliance with the consumer standards that doesn’t rely on what the regulator currently refers to as ‘serious detriment’ seems to be a good place to start.
“We still think there is a gap. And that gap is stronger more proactive consumer regulation. It was an idea that was in the Social Housing Green Paper, and one that residents and housing associations alike responded positively to”
So, we are urging the next government, whoever they may be, to prioritise bringing forward the next steps on the Social Housing Green Paper, and as part of that to take action on consumer regulation.
Encouragingly, the leading parties have both made reference to this in their manifestos. Labour has committed to giving tenants a stronger say in the management of their homes and the Conservatives have promised a Social Housing White Paper.
The important questions have been asked, the case for change has been established, so now is the time to act. Working together, through the Together with Tenants initiative and strengthened consumer regulation, residents, housing associations and the next government can all be part of the change that could make a difference to the lives of social housing residents for decades to come.
Source: Insidehousing
