Social Housing – The New Regime

The Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 received the Royal Assent in July 2008 and will, over time, usher in a new regime in social housing.

For the first time, social housing is defined – it includes low-cost (i.e. below the market rate) rental accommodation and low-cost home ownership accommodation. The latter is accommodation which is made available using shared ownership or equity sharing arrangements or shared ownership trusts.

In both cases, the object must be to make the accommodation available to those whose housing needs are not adequately met by the commercial housing market.

The Act also allows other schemes to be approved by the Secretary of State which do not fall under the definitions above.

The Act creates two sorts of providers of social housing, abolishing the term ‘Registered Social Landlords’. The two sorts will both be called Regulated Providers, but will be differentiated according to whether they are set up on a not-for-profit basis or have profit making aims.

A new standards framework for social tenants is expected to be launched in the autumn of 2009, following an extensive consultation exercise. An impact assessment on the Act was published in December 2008 and is available online.

If you are affected by this legislation, take advice before acting as it is being brought in over time and the practical implications of some of the provisions are not yet clear.

The text of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 can be found at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/ukpga_20080017_en_1.

The impact assessment (333 pages) can be found at http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/housingregenactimpactassess.

For advice on all social housing matters, contact us:
Telephone: +44 (0) 1753 486 777 (Slough Office)
Telephone: +44 (0) 1189 596031 (Reading Office)