20 May 2005
Housing associations should not be forced to comply with a new financial planning regime, according to their leaders.
The National Housing Federation has collaborated with the Housing Corporation to create a long-term financial model that should help create a more level playing field for all types of association.
But the NHF is furious at plans to make the model compulsory. Bob Wilson, head of finance policy at the NHF, said: 'Throughout the development of this model, our emphasis has been on its discretionary use. We are disappointed by the corporation's confirmation that they will impose the model on prospective partners as an overhead to their existing, more sophisticated, business planning processes.'
But Clare Miller, director of regulation policy at the corporation, said benefits to the taxpayer needed to be taken into account. 'The fact that every aspiring lead partner association will complete the same model ensures that the corporation will be able to make investment decisions on the most sensible basis,' she said.
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