Housing minister Brandon Lewis has announced a package of deregulation proposals for the social housing sector which would give registered providers wide-reaching powers to restructure, sell-off stock and increase rents for higher-income tenants.
Speaking at a Communities and Local Government Committee meeting, Lewis said he planned to table a series of amendments to the Housing and Planning Bill following the proposed reclassification of housing associations from public to private sector by the Office for National Statistics.
Proposed reforms included housing associations no longer needing permission from the regulator before they undertake organisational changes such as mergers, change of status, restructuring, winding up or dissolution. The changes, industry sources said, would allow registered providers to start operating in the private rented sector.
Associations would also no longer need consent from a regulator to sell housing stock, although the regulator would need to be informed.
The disposals regime would be abolished, which means housing associations would no longer need to spend receipts from sales from Right to Buy and Right to Acquire according to rules set by the regulator.
Lewis said this would give associations more flexibility to manage their funds and build more affordable homes for home ownership.
The housing minister also re-enforced the “pay to stay” policy first mooted in the summer Budget, giving housing associations the option to charge higher rents to tenants with incomes of £30,000 a year or more (£40,000 in London).
A special administration regime will be launched for the sector in the event a housing association becomes insolvent.
The housing minister said: “Now there has never been an insolvency to date but this will help the service to tenants and protect the £45bn worth of government grants invested in the sector.
“It will also ensure that creditors can recover their security if necessary. That is an important fact in terms of their borrowing opportunity with lenders.”
