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Future Shape of the Sector report: associations must change governance models

Housing associations will need to make “significant changes” to their governance models in order to manage bigger build programmes and maintain trust with their tenants, a group of leading social landlords has said.

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Housing associations will need to make “significant changes” to their governance models in order to manage bigger build programmes and maintain trust with their tenants #ukhousing

Associations must change to manage development and maintain tenant trust, report says #ukhousing

A report from a specially convened housing commission, led by L&Q, Network Homes and Clarion Housing Group, said that associations would need to double their development programmes to as many as 100,000 homes a year in the next decade to match government building targets.

The report, which has been published today, said this would “require a real change in financial innovation and risk management” as well as continued access to land and government subsidy.


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The Future Shape of the Sector Commission’s report also highlighted the fact that there has been “a rising sense of loss of trust among some stakeholders”, which housing associations had to put right.

It added that the Grenfell Tower fire had also made it imperative to review the way landlords provide services.

However, the commission also said that a “new political consensus” had highlighted the importance of building more social and affordable homes and urged housing associations to “recognise and seize” their opportunity.

It said housing associations need to revive their governance models to achieve these aims, including by recruiting board members who become more integrated into their organisations.

“Associations will need to recruit greater diversity of skills and experience at board level, be more open and transparent to customers and stakeholders, and substantially upgrade their succession planning and talent management programmes,” said the report.

The report is a follow up to a similar exercise in 2006, which outlined how associations should change to meet the challenges facing them over the next ten years.

The new study was based on 35 call to evidence submissions, 15 in-depth interviews, as well as roundtables and one-day site visits.

Commission members included: Torsten Bell, director of Resolution Foundation; Sinead Butters, chair of Placeshapers and chief executive of Aspire Group; Carol Matthews, chief executive of Riverside; and Piers Williamson chief executive of The Housing Finance Corporation.

Helen Evans, chief executive of Network Homes, said: “The Commission’s report places social purpose absolutely at the heart of the future for housing associations. As a sector we want to deliver as many genuinely affordable homes as we can – for social rent but also for others who the housing market is failing. But if Grenfell has taught us anything, it is that, even as we scale up development activity, we must keep the people who live in our homes front and centre, rethink our service offer for a digital age and ensure we maintain the trust of residents and other stakeholders.”

Click here to read an article from commission chair Lord Andrew Turnbull

The Future Shape of the Sector commission

The Future Shape of the Sector commission

Lord Andrew Turnbull

The Future Shape of the Sector Commission is the brainchild of Network Homes, Clarion Housing Group and L&Q.

It is chaired by Lord Andrew Turnbull, former cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, and is looking at how housing associations of all sizes should respond to the housing crisis and manage any future changes in a post-Brexit world.

The commissioners include Professor John Hills from the London School of Economics; Sinead Butters, chair of Placeshapers, Torsten Bell, director of the Resolution Foundation; and Steve Douglas, partner at Altair and former chief executive of the Housing Corporation.

L&Q previously led a similar commission in 2006 which looked at how housing associations could evolve as some grew to own and manage 100,000 homes. This resulted in the publication of a report called Growing Up.

 

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