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Will the government regulate over tenant engagement post-Grenfell?
The Grenfell Tower fire brought into focus the issue of tenant engagement. But some landlords are still failing in this area, leading to the prospect of regulation, says Eamon McGoldrick
Will the government regulate over tenant engagement post-Grenfell? asks Eamon McGoldrick @NFA_ALMOs #ukhousing“When it comes to tenant involvement in governance, we are not seeing any great change,” says Eamon McGoldrick @NFA_ALMOs #ukhousing“My long experience in housing tells me that unless the government regulates, some landlords will coast or play lip service to tenant engagement,” says Eamon McGoldrick @NFA_ALMOs #ukhousingI was recently asked to comment on whether the tenant voice is stronger than it was before the Grenfell tragedy.
I broke my response down into two main areas. First, what has been happening at government level?
Well, we have had lots of fine words from senior politicians, many of whom are no longer involved in formulating housing policy.
The Social Housing Green Paper, published a year ago, raised the prospect of greater tenant involvement in all aspects of service delivery.
A few months prior to that, Dame Judith Hackitt promised that tenants would be centre stage when it comes to building safety management.
So where are we now?
There is no doubt that the government has been in listening mode over the past couple of years. Two housing ministers – Alok Sharma and Dominic Raab – undertook national roadshows to listen to tenants’ concerns. And a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) consultation on the Social Housing Green Paper attracted more than 7,000 online responses.
I understand that Grenfell residents have had regular access to ministers, holding them to account on promises of improved involvement mechanisms.
The consultation on new building safety regulation certainly puts an onus on landlords to evidence how residents living in high-rise blocks will be involved in consultation and communication on safety issues relating to their homes.
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The Social Housing Green Paper suggested more robust cross-domain consumer regulation with key performance indicators focused on tenant priorities and the possibility of some form of national tenant voice with direct access to ministers.
While I am hopeful that consumer regulation will be enhanced, I don’t see any prospect of a national tenant voice.
In my view, the government will not want to fund or run such a forum and there are serious administrative challenges to be overcome to ensure that all residents have faith in such a mechanism.
To enable all providers and tenures to be represented across the country, we could end up with a very bureaucratic structure.
I think the government found that the roadshows and online surveys offered more flexible methods for asking tenants their opinions. These methods are a lot easier to administer and the government can control the discussion by seeking views on specific topics.
Second, what are landlords doing differently? There has rightly been a period of reflection and most landlords have reviewed how they communicate and engage with tenants post-Grenfell.
There has been an increase in best practice sharing through organisations like Tpas and earlier this year, the National Housing Federation launched its Together with Tenants initiative, encouraging its members to adopt best practice in resident engagement.
However, when it comes to tenant involvement in governance, we are not seeing any great change.
ALMOs have always had strong tenant representation on their boards. This was a government requirement when they were set up and most continue to have at least a third of their boards made up of resident reps.
“My long experience in housing tells me that unless the government regulates, some landlords will coast or pay lip service to tenant engagement”
However, as we know, having strong resident representation at board level does not automatically mean good governance follows, as Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation showed.
I have seen excellent examples of tenant involvement in governance and some involve tenants being on consumer or scrutiny panels, rather than just attending main board meetings.
All the best examples of good tenant engagement I have seen have been co-designed between the landlord and its tenants.
Landlords should not be waiting for the government to set the framework, but my long experience in housing tells me that unless the government regulates, some landlords will coast or pay lip service to tenant engagement.
It will be interesting to see if the latest set of ministers at the MHCLG pick up from the last ones and set a clear framework that all social housing landlords will have to follow.
Eamon McGoldrick, managing director, National Federation of ALMOs
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