Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector

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Chapter 5 Arrears management in 2009: national overview Chapter summary Undertaken from January-February 2009, the online survey covered all HAs owning more than 1,000 dwellings on 1 April 2008 . Two hundred and twentysix returns were received, these representing a response rate of 70% . Most responding HAs (58%) described their organisational approach to rent arrears management as “mainly specialist” – ie a function primarily carried out by staff specialising in related activities . By 2009, only 27% of associations managed arrears within a “mainly generic” model – down from 41% in 2002 . To an extent, the separation of rent collection from other estate management activities harks back to a model of housing management as operated by many local authorities before the trend towards “comprehensive housing services” in the 1970s . Specialist approaches are particularly dominant among the largest associations and the growing popularity of this model could, in part, reflect the growing average size of associations (up by 50% between 2002 and 2007) . Almost half of associations (47%) now employ in-house welfare benefits advice staff . At the same time, the vast majority of associations help their 60 tenants access such advice via referrals to third party organisations . More than half of associations (56%) access debt counselling services via formal referral arrangements to specialist external agencies . A similar number report debt counselling being provided by in-house staff, and two thirds routinely train their rent arrears staff in such matters . However, in only half of associations is it standard practice to train arrears management staff on DWP deductions or mental health awareness – both of which are landlord obligations under the PAP . Some associations remain frustrated by sub-optimal performance on the part of local authority HB teams . One key indicator of such frustration is the fact that more than a quarter of associations (27%) sometimes initiate legal action mainly to pressure authorities to prioritise settling HB claims . More broadly, the vast majority of associations report that there are circumstances in which they would instigate legal action on arrears in the knowledge that a HB claim was outstanding . Most saw this as legitimate in cases where a delay in resolving a claim resulted from the tenant’s failure to provide information as requested . A number of other scenarios were also highlighted as making such action legitimate .
Most associations report initiating some form of response to a single missed rent payment and the vast majority have designated a specific arrears threshold (most commonly four weeks rent), which triggers consideration of legal action . In some cases such action was initiated “automatically” at this point, irrespective of the individual facts of the case . Again, the vast majority of associations report that staff are “required” to make personal contact with a tenant before a NSP will be served . The average estimated proportion of NSPs, which are, in fact, preceded by such contact was 70% . In one in ten cases, nonetheless, it was believed that this applied in no more than 30% of notices served . Almost a quarter of associations reported recently having sought possession under Ground 8 of the Housing Act 1988 . Substantiating suggestions from earlier research, use of Ground 8 was much less common among transfer HAs and much more common in London than elsewhere . The level of arrears was the factor most commonly cited by Ground 8 users as a consideration in whether or not to take action on this basis . Other factors cited by more than half of this cohort of associations included where the tenant fails to respond to attempts at contact, where the tenant is believed to be no longer living at the property and the tenant’s “other behaviour” . Estimates based on the incomplete statistics provided by associations responding in the survey suggest that Ground 8 actions may have accounted for some 350 evictions in 2007-08 – just under five per cent of the national total . However, among the limited group of associations directly involved, Ground 8 actions typically accounted for 20% of evictions in that year (in a few cases, the figure being much higher) . There are also indications that Ground 8 use may have been increasing in recent years . While three quarters of associations reported having modified their rent arrears management practices in response to the PAP, this leaves a significant proportion of landlords (disproportionately the smaller landlords) whose procedures had remained unchanged . The most common themes were the (a) adoption of more structured, consistent practice, (b) a shift towards a more pro-active, preventative approach, and (c) increased awareness of vulnerability issues . Looking to the future, many respondents anticipated further significant changes in the management of arrears during 2009 . On this basis, it can be expected that we will see a continuation in recent trends towards greater functional specialisation and increased emphasis on personal contact with debtors . Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector 61
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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
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 and 44: some comment on the effect of the P
Page 45 and 46: • Ground 8 provided certainty to
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: were collected for landlords with l
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 and 110: Ground 8 was generally to scrutinis
Page 111 and 112: 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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Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector

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