Social housing regulator sets out plan to double its reach
The Tenants Services Authority is to double its regulatory reach to cover four million homes over the next two years.
In its draft corporate plan, the social housing regulator said it would also fundamentally review the way inspections are carried out.
Other measures planned for 2010/11 include developing and publishing the TSA’s approach to assessing the risk of non-compliance against the authority’s standards.
The TSA said: “This will be an important tool for deploying our resources to maximum effect. In the interim period, we will focus our resources on providers with the poorest performance scores in areas that matter most to tenants.”
The corporate plan sets out how the TSA intends to:
- Encourage new entrants to the market by opening up the authority’s register to new landlords
- Consult on the remaining powers under the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (including the appointment of a manager and management tender)
- Work with the social housing sector to rationalise its data and information requirements, with the aim of meeting the Cave Review’s aspiration of “less data, but of a higher value”
- Reduce its operating costs by at least 10%.
The draft plan, which looks forward to 2013, also reveals how the TSA plans to fulfill its ambitions to have more tenants satisfied with the services they receive, and ensure all providers are well-run and well-governed.
TSA chief executive Peter Marsh said: “In our first 14 months, we’ve developed a radically different approach to regulating social housing landlords who provide homes for more than eight million people.
“Now we’re setting out our key priorities for the next three years – how we intend to secure a fair deal for tenants, protect the taxpayer and deliver modern and effective regulation. This plan sets our vision for social housing regulation – it’s a framework for action.”
