Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Deferred
Paragraph: 37
Deliver sufficient grant funding and urgently release next Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund tranches.
Recommendation
Making social housing more energy efficient is crucial for the country’s decarbonisation goals, but, of course, it is also a significant cost for social housing providers. Because energy efficiency improvements do not return savings to social housing providers or private investors, there is little, if any, scope for borrowing to fund decarbonisation measures and private finance is not well developed. The Government must deliver grant funding to cover decarbonisation if these costs are not to be paid for by social housing providers or their residents. Although Government funding exists to cover a fraction of the costs it is insufficient, and therefore puts social housing providers under financial pressure. To mitigate this the Government must bring forward the next tranches of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund urgently.
Government Response Summary
The government's response discusses the regulator's standards concerning tenant engagement, fairness, and security of tenure during regeneration projects. It does not address the recommendation for increased grant funding for social housing decarbonisation or the urgent release of Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund tranches.
Paragraph Reference:
37
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
15. In setting standards the regulator must have regard to the desirability of registered providers being free to choose how to provide services and conduct business.8 Therefore our standards do not detail how providers should deliver our requirements or set out specific scenarios or groups of tenants on which the standards are focused. This is because the prescription necessary to examine all potential situations would lead to a significantly increased regulatory burden on providers. We therefore do not identify specific expectations of providers around their engagement in regeneration projects. However, we believe that our new consumer standards do set out, in general terms, expectations of providers that would align with the committee’s aspiration for tenants’ experience during regeneration projects. For example, our Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard requires landlords to treat tenants with fairness and respect, take their views into account in decision-making about how landlord services are delivered, and where considering a significant change in management arrangements consult affected tenants on proposals at a formative stage and take those views into account in reaching a decision. 16. Providers are also expected to take reasonable steps to assist tenants wishing to implement tenant-led activities to influence and scrutinise their landlord’s strategies, policies and services. We have issued Regulatory Notices under our previous Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard where landlords’ engagement with tenants has not met our expectations.9 We recognise the potential impact that relocation during and potentially after a regeneration project might have on the affected tenants. Within our Tenancy Standard we outline expectations that providers grant tenants who have been moved into alternative accommodation during any redevelopment or other works a tenancy with no less security of tenure on their return to settled accommodation.