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Welsh Assembly passes reclassification bill
Welsh Assembly Members have passed a bill to shift housing associations back off the public balance sheet.
AMs unanimously voted through the Regulation of Registered Social Landlords (Wales) Bill yesterday evening.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) will now review the bill to decide whether to reverse its decision to reclassify housing associations as public sector bodies.
It includes limits on local authorities’ influence over stock transfer housing associations, by restricting their ability to appoint board members.
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In 2016, the ONS announced it would reclassify UK housing associations as “public non-financial corporations”, meaning their debt appeared on government balance sheets.
Governments in Westminster, Holyrood and Cardiff responded by drafting legislation to deregulate housing associations enough for the ONS to deem them part of the private sector.
The statistics agency announced it would provisionally reverse the decision in England, Scotland and Wales in August last year.
Stuart Ropke, chief executive of Community Housing Cymru said: “We’re delighted to see this vital piece of legislation passed by the Assembly.
“Welsh Government has responded quickly to the ONS decision, and this legislation will pave the way for housing associations to build the homes Wales needs and deliver on our Housing Horizons ambition to make good housing a basic right for all.”
A spokesperson for the ONS said it had not yet decided on a timescale to confirm whether it will shift housing associations back to the private sector.
