Architect of reform

Martin Cave is one of the principal architects of the Tenant Services Authority’s ground-breaking co-regulatory regime, which launches today. But he seems remarkably placid about the history-making regulator when he meets Inside Housing.

Perhaps it’s because the TSA’s days could be numbered under a Conservative government, or maybe it is because, for Professor Cave, it’s been a long time coming.

Over lunch in his local pizza joint in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the Warwick University academic recalls how the Communities and Local Government department invited him to conduct a review of social housing regulation. In 2006, the department asked him to examine how regulation could be reformed to better support tenants and reduce the burden on social housing providers.

This was his first encounter with social housing, having previously researched regulation in the communications industry. But from the start he was adamant tenants needed more choice: if they were unhappy with the service they received, they could not switch provider in the same way other consumers can change their mobile phone provider or utility company.

Overhaul’s genesis

The publication of the findings of the Cave Review in June 2007 was the genesis which led to the birth of a whole new regulator in shape of the Tenant Services Authority. So does Professor Cave think his baby is doing well?

‘That’s like asking someone who is facing the gallows whether they had a nice breakfast or not,’ he laughs, referring to the Tories’ threat to scrap the organisation. ‘It could only be around for a matter of months before it goes again.’

If the TSA does manage to hang in there, whether as a result of a Labour victory or by persuading the Conservatives that it does provide value for money, then Professor Cave is very happy it has taken on board so many of his ideas.

Cutting his spicy pizza into neat slices, he explains that he is a fan of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 which brought the TSA into being, and even praises the lengthy consultation process that TSA chief executive Peter Marsh has led the organisation through - pink bus and all - arguing it ensured every stakeholder had ample opportunity to shape the new framework.

‘Initially I was worried the TSA would turn into a direct copy of [its predecessor] the Housing Corporation,’ he says. ‘But they have largely resisted that.’

Professor Cave is, however, disap-pointed that the CLG did not take up his recommendation to move the reg-ulator from the Corporation’s old base at Maple House in London. Leaving the capital and setting up camp in one of the regions would, he argues, have provided a really fresh start.
But this is a small concern and Professor Cave is largely content his review has precipitated a fundamental overhaul of the way the sector is supervised. ‘When I looked at the Audit Commission’s website, I was staggered by how long and detailed the key lines of enquiry [which the inspection agency used to assess the performance of landlords] were. Housing associations had got to the point where they were just following KLOEs to the letter, regardless of whether that served their tenants well or not.’

The professor is confident the new co-regulatory regime gives tenants an opportunity to direct their landlord to provide the kind of services they actually want and need, rather than those that simply tick a pre-determined box.

Uncertain fate

The Conservatives, however, aren’t so impressed: last month, shadow communities and local government minister Stewart Jackson announced in a parliamentary debate that the regulator’s time was up. While his colleague and shadow housing minister Grant Shapps had previously demurred over what precisely his plans were for the TSA, `Mr Jackson could not have been clearer: ‘For the avoidance of doubt, a future Conservative government will abolish the TSA,’ he said.

So is Professor Cave disappointed that the writing is on the wall for the regime he dreamt up before it has even learnt to walk? If he feels personally affronted by the Tories’ plans, he has clearly decided to keep it to himself. Instead, he launches into fulsome praise for Mr Shapps.

‘Grant knows more about housing than almost anyone else,’ he says. ‘I respect him as somebody with a really serious interest in housing, particularly in getting more housing built. But I think he has not appreciated the gravity of the risks that tenants face without protection from a regulator.’

Although lenders have said they are concerned moves to scrap the TSA could damage the availability of private finance for housing associations, Professor Cave says his primary concern is that tenants will lose out if that happens.

He believes passing regulatory responsibility to the local government ombudsman, which has been mooted as an alternative to the TSA should it go, would mean individual complaints are dealt with, but overall dissatisfaction might not be picked up. Without a regulator scrutinising satisfaction levels from all tenants, standards could slip by some distance before anyone steps in.

Professor Cave suggests that the regulator would do well to watch its back in terms of providing value for money. Any quango that isn’t tightening its belt at the moment will inevitably attract attention from a Conservative government keen to reduce public spending, he says - although he refrains from accusing the TSA of failing to do this.

Fond farewell

Today, the day the TSA’s regulations come into force, is also Professor Cave’s ‘first day of freedom’. Warwick’s Centre for Management under Regulation — which studied the effect of regulation on management and operations in organisations — is closing, a victim of higher education cuts. Professor Cave, its director, is leaving the university to be kept busy with existing freelance work before seeking another university post. As he has his photos taken in various locations around a sunny Gerrards Cross, he explains he will celebrate this new-found freedom by travelling to Thailand to give a lecture on competition law.

And he certainly deserves a break. His work into social housing regulation culminated in 2009 when he was awarded an OBE for his work with the sector. ‘I was completely incoherent when I met the Queen at my investiture,’ he says, which is difficult to imagine given his level, articulate manner - a demeanour that keeps him from blowing his own trumpet about the fundamental change his review has effected.

Finally, after much pressing, he admits: ‘I am proud of the new regulatory regime that the group of us who did the review devised, because I think it has given tenants a fit-for-purpose system.’

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