Decent Homes in the New World
Similarly, but on a much bigger scale, major changes have been taking place in the organisational and administrative structure of the Decent Homes Programme. Under the Housing and Regeneration Act, as of December 1st 2008, the Housing Corporation's Investment Division became part of the new Homes and Communities Agency (the HCA) together with English Partnerships and the Academy for Sustainable Communities, while the Housing Corporation's Regulation Division became part of the new Tenant Services Authority (TSA). Additionally, the Decent Homes Section from the Department of Communities and Local Government transferred to the HCA. But what will this all mean for Decent Homes?
Case study:
Hyde and Southbank Homes was established as a subsidiary of the Hyde Group, taking transfer of 3,350 homes in Stockwell and Oval, South London in 1999 and 2005. They have delivered substantial investment programmes to these homes. This is what one of their tenants said: “There was no kitchen before, just 2 cupboards with no real work surface. I'm registered disabled so this new kitchen is a godsend for me, it's exactly as I wanted it; it even turned out better than I thought.”
Looking back, since the Decent Homes initiative was introduced in 2001, the social housing sector has made huge progress: Between April 2007 and April 2008, for instance, local authorities reported that the number of Decent Home Standard (DHS) fails fell from 617,600 to 489,400. In the same period, housing associations reported a fall from 247,993 to 220,007.
Of course, as some local authorities transfer their properties to housing associations under stock transfer, the total number of housing associations Decent Home Standard fails increases, while the local authority total falls. But we are pleased to see that the combined totals still show an overall fall of 156,186 - a reduction in the total of 18 per cent, from 865,593 to 709,407, in 12 months.
This is an ongoing challenge, of course. Every year, more kitchens become 21 years old, more bathrooms turn 31. Even if the DHS is superseded by new standards, we will always be able to refer back to the original - the first time a standard for existing, managed homes was defined.
The Homes and Communities Agency's vision is to create opportunity for people and places - for people, this means a home that they can afford and a place they want to live in. For places, this is about fulfilling local needs, aspirations and ambitions. As such, two of the HCA's key operational objectives are renewal, and sustainability. Sustainability for the HCA means prioritising delivery of homes and communities. Our focus on place means that we will bring a holistic, long-term view to housing and regeneration. Decent Homes is right at the heart of that vision.
The HCA is taking forward delivery of the Decent Homes Programme: from the local authorities’ option appraisal stage, the HCA will manage the stock transfer pipeline, and the gap funding and ALMO programmes.
Our business model for achieving these goals is the Single Conversation, and the holistic approach that this embodies can only benefit the existing housing stock.
What is the Single Conversation?
The Single Conversation is the new HCA's way of doing business. In effect it is the way in which we will bridge local ambition and national targets, and by working in a mutually beneficial and consensual way with local authorities, we aim to become local government’s best delivery partner. Through this dialogue, we will be able to secure more and better outcomes than would be achieved through a top-down, centralised approach.
The term ‘single’ refers to the comprehensive coverage of the approach, which will embrace the full range of housing and regeneration activities. The Single Conversation will be an ongoing, iterative and dynamic long-term process which will reflect the maturing relationship between the parties involved. It will always be a negotiation and at its core will be shared vision and objectives.
The new Tenant Services Authority (TSA) inherits the Housing Corporation's role of ensuring that housing associations deliver decent homes to their tenants. The Stock Transfer Unit will continue to work with local authorities that have chosen the transfer route to support them as they prepare for registration as a registered provider (housing association) by the TSA. The TSA's brief, as a “modern effective regulator with the needs and aspirations of tenants at its heart" is good news for Decent Homes.
TSA’s remit
The TSA’s focus is on performance, both of the landlords we work with and the people we employ. Only in this way will the Tenant Services Authority be a real catalyst for change, one that will transform the sector and improve the quality of life for millions of people. As a regulator we believe in proportionate regulation.
To understand what issues matter most to tenants, we need to listen to their views.
So, from January to the end of March 2009, we’re going to hold a nationwide conversation with tenants, going out to meet them face to face and find out from them what services they need and standards they expect.
Whilst we develop our new ways of working we will continue to regulate using the older powers of the Housing Corporation, but with an unapologetic focus on financial viability during these difficult economic times. Once we have completed the consultation on the new framework, we will turn on the extra powers in the 2008 Housing and Regeneration Act that established the TSA. Those powers provide us with a much better ‘toolkit’ to intervene to get things sorted for the benefit of tenants.
In spring 2010, we are likely to become responsible for all affordable housing, whether it’s provided by local authorities, arm’s-length management organisations (ALMOs) or housing associations. Private landlords will be able to register as providers of social housing too.
www.tenantservicesauthority.org
Regulation account managers and specialists at the TSA will continue to use the considerable expertise that they have developed in their work with housing associations since 2001.
It's certain that the HCA will be working closely with the TSA and with Communities and Local Government on Decent Homes. And in one sense, from the tenants’ viewpoint, all this change should be as distant as a minor shift in the Earth's tectonic plates. Ideally, tenants shouldn't notice any impact on the implementation of the current Decent Homes Programme, which is proceeding with the momentum and expertise gathered over the past eight years.
Local authorities and housing associations will maintain the momentum that they have built up since 2001. The expertise they have developed, the promises they have made to their tenants, the programmes they have in place, these present the strongest guarantee of delivery. It’s clearly early days for the HCA and the TSA, but the tasks that they are setting themselves bode well for Decent Homes and for the existing housing stock.
