Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector

6.4 Conclusions
Six case studies were conducted with HAs . They
were spatially concentrated around two areas, and
the North case studies were concentrated around
a particular set of courts to assess the relevance
of an individual court on the HAs’ practice .
Five were relatively high end users of Ground
8, one was a non-user but was considering its
introduction in the future .
Each of the case studies focused on early
intervention both as a matter of good practice and
to focus on the sustainability of tenancies . There has
been increased centralisation and specialisation of
rent arrears management together with managerial
intervention in the past few years . The purpose of
these changes was most often to ensure consistency
of practice across the organisation as well as being
used as a tool to improve performance . The latter
was particularly the case where the HA had been
performing poorly against benchmark HAs on rent
arrears management .
There were certain types of tenant who were regarded
as most at risk of rent arrears . The most significant
such group was recipients of HB, partly because
of the time it took to process claims in certain local
authorities and partly because of changes in the
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claimant tenant’s household and employment status .
Suspensions of HB were a particular concern . Some
tenants in receipt of HB also were said to have a
“culture” of not accepting the responsibility for the
rent . Culture change amongst officers and tenants
was an ongoing process .
Computer software packages prompted officers to
take appropriate action on individual cases, and in
some HAs these packages were used with discretion .
Although sometimes not explicit, the PAP has had
an impact on practice and policies and procedures
amongst case study HAs now facilitate compliance
with its terms . Additionally, many case study HAs
have now formalised their processes, officers
complete pro-formas to support their case, and
prepare cases for court in ways which demonstrate
compliance with the PAP . In some HAs, for different
reasons, this had lead to a decline in the numbers
of court applications . However, where court
applications were made, it was likely that this would
be the case at an earlier stage than previously
because of early intervention policies .
Nevertheless, court practices, approaches and
decisions remain different . There concerns amongst
some participants that courts had become more
tenant-friendly, leading to adjournments and
suspensions of warrants .