Housing associations’ role as community anchors is critical as we head into a recession

For other sectors, a regulatory shift of this scale would create a moment of existential angst. Not least because we are all living through such extraordinary times. We are now heading into what is likely to be one of the deepest recessions in generations.

Many of the residents who live in social homes will be disproportionately affected by this downturn, and housing associations’ roles as community anchors we be ever more critical as we help our residents to navigate the deeply uncertain months and maybe even years ahead.

“The white paper isn’t something to be feared because it feels like a natural and welcome progression of the work housing associations have already been doing”

Simultaneously, housing associations are tackling complex and extensive building safety concerns; getting their heads around a new Affordable Homes Programme that has much to welcome, but comes with challenges as well as opportunities; planning for what Brexit might mean for their businesses; grappling with climate change; and considering significant planning reforms.

Against this backdrop, it would be understandable for the sector to hesitate in the face of a new regulatory system that speaks to the core of its social purpose. But, the sector is unfaltering because so much of the cultural shift the government has described is already fully in train. The white paper isn’t something to be feared because it feels like a natural and welcome progression of the work housing associations have already been doing.

In fact, the National Housing Federation – following two years of close collaboration and piloting with tenants and members – launched the roll-out of our Together with Tenants programme and published our new code of governance in the weeks leading up to the white paper. Both programmes of work act in tandem to deliver a step change in the sector’s vision for engagement with residents.

With co-creation at their hearts, Together with Tenants and the Code of Governance aim to provide residents, housing association teams and boards with the tools they need to challenge existing assumptions and practices, redefine expectations, and bolster accountability.

“Housing associations readily acknowledged and embraced the need to improve relationships with residents and have already made great strides towards long-lasting change”

The commitments in the Social Housing White Paper dovetail neatly with the work housing associations have already delivered to strengthen accountability and transparency across the sector.

In fact, the white paper explicitly cites our Together with Tenants programme as an example of the good practice our sector has been putting in place. Because of this, I feel confident we will be ready to welcome the white paper’s reforms, which in many places complement our own ambitions.

There is no doubting that the changes in the way we are regulated on consumer issues and the bedding-in of new processes will take a lot of work. But the sector isn’t fazed because we didn’t wait for regulation to surprise or challenge us. Housing associations readily acknowledged and embraced the need to improve relationships with residents and have already made great strides towards long-lasting change.

Kate Henderson, chief executive, National Housing Federation