Twin objectives

Writing for Inside Housing this week, Matthew Bailes argued that deregulation gives housing associations more power, but also much greater responsibility. As the chairs of the G15 and Placeshapers groups, we agree with Matthew and want to spell out our dual commitments to delivering new affordable housing and looking after our existing tenants.

There is no doubt that the past year has been a watershed for housing associations. It is hard to remember a time in which so many ‘certainties’ turned out to be less than certain. However, the ability of our sector to adapt and evolve has been demonstrated time and again, and the sector is gearing up well to meet the new challenges and opportunities that we face.

The role of boards and executive teams in navigating through the new landscape, while remaining true to the values of their organisations, has never been more important. The response of each organisation will be dictated by its own particular circumstances, its operating context and its business drivers, but it seems to us (and we are coming from very different types of organisations) that there are core values that will influence all housing associations and are central to the discussions we are having within our own organisations.

We are both clear that one of the core roles of housing associations is to address housing need and help those not served by the market to find a safe and secure place to live that helps them find work, raise a family or grow old with dignity. Sometimes this will be through providing low-rent accommodation and sometimes it will be through providing sustainable routes into homeownership, so while the particular answer may vary according to time and place and individual household circumstances, the twin objectives of delivering new affordable housing and being stewards of our existing stock do not change.

“We believe we have a duty to act honourably and transparently with tenants and other stakeholders.”

In this context, response to the Office for National Statistics’ classification and the prompt decision by the government to remove the consents regime is a welcome freedom for housing associations, and one we believe will enable us to deliver more homes for more people. The ability to effectively manage our asset base will enable us to get best value from our stock and provide a better housing offer to our local communities. The freedom to dispose of vacant stock onto the open market, or convert it to shared ownership or intermediate rent, will allow us to tailor our stock profile to housing need and give us the financial capacity to deliver more new homes. 

However, we also accept that with freedom comes responsibility. Up until now the regulator has operated a regime that ensured tenanted stock did not leave the sector, other than in exceptional circumstances, and we do not see any reason why this position will not continue, under the direct stewardship of the sector, once the consent regime is removed. The absence of the regulator from decisions about disposals of social housing assets means that the boards become the effective operators of the consents system and the protectors of the position of tenants, as well as of our reputation as responsible landlords.

This is something that each board will need to consider individually, but we think most providers will make very similar decisions. So a theoretical ability to sell tenanted stock is not the same as a willingness to do so.

We believe we have a duty to act honourably and transparently with tenants and other stakeholders. For us this means that selling the stock out of the regulated sector is not an appropriate action, unless there was an imminent threat to our viability. We also believe that the vast majority of other providers will reach the same conclusion.

The emerging housing landscape will create greater freedoms for housing associations, but also more expectations of what they can do to address the housing shortage. We know that the introduction of voluntary Right to Buy, the increasing role of associations in delivering routes into homeownership and managing our core businesses in a time of welfare changes will test the quality of governance. In this context, we both place a high premium on remaining viable, well run businesses that continue to access competitive finance to help us deliver more homes.

However, this will never change our commitment to our existing tenants and we believe the best place for them is with us.  

David Montague, chair of the G15 group, and Sinead Butters, chair of Placeshapers