Social housing residents to receive new deal

A new deal for social housing residents, as part of the government’s commitment to make a housing market fit for the future has been launched by Secretary of State for Communities Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP

The social housing green paper aims to rebalance the relationship between tenants and landlords, tackle stigma and ensure that social housing can be both a safety net and springboard into home ownership.

The paper aims to start a national discussion to collect views on how to improve social housing, based on 5 core principles:

• A safe and decent home which is fundamental to a sense of security and our ability to get on in life.
• Swift and effective resolution so that when residents have concerns about the safety or standard of their home they see results.
• Empowering residents and ensuring their voices are heard so that landlords are held to account.
• Tackling stigma and celebrating thriving communities, challenging the stereotypes that exist about residents and their communities.
• Building the social homes that we need and ensure that those homes can act as a springboard to home ownership.

The proposals will empower residents to hold their landlords to account and give them the support they need to seek redress when things go wrong. A tougher regulator will help drive up standards and ensure social homes are well managed and quality places to live.

With the experience of those living in social housing brought to the forefront following the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, over 8,000 residents from across the country have shared their views of social housing as part of the government’s listening exercise.

Secretary of State for Communities the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said: “Providing high quality and well managed social housing is a core priority for this government.

“Our green paper offers a landmark opportunity for major reform to improve fairness, quality and safety for residents living in social housing across the country.

“Regardless of whether you own your home or rent, residents deserve security, dignity and the opportunities to build a better life.”

The aspirations and concerns of thousands of residents have shaped the government’s new direction for social housing and are at the heart of the proposals in this consultative green paper:

• steps to speed up the complaints process, providing access to effective dispute resolution when something goes wrong and giving tenants more support in accessing the redress options available to them.
• new reforms to make it easier for tenants to progress into homeownership, such as allowing them to purchase as little as 1% of their property each year through the government’s Shared Ownership programme.
• strengthening the Regulator of Social Housing so it can focus on issues that matter most to tenants and has ‘sharper teeth’ to intervene when needed, ensuring social homes are well managed and of decent quality.
• allowing councils to continue to have a choice over their use of fixed-term tenancies, enabling them to offer residents greater security in their homes
• the introduction of performance indicators and new league tables, rebalancing the landlord/tenant relationship to hold bad practice to account and ensure residents are treated with dignity and respect.