The week in housing: the return of the housing association mega-merger?

But it is not a done deal, and both boards will put forward full proposals in the summer. Sanctuary has been here before, too. Back in 2015 it got close to joining forces with specialist extra care provider Housing 21. However, after months of discussions, the merger talks ended with Sanctuary saying “operational synergies were not met by an acceptable operational fit”. In non-corporate speak, that means “we just couldn’t make it work”.

In the immediate fall-out, Twitter was awash with tenant groups and housing figures asking what the impact of enlarged groups would have on service for tenants. Does a bigger organisation necessarily mean a better deal for tenants? It is an interesting question to ponder.

On the smaller scale, the English Regulator of Social Housing made a statement this week in placing three exempt accommodation providers on its ‘gradings under review’ list. Ash-Shahada Housing Association, 3CHA and Concept Housing Association are all being investigated for issues that might impact their compliance with the governance and financial viability standard.

It is an example of an increased focus on the exempt accommodation sector, a sub-sector of supported housing in which landlords are required to provide only loosely defined “care, support or supervision” to residents but can still charge significantly higher rents than for mainstream social housing, paid by housing benefit. It is often the sector that provides homes for the most vulnerable and difficult-to-house people, such as prison leavers and migrants.

There seems to be a ramping-up of action against other exempt accommodation providers by the regulator and other stakeholders. Organisations including Prospect Housing, New Roots and Green Park have previously been downgraded, while Green Park also saw its exempt accommodation status stripped by Birmingham City Council after it was deemed to be operating as a for-profit provider. Expect this not to be the last action taken by the regulator in this area. It appears that it may be focusing on these providers similarly to how it has treated lease-based supported housing providers of late. Watch this space.

In policy news, we saw the government continuing to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 crisis by extending the bailiff eviction ban until the end of March, and extending by two months the deadline for those looking to buy homes through the current Help to Buy Programme. The latter has been a real worry for house builders and associations, which have seen the completion of developments delayed as a result of the COVID-19 site closures last year, sparking fears that many potential buyers could miss out on completing their purchases.

In other government announcements, there was some positive news about the next Affordable Homes Programme (AHP), which is set to begin in April. Responding to a parliamentary question late last week, housing minister Christopher Pincher promised that the £12bn five-year AHP would deliver at least 32,000 social rent homes. While this is way short of the 90,000 social rent homes a year that groups such as Shelter and the Chartered Institute of Housing think are needed, it is up from the current programme, which – as of August 2019 – had delivered only 3,583 social rent homes.

One of the most-read stories of the week was the news that Southwark Council’s cabinet member for housing Leo Pollak had resigned after it emerged that he had not been transparent about a Twitter account he managed. The decision came after an investigation by local newspaper South London Press, which uncovered the now-deleted account that sent tweets promoting council projects in the borough and criticised some residents’ campaigning. Mr Pollak publicly apologised for the account and a full investigation is currently under way.

Fire safety stories continue to dominate the news agenda. This week Inside Housing revealed that some lenders are introducing legal clauses that prevent blocks from being used as security for housing association loans. This could have a major impact on the ability of social landlords in large cities to borrow and, as a result, build. On Wednesday, we reported on a pretty novel approach to funding the removal of aluminium composite material cladding, with a story about a building owner seeking planning permission to add three storeys to the block in a bid to cover the funding gap.

And finally, we also heard the tragic news of the death of a construction worker on a housing association site this week. Scott Grimes was working for a contractor on a Clarion housing development when he was fatally injured after an accident. Clarion said it was deeply saddened by the death. The Health and Safety Executive is currently investigating, while a fundraising page has been set up in memory of Mr Grimes.

Jack Simpson, news editor

Editor’s picks: five must-read stories

1. Lenders introduce legal clauses preventing tower blocks being used as security on housing association loans
2. Southwark housing chief resigns after Twitter account exposed
3. Social landlords accused of inaction on racial harassment
4. Ikea-owned modular builder in talks with multiple councils over deals
5. Housing Ombudsman concerned over ‘weak’ heating and hot water contracts

Have any views on anything you have read in this week’s Week in Housing? Email me at jack.simpson@insidehousing.co.uk