This is a sector that wants to learn and improve

Moreover, it is important to remember that the green paper will need to avoid pre-empting the conclusions of the public inquiry.

The contents will be informed by round tables the housing minister has been holding with tenants and landlords to better understand the issues facing social housing tenants.

Those who have been to the meetings report a real willingness to engage and listen.

“Ministers want to ensure that all tenants know where they can turn if they are unhappy with the response from their landlord.”

Other developments, such as the recent announcement of a consultation on a single Housing Ombudsman, are also being pored over to see if they tell us anything about the contents of the green paper.

My view is that this shows that ministers want to ensure that all tenants know where they can turn if they are not happy with the response from their landlord to their complaints. It may be that the green paper will want to explore this territory further.

I know that many landlords and tenants are debating what works and what doesn’t in the current system.

I think many thoughtful observers would say that most landlords are trying to meet their tenants’ needs, look after their stock and develop new supply. This view is backed up by the levels of tenant satisfaction generally found in the sector.

However, it is also true that not everything goes right every time and I know that many landlords are thinking about how they respond in these situations.

At the same time, national tenant organisations are thinking about how more can be done to give a voice to tenants and how we can all play a role in making sure tenants know where they can go to raise issues.

The discussion and reflection tell me that this is a sector that wants to learn and improve.

“The vast majority of landlords are heading in the right direction.”

While some landlords may have further to travel than others, I think the vast majority are heading in the right direction and will want to work with the minister and the government as it develops its thinking.

Our engagement with providers shows me that, although health and safety issues have always been high on the list of issues that boards think about, after Grenfell, they are redoubling their focus on gaining assurance that their organisations are doing the right thing.

The government will also want to think about the social housing sector in the round, including the role of the regulator.

The final contents of the document will clearly be a matter for ministers, but we will maintain an open and constructive dialogue with his department and be ready to take on any role that parliament chooses to give us.

“The government will also want to think about the social housing sector in the round, including the role of the regulator.”

At the same time we have an important day job to do regulating the sector under our existing remit. So although we are actively engaged in the debate on the green paper we continue to work hard to carry out effective regulation.

We have been updating our regulatory judgements based on the business plans that providers have submitted to us and have been looking at the balance between our V1 and V2 grades.

Although we have regraded a number of providers, we are clear that the level of risk a business chooses to take on in pursuit of its objectives is a matter for boards, which is why we regard V2 as a perfectly acceptable grade, provided it is accompanied by strong governance.

We are in the closing weeks of our consultation on a new Value for Money Standard. So far the feedback has been that the proposals are broadly welcomed.

We look forward to reading your final responses in detail. For me the consultation is about placing value for money at the heart of a board’s thinking about how it meets the competing demands being placed upon it.

“It is only boards with strong governance that will be able to deliver their vision.”

The ask of housing associations is broad and getting wider, from meeting the demands and expectations of your tenants, the need for new supply in the light of the recent budget, not to mention the asks from local and national government and the attendant political and media attention that flows from that, all the while maintaining access to private finance and being able to deal with the vagaries of the economic cycle.

It is only boards with strong governance that will be able to deliver their vision, trade off the competing demands of their various stakeholders, and deal with unexpected events.

In this context we make no apology for a strong focus on governance, viability and value for money regulation.

It is by ensuring that organisations have the financial strength to weather storms and the leadership and governance to deliver their vision that we think they are most able to meet the needs of their tenants and to provide much-needed new homes for their communities.

Listening to your customers and understanding their expectations is fundamental to being able to deliver for the communities you serve.

Without that you will struggle to demonstrate the value you add to your stakeholders.

Delivering on this underpins our focus on good governance and is key to ensuring the challenges that emerge from the green paper can be met.

Julian Ashby, chair, Homes and Communities Agency Regulation Committee