Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector

5.2 Organisation of rent arrears
management service
In exploring this issue, the survey differentiated
between “generic” and “specialist” approaches .
The former refers to an arrears management model
where front-line housing officers take responsibility
for this activity alongside other ‘estate management’
duties in relation to a defined “patch” or body of
tenancies . As stated by one survey respondent,
an argument for this model is that it “provides one
point of contact for residents and arrears are often
closely related to other problems” . A “specialist”
approach is where designated staff are tasked with
arrears management duties across a much larger
number of tenancies than included in the traditional
housing management “patch” .
In describing the organisational structure of
their rent arrears management function, most
associations (58%) described this as “mainly
specialist” . As shown in Table 5 .1, this was
especially true for transfer HAs . Comparing these
results with survey data collected in 2002 suggests
a distinct trend towards functional specialisation
in this respect . At that time, the split between
“mainly generic” and “mainly specialist” was very
evenly balanced (41% opting for the former, with
39% selecting the latter) . 105 By 2009, specialist
approaches outweighed generic models by two
to one (see Table 5 .1) . However, the general trend
here is part of a longer-established pattern,
which was already evident in the late 1990s . 106
105 Pawson, H ., Flint,J ., Scott, S ., Atkinson, R ., Bannister, J ., McKenzie, C . & Mills, C . (2004) Possession Actions and Evictions by Social
Landlords; London: ODPM http://www .communities .gov .uk/publications/housing/203568
106 Ford, J . & Seavers, J . (1998) Housing Associations and Rent Arrears: Attitudes, beliefs and behaviours, Coventry:
Chartered Institute of Housing
Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector 63