Putting the house in order
As LGE went to press, Grant Shapps was addressing delegates at this year’s Chartered Institute of Housing Conference.
Shapps promised to “hand the levers of power” to housing professionals, but at the same time warned that money will be tight in delivering priorities identified by the government and the sector.
Announcing a new review of regulation, Shapps said he was keen to place his trust in people with much greater experience and knowledge but added that everyone must recognise constraints on government spending.
The review will study the role of the Tenant Services Authority and the Homes and Communities Agency, both created less than two years ago. Shapps seemed to hint at its results by criticising the TSA and indicating that the HCA must refocus on local operations.
While Shapps commended some of the results achieved by both organisations, such as the TSA’s regulatory framework, he criticised the money it had spent on lobbying and marketing and suggested tenants’ panels may be better placed to protect tenants’ rights. His government’s focus on localisation suggests the days of such large national bodies could be limited.
“I place a huge premium on tenant empowerment,” he told delegates in Harrogate. “I’m far from convinced that a large national quango is the best way of achieving it.”
The HCA, said the minister, should become smaller and more strategic. “It will be an enabling or investment body,” he said. “It will be the people that you call to get things done.”
Quizzed by delegates on plans to link housing benefit to the time that people spend claiming job seeker’s allowance, Mr Shapps pointed out there would be no change for at least three years, by which time the economy would be growing. “I believe we should reward work, not worklessness, and put money towards people that genuinely work, or are carers,” he added.
Challenged over how the government will ensure that sufficient new homes are built, the minister said plans to offer extra council tax to authorities that support planning proposals would make development popular among local communities.
The moratorium on stock transfers to housing associations will remain in place while ministers review the housing finance system in local government, the conference was told.
Mr Shapps also praised some arm’s length management organisations for doing “a fine job”, but said he had no fixed view over how social housing should be provided.
Money that is saved by cutting quangos would help support programmes such as housing market renewal. “It’s not going to fall off a cliff or stop,” he said, while promising to be upfront with housing groups about the general economic outlook. “The money has run out and everybody is going to have to take the pressure,” Shapps concluded.
