Planning, building and the environment

Drive for affordable homes and the rights of tenants gains the stamp of approval

Published	23 July 2008

The Government's drive to deliver much needed new affordable homes and safeguard higher housing standards for eight million social housing tenants took another step forward today as the Housing and Regeneration Act gained Royal Assent.

The new Act, will:

help address the shortage of affordable housing for first-time buyers and families through the establishment of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA);
give social housing tenants a better deal with the creation of the new Tenants Services Authority (TSA);
make new housing greener to tackle climate change.

Housing Minister Caroline Flint said:

"This Bill is one of the most important pieces of housing legislation in recent years. Not only does it ensure we have the most efficient way of delivering the much needed housing this country needs, it also gives millions of social tenants more say in the provision of their housing, ensuring they get a fairer deal."

The Act will establish the Homes and Communities Agency which will for the first time bring together responsibility for land and the money, in order to deliver new housing, community facilities and infrastructure. From early December, the HCA, headed by Sir Bob Kerslake, will ensure that homes are built in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable way, as well as promoting good design. The HCA also has a key role to play in regenerating communities. It will base its regeneration approach on the Government's regeneration framework - Transforming Places; Changing Lives. This will ensure decisions on regeneration are made as locally as possible, and that access to jobs is a key decider in the location of new social housing.

The Act will also establish a new watchdog for social tenants - Tenants Services Authority (TSA). The TSA, led by the Chief Executive Peter Marsh, will regulate social housing landlords, setting high standards of management across housing association and at a later date local authority social homes. It will also listen to tenants' concerns and use its powers to make sure tenants are getting a good service. Empowering people is the cornerstone of the Government's recent White Paper Communities in Control and the TSA is just one way in which tenants will have a greater say in running of their communities. The TSA will also have powers to cut red tape for high performing registered social landlords and the ability to take action where tenants are not getting a fair deal.

Looking forward the HCA and TSA will provide a platform to help deliver the Government's plans to reform rented housing, to be set out in the housing reform green paper later this year.

The Act will also rewrite the rules on financing new council housing, helping councils to build new social homes in their areas where it offers value for money. Councils will be able to keep the full rents from new council houses and use any surpluses to help pay for new social homes.

Notes to editors

1. The Housing and Regeneration Act can be found online at: http://services.parliament.uk/bills (external link).

2. The Homes and Communities Agency will bring together housing and regeneration into one national agency. It will combine English Partnerships; the investment programme of the Housing Corporation; the Academy for Sustainable Communities; and key housing and regeneration programmes currently delivered by Communities and Local Government including Housing Market Renewal, Growth Areas, Decent Homes and Thames Gateway.

3. It will work where markets have failed or need help to deliver. By using its tool box of powers the Agency will tackle some of the very complex problems that are inevitably associated with difficult-to-redevelop sites such as Middlehaven, in Middlesbrough, where a redundant industrial site is being transformed into one of the largest zero-carbon developments in the UK.

4. The Tenant Services Authority will be the new social Housing Regulator which will give tenants a stronger say over how their homes are managed. This implements the recommendations of Martin Cave's review of social housing regulation - which recommended that tenants should be put at the heart of a reformed system of regulation, with less regulation for good landlords and a clearer system of standards.

5. It will take over the role of the Housing Corporation's Regulatory function and will have new, stronger and wider ranging enforcement powers to take action over poor performance. It will also reduce unnecessary regulation for the best Housing Associations, while protecting public investment.

6. The TSA will initially cover only Housing Association tenants, but we have announced that we intend to bring local authorities into its scope within two years.