11 January 2008
Housing associations have accused the government of breaking a ten-year-old compact by proposing to tighten up the way they are regulated.
The compact, signed in 1998 by former prime minister Tony Blair and former home secretary Jack Straw, was designed to protect the independence of charities and other not-for-profit organisations.
But measures in the Housing and Regeneration Bill threaten the ability of associations to manage their own affairs, according to the National Housing Federation.
The NHF is angry that the Bill, which this week reached its committee stage in the Commons, entitles the new Office for Tenants and Social Landlords to impose central standards rather than only penalising landlords in cases of mismanagement and misconduct.
'The measures contained in the Housing Bill would effectively place housing associations under the direction of the Secretary of State,' said NHF chief executive David Orr in a letter to housing minister Yvette Cooper and third sector minister Phil Hope.
PFjan2008
