Comment: Nick Raynsford, MP for Greenwich & Woolwich

The Housing and Regeneration Bill has now completed all its stages in the House of Commons. Over the next few months it will be scrutinized in the House of Lords and will then, in line with normal Parliamentary procedure, return to the House of Commons for final amendments prior to Royal Assent. It is likely to become law by late summer this year.

The Bill will have a major impact on how housing and regeneration programmes are delivered in the coming years. The Homes and Communities Agency will take over from the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships the main responsibility for delivering the Government’s housing objectives, including the expanded social and affordable homes programme. The Agency under Sir Bob Kerslake’s leadership is likely to be fully operational by the end of the year, several months earlier than previously anticipated.

The new regulator, Oftenant, will take over from the Housing Corporation with an expanded remit to oversee all social housing providers including local authorities and ALMOs as well as housing associations. Fears were expressed over the winter that the new regulator’s powers as defined in the Bill were excessive and would curb housing associations’ independence, as well as potentially threatening their ability to raise private finance without this counting against public expenditure.

In response to a series of amendments which I moved in committee, the Government has made some radical changes in the Bill. These safeguard the ability of housing associations to manage their own affairs within a robust but ‘light touch’ regulatory framework.

Following the events affecting Ujima last year, we know how important it is to have a regulatory regime that allows swift action to be taken when necessary but without imposing unnecessary ‘red tape’ and restrictions.

I believe that the Housing and Regeneration Bill now delivers this framework and I look forward to its
implementation.

Nick Raynsford
MP for Greenwich & Woolwich
April 2008

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