MPs call for sweeping changes to housing association regulation – The Guardian

The regulation of housing associations needs sweeping changes, MPs have told the Guardian, after an investigation into troubled new-build developments, which have benefited from more than 60m of public money.

The investigation into properties across London found issues with five housing associations: Catalyst, Sanctuary, Notting Hill Housing, Wandle and the One Housing Group, who together control 175,000 homes. Problems experienced by tenants and homeowners have included structural defects, damp, mould, broken lifts, infestation by rats, and widespread issues with poor customer service.

Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, called for a new system of transparency and official ratings. Why cant we have league tables for housing associations so we know who are the worst offenders? said Ali, who has led recent attempts in parliament to force the government to take action on oversights by housing associations. That would force them to act.

We cannot tolerate the poor practice were seeing now. We wouldnt tolerate it from private landlords, so theres absolutely no reason we should be tolerating it from publicly funded housing associations. Whats scandalous is that public money is being given to them, even when customer service is failing.

The Green party co-leader, Caroline Lucas, said the revelations highlighted the downsides of recent government policy. The appalling state of some housing association homes is the result of years of deregulation and profit-seeking being prioritised over the building of decent homes, she said. No one should have to live in these kind of conditions. Mould, flooding and rats might be relatively common in Londoners homes, but that doesnt make their presence in any way acceptable.

The shadow housing minister, John Healey who served as housing minister under Gordon Brown said the Guardians findings exposed huge issues about how social housing providers are changing. This investigation is a cautionary tale about some housing associations work, he said. When some of them are adopting a more commercial model, they need to take care not to adopt commercial building standards, which too often these days the public see as unsatisfactory.

The National Housing Federation, the umbrella organisation which speaks for housing associations, said residents in housing associations were overwhelmingly satisfied and that the examples uncovered by the Guardian were in no way representative of the general quality of these housing associations homes nor the sector as a whole.

But politicians and housing professionals have become increasingly concerned about some housing associations performance and the governments drive to cut back funding and regulation, much of which was put in place under the last Labour government.

The Audit Commission played a key role in monitoring housing associations performance, but was dissolved in 2015. In 2010, the then housing minister Grant Shapps announced the abolition of the Tenants Services Authority, which was responsible for inspecting housing associations and addressing residents concerns.

Now, although the government insists that a strong regulatory framework remains in place, further moves are afoot. The Conservative housing minister, Gavin Barwell, recently told the House Of Commons that the government was committed to deregulating the sector, and highlighted new moves that free housing associations from the need to seek official approval for organisational changes and selling off their stock. Barwells department said: Housing associations are regulated and need to maintain their houses to a decent standard Where necessary, wed expect local authorities to use their enforcement powers for dealing with any breaches [of regulations].

The Labour MP Jon Cruddas, whose consituency of Dagenham and Rainham will have tens of thousands of newbuild homes constructed over the next 15 years, said:.Whats happening to some housing associations mirrors what happened to the building societies. They chased the market, and demutualised, and became much more aggressive, at the expense of their civic inheritance. The worry with housing associations is similar: theyre getting bigger and bigger, and theyre becoming more marketised.

Calls are growing for a different system of regulation, which would boost the role of the housing ombudsman. Sixty-one people work for the housing ombudsman, said Ali. Thats not many. I would like the government to change the requirement for people to go to their MP before they make a complaint. That just delays things. And the ombudsman does not publish how many complaints have been submitted for housing associations. That needs to change.

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MPs call for sweeping changes to housing association regulation - The Guardian