Industry News
HAs urged to be more open and transparent by regulator
number of social landlords investigated for possible breaches of consumer standards rose last year by 61 per cent. The Regulator of Social Housing has revealed
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that 502 HAs were referred to it in 2018/19 (down from 543 in 2017/18) but of these, 124 were escalated to the highest level and investigated by the regulator, a significant increase on the 77 investigations in 2017/18. Although the regulator said it did not consider
this to be “a material change” which was in line with some earlier years’ experiences, it noted this was a “significant year-on-year increase”.
reater openness with their tenants and the regulator has been stressed for English housing associations after it was found the
Fiona MacGregor, chief executive of the
regulator, said that a review of consumer regulation in 2018/19 had reinforced it’s view that well-run and well-governed organisations needed to have systems in place to listen to and engage with tenants, and to take prompt and effective action when tenants may be at risk. “I continue to urge all social housing providers
to look at how accountable they are and how they can be more transparent with their tenants” said Ms MacGregor. Of the 502 referrals made to the regulator, some
31 per cent were from HAs themselves, down from the 48 per cent figure in the previous year, when there was a spike in self-referrals following the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017.
One in seven self-referrals during 2018/19
came immediately after the regulator informed a HA that it planned to carry out an in-depth assessment. This has clearly irritated the regulator and prompted it to remind all HAs that they should communicate with them “in a timely manner, in all cases of potential non-compliance with our regulatory standards”. The regulator also called on HAs to act to
ensure all their homes are safe. It also encouraged associations to be able to demonstrate compliance with all the regulator’s standards, “including how they engage with their tenants”. It reminded HAs that they had to maintain good relationships with their tenants and handle complaints effectively.
Westminster council tenant hit with £100k sub-letting fine
A council tenant has been evicted and ordered to pay over £100,000 after being taken to court by Westminster City Council for illegally sub-letting his social housing flat in Victoria as a holiday home through Airbnb. Legal action was taken against Toby Harman,
after it was found the property on Vauxhall Bridge Road had been advertised on Airbnb with over 300 reviews dating back to 2013. The council’s Corporate Anti-fraud Service
found some of the reviews mentioned Harman by his name, thanking him for his advice and local restaurant recommendations. Bank statements also
proved he had been receiving payments from Airbnb for a number of years. Harman was taken to court by the council for
flouting the terms of his tenancy agreement and last summer the council was awarded a possession order for the property. The tenant’s permission to appeal this was unsuccessful and at a recent hearing, the judge made an Unlawful Profits Order of £100,974.94 – one of the highest ever awarded to the council. The tenant also been evicted from the property. Westminster has a specialist team to tackle abuses of short-term lettings and more than 1,500
22 | HMM August/September 2019 |
www.housingmmonline.co.uk
properties are under investigation. Last year, Westminster successfully recovered 24 social housing properties from fraudsters, allowing the properties to be re-allocated to residents in need of a new home. The council is now calling on the Government to
introduce a compulsory cross-platform registration scheme for property owners, so councils know what properties are being short term let and for how long. Councillor Andrew Smith, Westminster’s Cabinet
Member for Housing, said: “Social housing is there to provide much-needed homes for our residents, not to generate illicit profits for dishonest tenants. It’s illegal for council tenants to sub-let their homes and we carry out tenancy checks, as well as monitoring short-term letting websites for any potential illegal sub-lets.”
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