Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector

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Chapter 3 National stakeholder perspectives Chapter summary Interviews were conducted with representatives from ten national organisations, including one major lender, as well as with senior lawyers with three national law firms . The interviews sought to identify changes in rent arrears management practices, to probe views on the factors underlying the reduction in associations’ use of possession proceedings, and to gauge views for and against the retention of the mandatory Ground for possession, Ground 8 . As regards arrears management practices, two key trends were believed to have been under way . There had been a shift to specific housing management roles and associations had tended to adopt, at least in policy documents, an early intervention agenda . A key reason for the latter was said to be the impact of the PAP, which had summarised in its terms other key messages from policy documents . As regards the use of possession proceedings, most participants noted the general decline . Key underlying factors were said to include the shifts 42 in arrears management practices as outlined above, but most particularly improvements in HB administration, as well as the cost-benefit of taking enforcement action . The NHF believed that the decline was a “success story” for the sector . As regards the case for and against the retention of Ground 8 powers for HAs, there was an unevenness of response (as had been anticipated) . There were arguments for, and counter-arguments against, its use . A broad summary of the underlying reasons for these positions lies in the contrasting rationales between, on the one hand, the “social” element of the role of an association, and, on the other, their business ethos most specifically concerning landlords’ exposure to risk . Although some claimed that retention of Ground 8 was a priority for lenders, it was said by contrast that lender behaviour could not be predicted and there was a suggestion that, in determining loans and rates, lenders look at quantitative evidence as opposed to the actual process used . More specifically:
• Ground 8 provided certainty to an association, as opposed to the alternatives . The contrasting view was that there was a need for a court to be able to take account of all factors in an individual claim; compliance with the PAP should provide certainty (provided there was compliance with its terms) • Certainty had consequential impacts on when an association might bring possession proceedings . The countervailing view was that the evidence ‘on the ground’ was that Ground 8 was not necessarily being used at the end of a process • Ground 8 had deterrent effects on tenant behaviour . The counter view was that there may be deterrent effects, but these were likely to be lost on the average tenant . A zero-tolerance approach to rent arrears was inappropriate • Ground 8 is used only in a small proportion of claims . The contrasting view was that on the ground experience suggested that it was being used in a significant minority of claims and, if it was barely used, then there was no need to retain it 3.1 Rent arrears management practices Although some key stakeholders were not in a position to address this issue – as their focus was elsewhere (for example on legal proceedings) – others were able to note a number of key trends impacting on the use of possession proceedings more generally . These key trends were (a) the shift from generic to specific housing management roles; and (b) the degree to which HAs had adopted the “early intervention” message contained in key regulatory and other documents, including the provision of money and other advice . Although the nature of housing management roles was described by one participant as “cyclical”, between generic and specific roles, it was also said that the move to specific housing management roles was usually prefaced by a level of need for service improvement . For whatever reason, it was generally agreed by the key stakeholders who were able to answer this question (n=4) that there had been a general trend in favour of a specific rent arrears management role . This was not necessarily regarded as contributing to job satisfaction, but was said to contribute to income maximisation and Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector 43
Page 1 and 2: Rent arrears management practices i
Page 3 and 4: Contents Executive summary . . . .
Page 5 and 6: Executive summary Introduction This
Page 7 and 8: Key underlying factors were said to
Page 9 and 10: could, in part, reflect the growing
Page 11 and 12: overpayments and suspensions were p
Page 13 and 14: Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Backgrou
Page 15 and 16: arrears management and related aspe
Page 17 and 18: “… there may occasionally be ci
Page 19 and 20: under Article 8 of the Convention,
Page 21 and 22: y HAs . 37 The Circular informed as
Page 23 and 24: Pre-action protocol for possession
Page 25 and 26: The purpose of these interviews was
Page 27 and 28: Table 1.1 - Case Study HAs Organisa
Page 29 and 30: Chapter 2 Rent arrears management p
Page 31 and 32: Pawson et al’s study found that 9
Page 33 and 34: 2.3 Rent arrears management practic
Page 35 and 36: this with any certainty . 69 Howeve
Page 37 and 38: authority can also lead to a lack o
Page 39 and 40: 2.5 The use of Ground 8 Although th
Page 41 and 42: In the Hunter et al study, 97 which
Page 43: some comment on the effect of the P
Page 47 and 48: There was a difference of opinion a
Page 49 and 50: 3.3 The use of Ground 8 Whereas ans
Page 51 and 52: do so early enough, or at all . Cla
Page 53 and 54: Chapter 4 Rent collection and arrea
Page 55 and 56: 4.3 Housing Benefit service perform
Page 57 and 58: 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
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as a result, would make an order un
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use - in these cases, it is viewed
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g) The tenant perspective In each c
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Ground 8 was generally to scrutinis
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Ground 8 was said to be used as a
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The key stakeholders regarded the P
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ule it would not be used where HB w
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Table A1.1 - Evicted households by
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uncontactable as a result) . Where
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Just under half of all cases in the
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Annex 2 Case study HA selection Our
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Annex 3 Profile of case study housi
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However, after a review across its
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as developing joint working with th
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Annex 4 Case study topic guides HA
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19. What has been your recent exper
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12. How are your tenants helped wit
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9. If RSLs rely on Ground 8, what i
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4 Tenant employment circumstances (
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10 Value (£) of arrears at defined
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Our offices Maple House 149 Tottenh
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