Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector

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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 108 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 .
Ground 8 was said to be used as a “last resort” by all case study HAs, but there were differences in how this term was defined internally and in HA practice . A range of definitions and practices were found in case studies . High arrears on their own might not be sufficient in some HAs to justify its use – something extra was required, such as a perception that the tenant was using the organisation to provide “interest free loans”, repeated court hearings, abandonment . As a general rule, it would not be used where HB was in issue or, except with HA A, where the tenant was “vulnerable” . In one case study, the teams had different versions of a “local law”, which supported a practice of using it only rarely . There were different rationales underpinning the use of Ground 8, although these were also contested internally by some officers . Its use was said by some to act as a deterrent to rent arrears; it was an alternative where there were, or had been, multiple suspensions of warrants; it was used to resolve an existing rent arrears crisis, although this was also recognised as a failure of previous management strategies . Where it was used successfully by HAs, this might not result in an eviction – tenants were usually given a further opportunity . Although Ground 8 inspired an occasionally emotional response from participants, it was generally accepted that the organisation could operate successfully without its use but this might involve a slightly higher exposure to rent arrears . Tenants supported its use on the basis that rent arrears impacted on the rest of the tenant community . Duty advisor interviewees covering HA A-C were concerned at the increasing use of Ground 8 as well as the unwillingness of some HA officers to negotiate . London advisors noted falling use . Generally, the advisors commented on the inexperience of officers in law and procedure, which may result in them not achieving the orders they wished . Equally, the court forms may not have been correctly completed . There was a suggestion that the PAP was now being paid lip service as opposed to a genuine engagement with its terms . Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector 109
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Rent arrears management practices i
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Contents Executive summary . . . .
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Executive summary Introduction This
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Key underlying factors were said to
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could, in part, reflect the growing
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overpayments and suspensions were p
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Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Backgrou
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arrears management and related aspe
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“… there may occasionally be ci
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under Article 8 of the Convention,
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y HAs . 37 The Circular informed as
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Pre-action protocol for possession
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The purpose of these interviews was
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Table 1.1 - Case Study HAs Organisa
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Chapter 2 Rent arrears management p
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Pawson et al’s study found that 9
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2.3 Rent arrears management practic
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this with any certainty . 69 Howeve
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authority can also lead to a lack o
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2.5 The use of Ground 8 Although th
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In the Hunter et al study, 97 which
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some comment on the effect of the P
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• Ground 8 provided certainty to
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There was a difference of opinion a
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3.3 The use of Ground 8 Whereas ans
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do so early enough, or at all . Cla
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Chapter 4 Rent collection and arrea
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4.3 Housing Benefit service perform
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Table 4.3 - Housing association evi
Page 59 and 60: As shown in Figure 4 .1, CORE data
Page 61 and 62: were collected for landlords with l
Page 63 and 64: Most associations report initiating
Page 65 and 66: 5.2 Organisation of rent arrears ma
Page 67 and 68: Table 5.2 - Primary structure of ar
Page 69 and 70: Table 5.3 - Recent changes in organ
Page 71 and 72: Table 5.6 - Staff training provisio
Page 73 and 74: Within the transfer landlord cohort
Page 75 and 76: • Where arrears were accrued befo
Page 77 and 78: Table 5.9 - Estimated percentage of
Page 79 and 80: elatively high response rate achiev
Page 81 and 82: The survey sought to collect statis
Page 83 and 84: Ground 8 actions typically accounte
Page 85 and 86: How is the scale of Ground 8 use ch
Page 87 and 88: already routinely exercising the ac
Page 89 and 90: Chapter 6 Case study evidence Chapt
Page 91 and 92: Annex 2 outlines our method, includ
Page 93 and 94: a couple of weeks to three months)
Page 95 and 96: to officers and policies . Officers
Page 97 and 98: RM put it, “caused uproar from te
Page 99 and 100: preferred form of the organisation
Page 101 and 102: tenant contacts are now recorded on
Page 103 and 104: as a result, would make an order un
Page 105 and 106: use - in these cases, it is viewed
Page 107 and 108: g) The tenant perspective In each c
Page 109: Ground 8 was generally to scrutinis
Page 113 and 114: The key stakeholders regarded the P
Page 115 and 116: ule it would not be used where HB w
Page 117 and 118: Table A1.1 - Evicted households by
Page 119 and 120: uncontactable as a result) . Where
Page 121 and 122: Just under half of all cases in the
Page 123 and 124: Annex 2 Case study HA selection Our
Page 125 and 126: Annex 3 Profile of case study housi
Page 127 and 128: However, after a review across its
Page 129 and 130: as developing joint working with th
Page 131 and 132: Annex 4 Case study topic guides HA
Page 133 and 134: 19. What has been your recent exper
Page 135 and 136: 12. How are your tenants helped wit
Page 137 and 138: 9. If RSLs rely on Ground 8, what i
Page 139 and 140: 4 Tenant employment circumstances (
Page 141 and 142: 10 Value (£) of arrears at defined
Page 143 and 144: Our offices Maple House 149 Tottenh
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Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector

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