Housing minister to hand watchdog’s responsibilities to HCA and ombudsman service
Shapps to scrap Tenant Services Authority
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Responsibility for regulating the financial governance of social landlords will be passed to the Homes and Communities Agency, under plans to ‘delete’ the current watchdog the Tenant Services Authority.
Inside Housing can reveal that housing minister Grant Shapps is planning to use his speech at next week’s annual Chartered Institute of Housing conference in Harrogate to confirm the widely-trailed abolition of the TSA.
The controversial move will herald the second wholesale shake-up of social housing regulation in as many years, with the HCA assuming many of the powers removed from its predecessor, the Housing Corporation, in December 2008.
There will also be an enhanced role for the Housing Ombudsman Service as arbiter in intractable disputes between social landlords and their tenants, although any sanctions are ultimately likely to come through the Communities and Local Government department.
In an exclusive interview with Inside Housing, Mr Shapps said: ‘The TSA is something I have always been very sceptical about. I think it was set up as a very expensive way to do some reasonably straightforward things…and in terms of looking after the tenants it is in danger of failing very badly.’
He said that he wanted to use the upcoming 2010 decentralisation and localism bill to ‘delete the quango’ and that prior to this he would take steps to change the direction of regulation ‘straight away’. It is unclear whether this would involve the HCA taking on any regulatory role prior to the Bill gaining Royal Assent in 2011.
Mr Shapps defended his plan against the charge of simply abolishing one quango and expanding another by saying his aim was to ‘…go way beyond the incredibly complex structures that the TSA envisages and bring power back home for tenants’.
Despite criticising the £42 million ‘set-up costs’ of the TSA, Mr Shapps said he felt the regulatory framework it had produced was ‘great work’.
He also added that, although the HCA would take on responsibility for financial regulation, he hoped ‘…in the future you would see banks wanting to do more of their own due diligence’.
The news comes in the same week as the TSA published two studies appearing to show its new regulatory framework was a success. The first, a study of 39 areas piloting the TSA’s approach for landlords to agree ‘local offers’ with tenants, concluded landlords would not find the process cumbersome. The second found providers were beginning to see the case for shaping services by listening to tenants.
Meanwhile, Mr Shapps also lifted the lid on the debate over security of tenure for future tenants by saying in the House of Commons last week that he wanted to reduce social housing waiting lists and that ‘…may include looking at tenure for the future’.
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Readers' comments (43)
Richard Colledge | 18/06/2010 8:12 am
Good news if this is true. But as for the Housing Ombudsman it would be interesting to hear of personal experiences of people who have taken cases to HOS. They are funded by the landlords. Did you get justice or did you get a whitewash ?
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Anonymous | 18/06/2010 9:43 am
As a complaints officer in an RSL I can confirm the HOS are very fair in their decisions. We use their service as a support to help us advise residents - we don't see them as the enemy. Approx 70% of HOS cases are found to be "no maladministration", unlike the LGO cases you see on Housemark.
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Anonymous | 18/06/2010 9:52 am
Housing Corporation is dead - long live the Housing Corporation!
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Dave Hollins | 18/06/2010 9:53 am
I think this is a disastrous step. The TSA was the first body to take tenants seriously, to talk to us properly, and act on our views. The HCA might be very good at some things but it has been absolutely hopeless at engaging with tenants and I don't think it can change its culture now.
The TSA's regulatory system is non-bureaucratic and a million miles removed from the old system operated by the Housing Corporation. Landlords demonstrate over and over again that they need vigorous external regulation driven by tenants to keep standards up. Like the HC, the HCA's prime interest will be in the development programme, what little is left of it, not regulating in tenants' interests to improve housing management standards.
The Tories seem determined to do as much damage to social housing as they can. The comment about securty of tenure is like a declaration of war, its a touchstone issue. Presumably they want to unleash the Stephen Greenhalghes and Kate Davies of this world who have anti-tenant agendas. Tenants will need to organise to defend themselves.
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Rick Campbell | 18/06/2010 10:32 am
Whijst I would gladly welcome the demise of the Tea Supping Agency, I fear that their watering down of "resident led" to "co" regulation may well lead to a further watering down of tenant involvement and influence over matters which affect their homes,
Mrs Thatcher gave tenants influence so why can't Dave and Nick?
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Leon Tricker | 18/06/2010 11:01 am
Re. HOS - I think sometimes complainants go to the Ombudsman hoping for the landlord's final decison to be overturned. As I understand the HOS, it is there to check procedures/policies were followed. The HOS does not make a judgement on whether the final decision of the landlord was right or just.
Re. TSA - I hope that the focus on tenant influence and empowerment is not lost under a new regulator.
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Eian Mantle | 18/06/2010 11:04 am
Mrs. Thatcher gave tenants influence? Over what? Having your rights removed and removing the power of the rent officer, reducing security of tenure and the joy of hyper inflation in the housing market is the kind of influence tenants can live without. Now Grant Shites wants to silence their voice presumably because the landlords know what is best for them and we should not criticise our betters. Dave and Nick have no interest in giving tenant any voice because their gaol is home ownership for all and anyone who fails in that ambition has no cause to complain if they are exploited by their landlord.
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Eian Mantle | 18/06/2010 11:04 am
Mrs. Thatcher gave tenants influence? Over what? Having your rights removed and removing the power of the rent officer, reducing security of tenure and the joy of hyper inflation in the housing market is the kind of influence tenants can live without. Now Grant Shites wants to silence their voice presumably because the landlords know what is best for them and we should not criticise our betters. Dave and Nick have no interest in giving tenant any voice because their gaol is home ownership for all and anyone who fails in that ambition has no cause to complain if they are exploited by their landlord.
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sally beauford | 18/06/2010 11:17 am
best news I have heard, the TSA is a duplicity of many functions and agree that social housing can be delivered elsewhere. Let us hope that it would not be forgotten though that "Tenants matters"
The TSA really was a quango too far.....
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Anonymous | 18/06/2010 11:18 am
The conservatives are now well and truly spreading chaos and fear amongst us social tenants. We tenants have no way of getting much justice through the Housing Ombudsman - or uneding RSL complaints procedures with tenants forced to give up their complaints before they even start... How long the LIBDEM can stand in a governemnt coalition with such destrcitve soical housing policies?... I give them another 2 months.
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