A NATIONAL AGENCY WORKING LOCALLY

Transcription

1 Successful places with homes and jobs A NATIONAL AGENCY WORKING LOCALLY National Housing Federation Board Members Seminar 16 September 2015 David Taylor-Smith Assistant Director, Regulatory Operations What we will cover Who we are What we do Why regulate? How we regulate 1

2 The HCA HCA created in December 2008 when Housing Corporation and English Partnerships merged Re-organised early 2011 RDAs abolished, assets and liabilities transfer to HCA TSA abolished 2012 Regulatory function transfers to HCA HCA 2015 Combination of EP s land and investment role, TSA s regulatory role, RDA s local growth role and managing government s recoverable investments HCA Objectives HCA s objectives, (as contained in the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 & Localism Act 2011) To improve the supply and quality of housing in England To secure the regeneration or development of land or infrastructure in England To contribute to the achievement of sustainable development and good design in England 2

3 HCA Aims To contribute to economic growth by helping communities to realise their aspirations for prosperity and to deliver highquality housing that people can afford. the delivery of affordable housing and improve the quality of existing social housing the development of land and regeneration of communities responding to the needs of local communities offers specialist expertise to LAs for housing and regeneration only where necessary and good value for money maximise opportunities to leverage private sector investment works with local enterprise partnerships What HCA does (i) Two primary functions Investment and Regulation Investment Land Disposal of surplus public sector land (HCA, DoH, MoJ etc.) and Receipts Recoverable Investment Move towards equity loans instead of grants, HCA-I Affordable Housing Affordable Homes Programme (AHP), Affordable Rent, conversion capacity and reduced grant rates 3

4 What HCA does (ii) Two primary functions Investment and Regulation Regulation Proactive economic standards Governance and Financial Viability, Value for Money, Rent Reactive consumer standards Tenant Involvement & Empowerment, Home, Tenancy, Neighbourhood & Community Other functions Regulation Objectives Regulation s objectives (HRA 2008) Economic regulation: to ensure that registered providers of social housing are financially viable and properly managed Consumer regulation: to ensure that tenants of social housing have an appropriate degree of protection by setting consumer standards 4

5 Why have a Regulator? Government Investment c. 45bn unsecured implications for in rent and Housing Benefit Lenders comfort Borrowing costs and new supply Loan implications Covenants; c. 60bn historic debt at low margins Value for money and service improvement market incentives to optimise (no shareholders) and to improve services (limited customer leverage) How we Regulate (i) Regulating the Standards June 2015 Economic Objective Viable, properly managed Support provision of social housing Value for money Unreasonable burden on public funds Misuse of public funds 5

6 How we Regulate (ii) Regulating the Standards June 2015 Consumer Objective Well managed and of appropriate quality Tenants have choice and protection Tenant involvement Well-being of areas Serious detriment How we Regulate (iii) Regulating the Standards June 2015 Protect social housing assets from undue risk Minimise interference Co-Regulation Role of Board Members Scrutiny Assurance based Governance and Viability Standard 6

7 How we Regulate (iv) Regulating the Standards June 2015 Operational approaches: The Quarterly Survey In-Depth Assessments Annual Stability Checks How we Regulate (v) Sources of assurance include: Risk framework and review its effectiveness at least annually Long term viability (including protection of social housing assets) o Maintain record of assets and liabilities o Robust stress testing o Impact on current and future regulatory compliance Annually assessment and certified compliance with the Governance and Financial Viability Standard 7

8 Governance and Financial Viability Standard (i) Required outcomes Governance adhere to all relevant law comply with governing documents and all regulatory requirements accountable to tenants, the regulator and relevant stakeholders safeguard taxpayers interests and the reputation of the sector an effective risk management and internal controls assurance framework protect social housing assets Governance and Financial Viability Standard (ii) Required outcomes Financial viability Manage resources effectively Ensure that viability is maintained Ensure that social housing assets are not put at undue risk 8

9 Review You now understand: The HCA The role of regulation How we regulate The Standards Co-regulation and our key expectations 9