Raising the bar

From the many events we have held and the 700 responses from tenants, landlords and stakeholders that we have received, we now have a comprehensive picture of what the sector thinks on the proposals we published in June.

People agree that we have got the priorities right; almost universally the notion of local standards is welcomed. There remain some key issues for us to continue to debate around value for money, involvement and empowerment and local area co-operation. The big questions now are about the ‘how’.

The TSA board spent two days last week discussing its approach to regulating under the 2008 Act. And ahead of the publication of our statutory consultation, which will start in mid-November, we’re now able to give a clear idea of our direction of travel.

I spoke this week at the National Housing Federation’s conference about our expectations for national standards - they’ll focus on outcomes, will be meaningful for tenants and landlords and will avoid being prescriptive. Our new approach will be a break from the past. We will not set out detailed codes telling boards how to run their housing services. Nor will we set national targets for what must be delivered.

Instead - in this new world of co-regulation - we will expect providers to set out how they will meet the outcomes we’re looking for and how they will measure their performance. To achieve a switch in the relationship from landlord/regulator to landlord/tenant we will set out what we mean by tenant involvement and empowerment. Self-regulation by providers needs to include better opportunities for tenants to have their say and ways for tenants to hold landlords to account. We’ll expect all landlords to publish their plans for meeting the TSA standards and their performance each year. Needs vary with place and people, so we expect landlords to engage with tenants on developing local standards to tailor services.

Last week we announced 37 innovative housing projects as part of our local standards pilots - our support will help landlords and tenants trailblaze this new approach.

The overwhelming response to our invitation for funding - some 185 bidders including local authorities and ALMOs - shows a real appetite for local standards.

By April 2010, the standards will be in place and our regulatory reach will double. Good performers will have nothing to fear. The top performing providers can claim near-perfect tenant satisfaction levels with repairs and maintenance. It’s the poor performers who will be the focus of our attention; those with satisfaction levels as low as 34 per cent and who repeatedly fail to involve their tenants in decision-making. They’ll need to raise their game. And fast.

Peter Marsh is chief executive of the Tenant Services Authority

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