Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 23
23
Accepted in Part
Paragraph: 108
We also recommend that action be taken to address this complex landscape, by making it...
Recommendation
We also recommend that action be taken to address this complex landscape, by making it compulsory for all providers to be registered. A mechanism is required to ensure that there is better quality provision and that standards are maintained. Good providers will have nothing to fear from registration, while the bad providers can have their 50 Exempt Accommodation registration removed. We heard some concerns that the cost and additional reporting requirements of being registered may impact on smaller providers, particularly those reliant on charitable and grant funding. We do not see why this is the case, or why it should continue to be so. Registering should not be unnecessarily onerous or expensive, and if it is that should change. Therefore, we call upon the Regulator of Social Housing to take action to make it easier for smaller providers of exempt accommodation to register with them.
Government Response Summary
The government states the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Bill will improve oversight via licensing schemes, and will consult on additional measures to ensure compliance with national standards. They do not agree with mandatory registration with the Regulator of Social Housing, but will ensure non-social housing providers are covered by the Decent Homes Standard.
Paragraph Reference:
108
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
55. Measures in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Bill will improve the oversight of providers of supported housing. Licensing schemes will enable local authorities to better control standards in their area and we have also committed to consult on additional measures to ensure compliance with national standards for support. 56. We should be clear that it is not within the remit of the Regulator of Social Housing (‘the regulator’) to look at the quality of support provided in exempt accommodation. 57.T he regulator sets out in its guidance on registration that becoming a registered provider is a significant undertaking. The regulator needs to satisfy itself that providers can meet the registration criteria which are linked to the regulatory standards. All applicants must meet the Governance and Financial Viability Standards at the point of registration and demonstrate they have the capacity to meet the other regulatory standards and maintain compliance with all the standards on an ongoing basis. The regulator recognizes the amount of information and evidence provided by applicants will reflect their size and business models. It anticipates that more complex or riskier models will need to provide additional information and evidence to demonstrate compliance. Thorough registration requirements are therefore necessary to ensure that, regardless of size or business model, a provider can meet the regulatory standards and provide good quality homes and services once registered. 58. Most providers of social housing do choose to register, including nearly all large providers which own or manage 95% of the social stock in England. Mandating all providers of social housing to register with the regulator poses the risk of the sector being reclassified as public due to the significant increase in regulatory control. This already happened in 2015 when the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reclassified Private Registered Providers (PRPs) as public sector bodies. Regulation was subsequently amended to reduce control of the sector, reinstating PRPs’ private classification. Reclassification would burden the Government with taking on the sector’s debt, which stands at £90bn. Social housing landlords may also be restricted in their access to funding and their ability to build new homes. 59. Overall, we consider the proposed measures in the Bill to be better placed to provide oversight and control over the supported housing sector, rather than ensuring mandatory registration for all providers with the Regulator of Social Housing. 60. In the private rented sector, we will ensure non-social housing providers - whether private rented, or private rented sector-leased, or ‘non-social’ (supported housing where the accommodation is owned or provided by a registered provider but is not let at social rent) are covered – including by the Decent Homes Standard. Further details will be set out in due course.