Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector

efficiency . This was because some staff would
have a more personal relationship with service
users, and could therefore work with them to
make HB applications, where relevant (and stop
tenants “abdicating their responsibility” for such
applications), and could be more proactive in
chasing arrears .
The literature review has identified a number of
regulatory and other interventions, which have
suggested that early intervention by a landlord
can facilitate income maximisation . The point was
framed that the HA role is not just about managing
properties but also about sustaining the tenancies .
One participant suggested that early intervention
should occur prior to the tenancy being signed .
At the point of tenancy sign-up the future occupier
would be met with a plethora of leaflets and
other advice, without necessarily a synthesis
of that advice .
A number of key publications and interventions in
the 2000s were seen as having prompted HAs to
re-think their rent arrears management strategies .
These are both specific and general, but the
message was that evictions should be progressed
only where there are no reasonable alternatives .
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Of particular importance, according to most of
our research participants, including the lawyers,
was the impact of the PAP and its emphasis on
early intervention and debt management advice .
It was suggested that this document had recently
triggered many associations to review their
practices so as to avoid possible court-based
challenges . One lawyer had been involved with a
lot of training for her HA clients when the PAP was
issued . The document was seen to be in tune with a
number of publications and other interventions with
a similar ethos: the Audit Commission’s involvement
in housing inspections and their KLOE 4; the work
of organisations such as the Joseph Rowntree
Foundation, Shelter and the Citizens Advice Bureau,
and the possibility of outsourcing advice provision
to the latter organisations . For the TSA participant,
who was on secondment, there was a key moment
in 2004-05 when the cost of an eviction was
identified and this concentrated minds on its value
to the association .