Thursday, 02 September 2010

TSA committed to protecting tenure

19/06/2009

Let me be absolutely clear that the Tenant Services Authority is committed to the protection of tenants in line with our statutory objectives.

The TSA is not proposing any change to tenure options. This includes our clear belief and expectation that all existing tenants should maintain existing tenancy rights including security of tenure.

Peter Marsh, chief executive, Tenant Services Authority

Readers' comments (2)

  • Joe Halewood

    Joe Halewood | 20/06/2009 1:26 pm

    "This includes our clear belief and expectation that ALL EXISTING tenants should maintain existing tenancy rights including security of tenure."

    I have emphasised two words of the intended reassurance letter from Peter Marsh of the TSA. Note well this can read as existing tenants keep security of tenure but new tenants may not.

    As I stated in previous comments on this issue any changes to security of tenure would be unlikely to affect existing tenants, yet this doesnt prevent lesser security being offered to new tenants. As such over time fewer and fewer tenants may hold the security of tenure they hold now.

    The TSA proposal that reduced security of tenure could be offered where social housing is much in demand has rightly been attacked on this site. The sheer nonsense of high areas of demand meaning lesser security and low areas of demand equalling more security of tenure is still a possibility.

    Security of tenure becomes a postcode lottery based on the inability of social housing to provide enough properties in certain areas.

    Can you imagine the legal implications here. A judge in a high demand area would have to take a different legal interpretation of housing law than one in another (low demand) area. A two-tier legal system is what is being proposed by the TSA - showing how ridiculous the initial and still possible proposal really is as that isnt going to happen.

    If the TSA wish to clarify their reassurance and this letter is an attempt to do so, their language needs to be wholly unambiguous. If they make the mistake of kite flying proposals then they need to be absolutley clear what they are proposing. If they want to maintain the confidence of tenants - and without it their role is fundamentally compromised - then they need to categorically rule out such proposals.

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  • Martin Ballard | 22/06/2009 10:41 am

    Better still if Mr Marsh would commit to upgrading and improving housing associations "assured" tenancies to full secured tenancies. I'm sure that the TSA want to improve things for tenants - not just maintain the status quo surely?

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