Mental health RSS news feeds UK
Independent regulator for tenants:
New watchdog for social housing set–up in England
A new social housing watchdog that will crack–down on registered social landlords in England who are giving tenants a poor service, such as long waits for repairs, is being established as an independent, standalone body, the Government has announced.
The new organisation, the Office for Tenants and Social Landlords, will have the powers to back–up tenants of Registered Social Landlords when they report poor service.
This new body will replace the role currently played by the Housing Corporation. The decision to establish the social housing regulator as an independent body follows consultation with industry, and will give it a greater focus on protecting the needs of tenants while freeing good social landlords from red tape. The current system is not designed to release regulatory burdens from social landlords who are performing well nor to intervene if tenant groups complain about the service they receive.
The new office will ensure that landlords provide a good service to their tenants, complementing the role of the Homes and Communities Agency in delivering 30,000 new affordable homes a year.
The new watchdog is the key recommendation accepted by the Government from the Cave Review of Social Housing in June, the most wideranging review of the regulation of social housing for 30 years.
Under the new system tenants' groups will be able to alert the regulator to poor service; the regulator will then have the authority to impose a wide–range of penalties and sanctions on failing social landlords, including the power to trigger a change of management, and to help ensure tenants receive a good service.
The Government has also said that local authorities will come under the scope of the watchdog within two years of it coming into operation.
Under the new regulator, good social landlords will be freed from red tape, allowing them to concentrate on getting housing management services right and building more homes. Tenants and local councils will be able to trigger penalties by bringing concerns to the watchdog's attention.
The full text of the review, Every Tenant Matters: A review of social housing regulation: Full Report and Executive Summary by Professor Martin Cave is available on the Communities and Local Government website at: www.communities.gov.uk.
Handy guide to wellbeing series | For you, family and friends
Communicatormentalhealth.org online and magazine | UKhealthblog | One-worldmentalhealth.org |
One-worldhealthblog | EUhealthnews.eu [starts soon] | EUhealthblog | and other community titles
Mind+body wellbeing | Government policy | Economics | Work and training | Education | Age | Families |
Caregiving | Nutrition | Exercise | Housing | Poverty | Abuse | Human rights | Prisons | War | Transport
Read our news reports in the language of your choice | Free translation services available online
