Axe hangs over Tenant Services Authority but smaller HCA to stay: Shapps
The Tenant Services Authority looks almost certain to be axed after the Housing Minister last week confirmed he was reviewing its role and purpose and the best framework for regulating social housing.
But a slimmed down Homes and Communities Agency is set to stay, Grant Shapps said in a speech at the Chartered Institute of Housing’s annual conference.
The Housing Minister said: “I place huge premium on tenant empowerment – but I’m far from convinced that a large national quango is the best way to do it. It’s also no secret that I have been concerned for some time about whether the Tenant Services Authority offers value for money.”
He described the TSA’s outlay of £100,000 on lobbyists to lobby amongst others, the government as “frankly ill-judged”.
Shapps insisted that the government “absolutely” recognises the value of independent economic regulation of social housing. “That is why I intend to ensure that economic regulation continues to enable housing associations to secure significant investment into affordable housing,” he added.
Confirming that the HCA would stay, the minister said: “I think it needs to operate in a genuinely local way – at the invitation of people who want to improve their communities.
“So it will be smaller, more strategic – with the HCA’s functions being delivered under local leadership. It will be much leaner. To use the jargon I see it as an enabling and investment body. Or in plain English, the people who get things done.”
On the issue of tenant empowerment, Shapps said he was considering the introduction of tenants’ panels to give them a stronger voice. “How about if tenants could complain to their panel? And what if those panels had real teeth to intervene? Then, along with councillors and MPs, tenants’ panels could act as the new gateway to the Ombudsman,” he added.
The minister said another idea was to allow councillors, when considering new planning applications for affordable housing in their area, to take the landlord’s record into account when selecting their social landlord partner.
Shapps said: “Producing better and more responsible landlords wouldn’t be the product of some large national quango….Nor targets…Nor additional standards. But rather a natural response to a system which properly puts tenants and their representatives firmly in the driving seat for the first time.”
Cllr Gary Porter, chairman of the Local Government Association's environment board, said it was right that the government reconsidered the TSA's future as it costs £50m a year.
He added: "It is vital that what replaces it puts the interest of tenants at its hear. Housing associations must continue to serve tenants well, remain in good financial health and maintain the confidence of private lenders. We would like to explore the scope for a locally based system where tenants can hold their landlords to account to drive standards and performance."
