Councils
It has been disproportionately councils that have been censured by the RSH and Housing Ombudsman regarding tenants’ housing conditions last year.
The situation at Regina Road Estate in London, which was featured in ITV’s investigation, was one of the more shocking examples of council housing disrepair. With ageing stock and a lack of resources caused by a decade of cuts, councils will have to think of better ways to improve conditions for their tenants.
However, expect the council housebuilding revolution to continue. With more money from grant programmes, such as the Greater London Authority’s Affordable Homes Programme, the number of housing starts will likely be significantly higher from local authorities.
However, it will be an important year for council housing companies. A number have either closed or been hit by huge losses in the past 18 months, and it will be an important year to see if these private arm’s-length companies are a feasible development vehicle.
Finance
The environmental, social and governance (ESG) train continues to chug along, so expect it to be an even bigger area of growth in finance this year, as the impact of COP26 continues to influence business planning.
Housing associations seem to be a ready-made place for investor money, with the activities they carry out ticking the environmental, social and governance boxes needed for an investment to be deemed as ‘ESG’. We will see many more landlords establishing ESG frameworks to attract investors and make it clear how their investments are performing within those parameters.
The trend for consolidation into bigger organisations through mergers looks likely to continue
The trend for consolidation into bigger organisations through mergers looks likely to continue, too. The building safety, net zero and development requirements are not going away, and it is clear there is a belief within some organisations that being bigger means these headwinds are easier to deal with.
Tenancy management
The government has promised that a renters’ white paper will be published at some point this year. While the policies set out in the white paper will primarily cover the private rented sector, it is likely that it will also have ramifications for the social housing sector.
Most notably, ministers have said the paper will lay the grounds to end Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. Landlords should watch out for any changes to the eviction process.
Last year saw a couple of long-running scandals begin to received renewed attention. Out-of-borough housing allocations were back in the news following one particularly shocking case of a London council attempting to move a family to Stoke-on-Trent.
This story caught the attention of the national media and politicians, so it may well be that councils will find themselves increasingly scrutinised for this behaviour.
