Potential for unlimited fines in 2024 – A word from Jim McClelland
T
he countdown is on, with approximately five months to go before the new regime goes live in April 2024. Ensuring compliance
and avoiding unlimited fines must be at the forefront of all Housing Managers’ minds – a highly likely outcome for Housing Associations that do not conform with the new Social Housing Regulations Act passed in July 2023, aſter years of landmark cases. Many of us in the Building Industry closely
followed the developments leading to the Act receiving royal assent earlier this year, not just from a professional perspective, but a human one too. Starting with the Grenfell Tower Fire in 2017, the
scrutiny that Social Housing Providers are under has increased tenfold since the catastrophe, leaving those of us who have put the focus on ‘homes fit for human habitation’ for years now wondering, ‘Why has this taken so long?’ Awaab’s Law, passed in December 2020,
was another heartbreaking turning point in acknowledging the responsibility of Social Housing Providers and local authorities to ensure accommodation is not just fit for purpose in an affordable manner, but in a safe and healthy one too. Although not exhaustive, below is a list of action
points that the Social Housing Act will aim to address from April next year: • Te new law will strengthen powers to tackle failing social landlords and issue unlimited fines. Tenants living in unsafe homes will be better supported by the Regulator of Social Housing.
• Tis will force social landlords to take immediate action. Te Regulator will be able to enter Social Housing properties with only 48 hours’ notice, to make repairs themselves where there is a serious risk to tenants.
• Social Housing tenants will receive training on how to engage with their landlords, hold them to account and demand a higher quality of service where needed.
• Social Housing Managers will now require an appropriate housing management qualification – either a Level 4 or 5 Certificate or Diploma in Housing, or a foundation degree from the Chartered Institute of Housing.
• From June 2023, the Social Housing Quality Fund will accept applications from providers for grants to fund repairs and renovation works in properties affected by issues including damp and mould.
We can’t stress enough how vital it is that organisations tap into the Social Housing Quality Fund. Te only conditions to access this funding are that the proceeds are used to complete remedial works, such as the installation of damp-proof courses or the eradication of mould, and the awardee matches the grant by 25%. At Wykamol we are huge advocates for
education, which is why our training courses for
Social Housing Providers are and always will be completely free of charge. If the knowledge that Housing Managers and Operatives take away with them aſter a half-day training course is going to have a positive impact on their tenant’s lives, we consider this a job well done. Te fact remains that further education of
key individuals is still required, before the buying process begins, and who better to perform this training than the very people who develop and test products to deal with damp and mould under stringent laboratory conditions in state-of-the-art facilities?
Jim McClelland is merchant and social housing technical manager st Wykamol Group
01282 473 100
www.wykamol.com
info@wykamol.com
HMM10_Wykamol_FPAdv.indd 1
www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMMOctober/November 2023 | 27 19/10/2023 13:40
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